Has anyone taken advantage of using Meetup.com to gain exposure to local businesses and business people?

If you aren’t familiar with Meetup, it is the world’s largest network of local groups.

You can find a meetup group in most areas with focuses on just about everything from party groups to specific industries and single mothers to training groups for small business practices.

I’ve joined and attended a number of these in the past year, and have met quite a few very nice people and made some solid contacts.

From their site:

“Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.”

@joanmuschampfagnani

Super! I think they are a great way to get introductions to local businesses.

Good luck in SLC!

I am co-organizer for 3 different groups that meet in our area. I think it works well.

There are two Lunch and Learn type Meetups where we have different speaker on a business topic each meeting. One is every week and the other is once a month (today, in fact). 

The third is just starting and will be coordinated with a web site, the company I work for is setting up. It will be geared to the members of the local business community.

@flosmwizards

I love the Lunch and Learn groups. I always come away feeling a little smarter , and community groups are a great way to network.

Keep up the good work!

Huge fan of Meetup.com – great for meeting people both in terms of business, but even more so for connecting with like minded people.  

For example I go to a few Boston Meetups focused the general area of Digital Marketing and I’ve managed to meet some really wonderful people that also happen to be great resources for me to turn to when I have a specific need that they specialize in. 

The concept of a Meetup can be intimidating if you have never been to one – “going in to a room and meeting a bunch of strangers????” but I will say that pushing myself to go to Meetups was one of the best things I did in 2011.  If you’ve never been to one make 2012 the year to try it out.  

@davidgadarian

It can be a bit intimidating, but I’ve found that once you are into the meeting, the casualness puts most people at ease.

Glad you have found them to be helpful.

@morganbarnhart

Great idea to attend as a speaker. No pressure to join, but you still get your message across and plug your biz.

Well done!