Kicking off the New Year in style #themeet140 took Sydney by storm, literally. The rain didn’t deter the 40+ crowd from gathering on Sydney Harbour at the fantastic Bungalow 8 for a second time.

With the clouds opening and pouring down around us, the spirit (spirits) were high and the conversation as diverse as normal for a #themeet140 event. From startups to musicians, from agency people to film makers, there was conversation from footie to politics, from business solving to new theme parks.

There was even a librarian, who thought they still existed? Well they do and they are pretty cool people.

#themeet140 in Sydney continues to grow with a great core crowd and new people each time, next up is the Easter Bunny Edition on 11th April. Chocolate and more at a unique and new venue this time. Come along, you just never know what might happen.

Op 1 februari 2012 is het eindelijk zover: themeet140 komt naar Nederland! Voor de allereerste keer zal de social media bijeenkomst gehouden worden in de Winkel van Sinkel in Utrecht. De meeting begint om 19.00 en is open voor iedereen. Hoewel social media meestal een van de hoofdonderwerpen is tijdens de samenkomsten, is themeet140 niet per definitie een social media evenement. Het is gewoon een leuke, informele manier om mensen te ontmoeten die je door social media hebt leren kennen.

Zoals gezegd zal de samenkomst plaatsvinden in de Winkel van Sinkel. Dit is een historisch gebouw in het centrum van Utrecht. Van oorsprong diende het als een van de eerste grote waarhuizen van Nederland, maar het werd in 1898 omgebouwd tot een bank. Zo’n vijftien jaar geleden werd het pand door de bank verkocht en omgetoverd tot een café. De locatie is gelegen aan de Oude Gracht, op loopafstand van vele gezellige restaurants en cafeetjes. Kortom, de ideale plek voor een gezellig avondje uit!

Register here http://twtvite.com/themeet140NL

On the 1^st of February 2012 it is finally happening: themeet140 is coming to the Netherlands! For the very first time the social media meet-up will be held in the Winkel van Sinkel in Utrecht. The event will start at 19.00 and is open for everyone who wishes to join. Although social media is usually one of the points of discussion during the meetings, themeet140 is not a social media event per se.  It is just a nice and casual way to meet up with friends you met through social media.

As was mentioned before, the meet-up will take place at the Winkel van Sinkel, which is a historic building in the city centre of Utrecht. Originally, the majestic structure served as one of the first big department stores of the Netherlands, but was turned into a bank in 1898. Until some fifteen years ago, the bank sold the property and the building was changed into a bistro. Conveniently located on the main canal of Utrecht, it lies right next to many cozy restaurants and cafés. In short, all the ingredients for a great night out!

Register here http://twtvite.com/themeet140NL

On the shores of Darling Harbour on the 19th October #themeet140 landed in Sydney. The event had a very interesting lead up with some PR gaffs that made it all just that little bit more fun. For a while #themeet140 search on twitter was nothing short of just brilliantly comedic. Some miss communication and a lack of quality control on my side meant that we went out with a ‘Sydneys 1st Tweetup’ line. Well nothing gets people talking than a wildly inaccurate claim.

In hindsight, I wish I had come up with it as a PR ploy, because we went from 30 sign ups to over 70 in less than 48 hours.

Cut forward to the night of the 19th October. The weather was awesome, as I took the ferry from the Milsons Point to Darling Harbour, the view was stunning. Bungalow 8, the venue for the kick of event is truly stunning, sitting on the end of King Street Wharf. (Pic left)

After myself and the very useful Nick Edwards had put up all the signage and got a few drinks in, we were ready and set for the new friends to arrive.

As with most meetups nobody ever arrives on time, except it seems for this one, from 6.30 onwards people were rocking up and popping in to say hi, it was like the world had gone mad. Not sure it was the prospect of the meetup or the $5 drink offer, either way it was good to see people so keen to get in on the action.

You couldn’t of asked for a nicer bunch of people, from all walks of life, creatives, marketers, newsreaders, business owners and the odd random who was just a bit lost. We topped out at about 50 people, which was more than enough to make us all happy and to start planning the follow up.

Look out Sydney, the follow up is not far away. Follow @themeet140Syd for the hot news.



With themeet140 growing all the time (events in Amsterdam and New York planned, Sydney kicked off as well as the many UK events) we need someone to help coordinate, spread the word and curate content.

The role is unpaid (as themeet140 is not a commercial event) but being part of it has enabled many people to grow their network, influence and experience, it is also a small time commitment, for a lot of fun.

Sound interesting? Get in touch with @markofrespect

Typical responsibilities include:

Events

• Promotion of the events using Twitter, the Facebook page and blog
• Specific focus on the promotion of themeet140 London, with outreach to non-social media crowd
• Set up of twtvite for themeet140 London
• Occasional surveys of themeet140 participants using SurveyMonkey

Network

• Edit blog and curate content
• Manage the Twitter and Facebook accounts

Support and rewards for being part of themeet140:

• Experience organizing events
• Practice marketing to non-social media marketing crowds
• Grow your network with interesting people
• Greater influence in this perpetually active social circle
• Did I mention new friends?

Can you help spread the word of themeet140 into non-social media circles and help diversify the audience, be part of something that hundreds of people attend regularly and has defined the social part of social media?

It’s that time again. Time for another #themeet140. Unfortunately, most of August has already come and gone. We’re nearly at September. Which is why the August meetup is actually in September, September 1^st to be precise.

#themeet140 is what Twitter would be if it was offline. Just like on Twitter, we meet people from all different nationalities. For instance, I’m American. We meet people with all sorts of backgrounds. One of our meetup attendees last month is in finance while I do marketing research. We talk about all sorts of things, from football to the ins and outs of international travel. And just like on Twitter, we joke, debate, and share news and stories. Only, over a pint.

The best part is that this isn’t work. This is not a networking event. This is strictly fun and casual. Work stays at the door. As do business cards and work e-mail.

So come join us for a fun evening out at the pub Thursday, September 1^st, starting at 6:30 pm at LVPO in Soho. The address is 50 Dean Street, London, W1D 5BQ. It’s a laid back pub with yummy nibbles and good beer. We’ll provide the good company. What more could you need?

Be sure to RSVP on the Twitvite! See you there!

Last Wednesday we had an excellent #themeet140 at the Lvpo pub in Soho, London. Because it is not a social media business networking event, #themeet140 meetups attract a wide array of people. This one was no exception.

My friend Jannette and I had been shopping on Oxford Street the whole day and so, laden with things we probably didn’t really need but had bought anyway, had made our way to the Lvpo pub in Soho. We were a bit early, actually. Of course, this meant we got to sit in the most comfortable chairs in our little reserved section at the back of the bar.

Eventually @MarkofRespect appeared, our host for the evening. We showed him our purchases (I had gotten a pair of children’s Nikes on sale that miraculously fit me – cheap! – and Jannette had a stack of CDs that provided much conversation) and he admired them, as any man knows how to do.  Then the others arrived and the conversation really got going.

The guest list wasn’t long, but it was good, and that’s what counts. Of course #themeet140 is open to everyone, but it does tend to get some great and intelligent characters stopping by. At first we were all able to share the conversation, gathered around a coffee table on stools, but eventually the group got too big and we naturally divided into smaller conversational groups.

Discussion ranged all over. Here’s just a taste of some of the conversation that I personally participated in:

• A debate over which is better, an Amazon Kindle or the Barnes and Noble Nook,
• The pros and cons of cloud computing,
• Traveling in Italy and speaking Italian,
• How to do a French accent in English,
• What makes a good mojito,
• How women can be beautiful even if they aren’t a size zero, and
• The music at the Hop Farm festival this past weekend.

The attendees were as varied as the conversation. At least a few were from out of town. Jannette lives in Holland. Another gentleman is Scottish by way of Liverpool. Of course, Mark is also Scottish, but I think he counts as a local since he lives in London.

We shared quite a few laughs over drinks, many relaxing after a long day at work. Eventually the food orders went out, too. I had bruschetta while Jannette had a quesadilla. One lovely lady had ordered a sharing platter and some nachos. The drinks and food are good at Lvpo, not too spicy but with enough flavor that you gobble them up. This prolonged the conversation even more, until past 10 pm, actually. Pretty good for a meet up that began around 6:30.

All in all, quite a success. If you’re in town next time, do stop by!

One of the best things about Twitter is that it attracts people from all sorts of backgrounds and professions. It’s not about what you do. It’s about who you are. It’s about being open to others and being just plain friendly. That’s why I love themeet140. It brings this Twitter culture offline and into a pub near you.

I attend the events here in London. The variety of folk who come by can be quite astounding. I have met everyone from game developers (the good old-fashioned card kind) to chefs of fusion cuisine restaurants. I’ve gabbed with people from all over the world, great when it comes time to find places to crash in foreign countries. These connections have gotten me involved in flash mobs for Angry Birds, to celebrating Dutch independence in the town of Zwolle. These friendships have been invaluable to me. After all, I just moved to London from the cowboy Southwest of the US.

And so, it is with great pleasure that I invite you, my fellow Internaut, to join me in London on June 2^9th for this month’s themeet140. Don’t be worried you won’t fit in. The only requirement of attendance is a smile. And I will be at the door checking.

The event will be on Wednesday the 29^th of June at Lvpo, a laid-back pub in Soho. The address is 50 Dean Stree, London, W1D 5BQ. Be sure to also RSVP on the Twtvite. I look forward to seeing you there!

themeet140 London is a double whammy – we’re celebrating a year of meets to the day, with our 21st event.

We want to make this one better than ever and bring it right back to what it started out to do – to bring a broad spectrum of interesting people together and have a laugh. No excessive social media talk, no business networking, just humans talking to humans.

Anyone is welcome, especially those who don’t ‘do social media’ for a living: teachers, plumbers, cab drivers, lawyers, writers, mime artists, taxidermists, balloon modellers (please!).

So the question is, who do you know who’s missing out on the fun?

Take 2 minutes to send a few friends or contacts this link: Join us at the meet140 on 21 April here.

[This is a excerpt from Ange's blog, originally posted May 2010]

A few weeks ago I’d seen a hash tag being floated about on Twitter: #themeetup140 People were tweeting and retweeting it. Then came a tweet from Mark ( @markofrespect ) asking if we were going along. From what I’d read about these meetups (from the London one that is) it would be an informal get-together of a group of people with a common interest in social media. My first thought was ‘yes I’d love to go but not being a social media professional in any way, I’d stick out like a sore thumb’… how wrong can you be.

Read the full post on Ange’s blog.

[This is an excerpt from Rhona's blog originally posted in December 2010]

Standing upstairs in Musa on Thursday night, I surveyed the roomful of people who 5 months ago I wouldn’t have known from Adam. Not only that, but because we’re such an incredible cross-section of the population, our paths would have probably never crossed down the line either. IT consultants, teachers, sound engineers, cyclists, secretaries, web designers, game developers, students, shop workers, artists, accountants, photographers. Teenagers, 20somethings, 30somethings, 40somethings and then some. All people whose lives had not yet brought them together until they entered the room, attached a badge with their twitter username on their jumpers and started talking to one another.

At the start of this year I made a New Years’ Resolution that I was determined to keep – I wanted to meet some new people and make some new friends. I’ve been back in Aberdeen for three years now and from starting right from scratch I’ve made many dear friends who mean the world to me, but this year I had an urge to get a bit more out of my city and expand my horizons a little. Since then I’ve made a bit more of an effort to connect with some people my age at work, I met a friend from Livejournal for the first time in real life – through her I have met a whole swathe of fabulous ladies, and of course – I started going to #themeet140.

When I think about it, there’s not really anything that links us all together – a shared interest as it were. We just all seem to like meeting people for the sake of it – we truly are the monthly meeting of people who meet! Perhaps as tweeters who talk about our lives in an open forum, assuming that someone somewhere is listening, we all have a little something in common in that regard. But without exception I have found the crowd who frequent ‘the meet’ (as it’s now called in our household) are a colourful rainbow of outgoing, creative, welcoming and ambitious people who I count myself lucky to know.

Read the full post on Rhona’s Blog