Delawareans ‘Meetup’ on social network

All across Delaware people are coming together to socialize, learn new things, exchange ideas and just have fun. It’s all happening via the social media website Meetup.

Jennie Maslow and her mother Lorraine Maslow run Meetup groups in Delaware. Jennie formed a Meetup book club, and encouraged her mother to try her hand at it. “My mom had been mentioning that she was kind of bored and wanted to do something. I told her to start a board games group through Meetup.”

That suggestion sparked the Upper Delaware Board Games Meetup group. They meet every two weeks at the Golden Dove Diner in New Castle.

The night starts first with dinner and then it’s time to play games. Participants pick from a plethora of board games, and these are not just your average board games. “A lot of the games look like they’re difficult, but after you go through one round, all the rules pretty much just fall into place,” said Christopher Best, a regular attendee of the board games Meetup group.

Best says he has visited Meetup groups in other states, too, because it’s the best place to keep social and hang out with people. “Even when I’m on vacation I go to Meetup.com to see what the locals are doing for fun on that weekend, and I’ll just go out and do whatever they’re doing.”

The Wilmington Writers Meetup is another group of like-minded people who come together on a monthly basis to work on becoming better writers.

Gary Zenker runs that group and another one outside of Philadelphia. His success with running both groups led him to write the book, “Meetup Leader,” an instructional book on how to run a successful Meetup group.

Gary says Meetup is a great tool for helping group leaders manage all the details, including posting files and sending emails. Gary also thinks the social media platform is a good marketing vehicle. “People join Meetup looking for opportunities to join us, so my group gets found just like everyone else’s group.”

Joining Meetup is free. Some groups may require membership fees to help facilitate the cost of gatherings or booking guests. Gary covers the meals of guest authors and writers he invites to meetings, and other supplies. Gary’s book, “Meetup Leader” is available on Amazon. To learn more about Meetup groups in your area log onto Meetup.com.