Meet Ups- Support For Long Distance

[Anolinde]

Just wondering what people think of the idea of creating meet ups through this site. I know a lot of us struggle with the loneliness of our long distance relationships. Perhaps some of us don't have family or friends who approve of or understand quite like our network of friends and fellows here do. I had a thought wondering what it'd be like if we had get togethers and shared our stories in person and gave support and advice to each other, might make it a bit easier to bare all this strife. Anywhoo lemme know what you think of this peoples!

[Haley53]

I thought of this as well but never got round to posting about it, but I would be interested in hosting/going to meet-ups in NorCal. I don't believe I'd be able to travel to SoCal or anywhere else. :P

[Zephii]

I'm not sure what I think. I've met a couple of people IRL from this site, and have a few more I'm trying to organise to meet. I'm cool with meeting strangers. But, on the other hand there are safety risks, and Michelle and Frank shouldn't have to be/couldn't possibly be responsible for people meeting up through the site - what if something does go wrong and people start pointing blame? Also generally large-ish group meets do cost quite a bit of money and most people in LDRs are saving that for visits so... I can't see it working.

I think if there's someone on the site you know well enough to meet (or a bunch of people in your area) than by all means try to organise something, but that you don't really need to go through the site or have a specific forum to do so.

[Anolinde]

@ Zephii True true, I imagined it going on low scale anyways. Something that would be local and easy to get to, wouldn't cost anything at all hopefully. And you're absolutely right about safety concerns and all that, which I had thought of, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen for sure.

[Rosebud]

In both the Lolita and BJD communities (and I'm sure for many, many other hobbies as well), meet-ups are quite frequent and it's pretty well known that the moderators of the forums where these meet-ups are organized are absolutely not responsible for any of them, so I don't think Michelle and Frank should have to worry about that. Also, usually the purpose of meet-ups is to find fairly local folks and meet only for a few hours, not a whole weekend/vacation type of thing, so it needn't cost more than gas/bus money. I think meeting up with others in LDRs is so fun (turns out a girl I work with is currently in a LDR with a guy from Chicago and it was an instant jumping off point for us to become friends), it just may be difficult as this forum is still relatively small, especially since it's for folks all around the world which makes it hard to find people who live close enough.

[Moon]

I agree with Rosebud, it's a great idea in theory, but probably not practical. Meetups on other forums, such as hobbies, usually go really well, but they have a much bigger base. I'm pretty sure no one lives near me, and honestly, I probably wouldn't be interested in driving a long way for a few hour meet. You could always try meetup.com and see if you have others near you in an LDR, but not necessarily on the forum, and see what you get. I do like the idea though

[Rugger]

Honestly, I'd love to meet some of the cool people I've met on here. I've met a couple of people from my other forums and it's been really awesome. But everyone is right about safety concerns.

[kiara_silver]

I think it would be fun to meet up in person, get that extra support group. But realistically for me, I don't think I could do that now, unless it happened to be within a hour drive. Which with everyone so widely spread about doesn't seem possible. But it would be a really cool idea.

[Haley53]

I think it would be fun to meet up in person, get that extra support group. But realistically for me, I don't think I could do that now, unless it happened to be within a hour drive. Which with everyone so widely spread about doesn't seem possible. But it would be a really cool idea.

I think you're within an hour drive of me when you get down to my specifics. LOL.

There are more people here from NorCal than I expected. As for internet safety, is that not easily combatted with meeting in a public location? Or even bringing a parent or a friend along depending on your age? :P I do see the issue with practicality though.

[Minerva]

People are spread out all over the world, so for those of us in, say the USA or Australia, it might be hard to find people to meet up with, but people in smaller countries might have an easier time. And as someone dating an Englishman, I'd love to meet up with some of the British peeps some day when visiting the SO.

[Madge]

I am keen! Booglebee and I are pretty much right next to each other (well if our islands were connected we would be ) And I am heading to the states soon which I feel that is majority of where people reside on this site so yes it would be fun to meet up and rant about being in a LDR

Although, as some people have stated there differently are safety concerns to consider.

Minerva, not to freak you out but I see that you are from chicagoland..and I will be heading to Chicago soon to see my British SO!

[CynicalQuixotic]

I would love to meet up with any/all of you in the New York area.

[ChibiFelicia]

i'd like to meet ppl from england : ) i glad i found this site cause it does get pretty difficult sometimes

[Rosebud]

As for the safety issue-also going back to the meet-ups I've attended from my hobbies, generally public places are where they are held at such as bookstores or sometimes restaurants with shopping centers nearby. Usually when those who wish to attend are younger a parent is brought along but I assume a majority of us on the site are over 18 (or is 16 the legal age for some countries?) and wouldn't feel the need to bring one.

[lucybelle]

I think it's a nice idea for those who are near each other. But, like others have mentioned, most have to save up money and time off from work to visit their SOs. If you feel like you know someone enough to meet them, go for it.

Anyways, no one's anywhere near me so maybe I should just keep my comments to myself