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Ask HN: Where do you go to connect with like minded people?

9 points by jcamp ↗ HN
I love thinking about and talking about business, the web, and technology. The problem is, very few of my friends have anything close to the passion I do about these subjects. I am no longer in school and I don't live anywhere near a community like you would find near Palo Alto.

I have been able to connect with people across the globe over the web but I would prefer to hang out with like minded people (on these specific subjects) from time to time in the real world. Anyone have tips for they may have gone about this being in a similar situation?

5 comments

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dstein
Try searching on www.meetup.com - there's probably more meetups than you might think, across a wide range of topics.
andrewtbham
look for local tech conferences, bar camps, ignite... where do you live? also consider going to a conference or something like sxsw if you are in a remote area
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mcgraw
You need to do some traveling.

Try to get to a bigger city that may have startup related meet-ups and/or conferences in a discipline you're interested in. When you go to an event take advantage of every minute of your time to get business cards. You can take advantage of these to keep up some good conversations when you're back home. Maybe you'll discover someone that actually lives relatively close to you.

Locally, try to organize a meet-up. You may be surprised.

fredleblanc
(Warning, shameless self promotion.)

I co-run a thing called the Build Guild. We are web people that gather at a local bar once per month to talk about anything that seems interesting: web stuff, venting about clients, things completely unrelated to the web, etc. You know when you go to meet ups and after the event you go to the bar? That bar part is our entire meet up.

What seems like arbitrary drinking actually results in a really close network of friends that you can trust, and the conversations always continue on into the spaces between drinking events. Oh, we also have a thing for mustaches.

If you're near any of the cities we're in, I'd recommend stopping by, having a drink and high-fiving someone. You never know who you'll meet. :)

Check it: http://buildguild.org

(Full disclosure: even if I didn't co-run it, I'd still recommend it to you. I didn't start the Build Guild, but was so into the idea that I eventually moved my way into running a chapter.)