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"What do local fly fishing enthusiasts, pug aficionados, stock investors, atheists, expectant moms and Wal-Mart reformers have in common? They all use a site called Meetup.com to organize their gatherings."

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Meetup.com helps folks find others with ... shared interests

Web site a catalyst for networking

By Jen Marckini
Lansing State Journal

What do local fly fishing enthusiasts, pug aficionados, stock investors, atheists, expectant moms and Wal-Mart reformers have in common?

They all use a site called Meetup.com to organize their gatherings.

It's one of the latest social networking sites, with 2.5 million users joining more than 4,500 interest groups.

The groups, known as Meetups, can be organized around politics, religion, business, sports - just about anything.

Lansing's largest Meetup is the Pug Lovers, a 70-member group of people who bring along their dogs and socialize monthly.

"It's really a play group for pugs," said Brandon Scott, 27, of East Lansing, who is its organizer.

He's seen as many as 20 dogs, including his black pug, 5-year-old Angus, running around and playing in one backyard.

Without Meetup.com and its system of linking people with common interests, Scott doubts there would be a pug-related group in the Lansing area.

The site's first real surge was in 2002, with the Howard Dean's Democracy for America Meetup, formerly the Dean campaign.

Now it's branched into all kinds of topics.

"Meetups grew from geeky to freaky to the politically charged - to now, mainstream U.S.," Meetup.com spokesman Myles Weissleder said.

How it works

Here's how Meetup.com works:

• People who want to organize a group pay to sign up for a user name on the site.

• Other users can then search the site for Meetups they want to join.

They can search by topic (pugs, for instance), by geography (all Meetup groups in Lansing, perhaps) - or both (pug lovers Meetups in Lansing).

To start a Meetup, organizers pay a monthly fee, costing up to $72 for six months. Some groups ask members for donations to offset fees.

Meetup.com has attracted hundreds from mid-Michigan to form interest groups, such as the Motherless Daughters. Holly Andrews, 38, of Bath, said her group exchanges books, journals and photo albums of their mothers.

"It's something that I've wanted to put together," said Andrews, who started the group in May. "We talk and share ideas. It's generally a big therapy group."

Getting groups together

Unlike other social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, Meetup.com highlights specific groups. By doing this, it can boost membership in groups such as the Lansing Investor's Business Daily Meetup, which explores short-term stock investing.

The 22-person investing group meets monthly at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing. Members can bring in their laptops, plug into the Internet and trade real stocks during meetings.

"As stocks are mentioned, we can call up information on the stock Web sites," said organizer Charles Bauer, 69, of Lansing. "We are active stock traders."

But not all groups formed on the site prosper.

Rolf Heubel, 48, of Battle Creek, said his group, the Impeach Bush Meetup, will probably shut down. He said the fee isn't worth paying since he's not gaining members.

"It hasn't gotten a lot of interest," Heubel said. "The vast majority of people here don't use it as a tool."

In fact, his group is the only Meetup based in Battle Creek, Heubel said.

Other politically minded Meetups have done well, starting with the early Dean campaign.

There were about 25,000 political Meetup events during the height of the 2004 election season.

Italian lovers to Pagans

Some local groups have adopted national issues, such as the Reform Wal-Mart Meetup. It criticizes the retail giant's policies and business practices.

The Ann Arbor Italian Language Meetup is for anyone interested in practicing Italian language skills. It has 30 people of all skill levels.

Lynn Baldwin, 40, of Livonia said the group likes to keep it informal.

"We go to a restaurant and eat, drink and chat in Italian - or as much Italian as we can," said Baldwin, who formed the group about four months ago.

"It's a nice, casual learning environment where people are willing to help others out with their Italian phrases and pronunciation."

And sometimes they cross or merge boundaries, both topically and geographically.

For instance, Lapeer Area Pagan Parents is a Meetup in Genesee County designed for parents, grandparents and anyone involved in the lives of Pagan children or the children of Pagan parents.

The group is about to merge with the larger Flint Area Witches, a Meetup of more than 80 members.

"It is nice to be around people that you don't have to worry about being out of the 'broom closet' with," said organizer Erin Rockafellow, 26, of Grand Blanc.

Contact Jen Marckini at 267-1301 or jmarckini@lsj.com.

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