This article was originally published on IntroductionsbyDiana.com
Meetup.com recently kicked our 45-Plus Dating events company, Introductions by Diana (IBD), to the curb. To be clear, we saw this coming and we're totally okay with it. We are catering to singles, and though we don't do dating and matchmaking like some other players out there... for 5 years, we promoted our events on meetup and people showed up time and time again, many starting new relationships along the way.
Meetup started in 2001, in part a response to 9/11. There was a change in the air: "...something had changed in New York: Strangers had started saying hello. It was after September 11, and people seemed suddenly aware of each other. There was a yearning for community... Meetup.com was needed." And so it was born. It caught on quickly and meetups formed for every interest imaginable. If you can't find it, you can create it and find your like-minded people easily.
In January 2011, IBD started promoting on meetup. We held our first meetup in February of that year and this is how IBD began and continued for the next year. IBD meetups, which carried an event fee, were not the usual meetup, which are almost always free. The idea for IBD was essentially proven through the Meetup.com model of creating community.
In the world of online dating, singles can find innumerable opportunities to virtually connect and engage with other singles. The options seem endless. For some though, the online options lack a certain warmth. There is something that seems very disconnected about connecting with someone through only the words on a webpage or through messages without a tone of voice or a twinkle in the eye. Meetup started with one goal - connect people to other people in real life. IBD followed that lead and from that simple, brilliant idea to create communities within a greater community, the IBD community and business was born.
We want to thank Meetup for all their support over the past 5 years, and especially to all the real people for finding us and connecting with IBD and each other all these years.
To find out about IBD Events and Membership, please check out our website:
Introductions by Diana