Sunday, April 12, 2009

Tulsa Digital Photography Meetup Group

I don't pick up hitchhikers or stop when people are pulled over on the side of the road, but I sorta have a thing for meeting people online. In the age of connectivity, it's a bit odd that most or all of our socialization and touch points with humans happens in the space between our keyboard and their screen. Seriously, does anyone use the phone at work? I know I don't. So, when it comes to making flesh and blood friends, I tend to start with the net. For instance, my best friend Tasha of Tasha Does Tulsa???...yeah, we met on Facebook. No joke. She messaged me and said, "Hey, I'm an American Studies major, too! [Our mutual professor] says you're a very organized individual. Would you like to start an American Studies club with me?" I did. And, we did. Now, look where we are. I get behind the scenes access to all her Tulsa doing ( like this weekend at the Cherry Street Farmer's Market) AND I get her child in the case of her untimely death.

Anyway, since that particular online meeting worked out so well, I decided to try again. In case you haven't heard of it, Meetup.com is this cool new social networking site where you can organize and sponsor events based on anything that interests you. Type in your zipcode and away you go to meet others like you, ranging from people who get together to walk their pugs, to people who get together to read Eckhart Tolle. Seriously, if you like something, there are at least two others that would like to meet you. I met up with the Tulsa Digital Photography Group at Woodward Park on Saturday and it was awesome. They were so willing to help out a beginner and I learned a ton. For instance, I learned that I should always keep the neckstrap around my neck so I don't drop my camera ( which I threatened to do all day.) It's things like this you can't learn in a manual! Seriously, this group is rad. I will definitely be joining them for the next meetup. I'll post the fruits of my work next...

2 comments:

TMM said...

meetup.com isn't exactly "new". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meetup.com

Traveling Spork said...

Wow, I had no idea it's been around for eight years. I'd just seen that over the past two years it's more than doubled in size! It takes a lot to get me to notice things, I guess... Thanks for the info.