A friend and I started a new Meetup group, MovNat & Paleo Columbus.
We did this because we enjoy practicing natural movement along with traditional lifting in the gym.
We also eat Paleo — which, in a nutshell, is eating meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds with no gluten and no processed foods.
So our Meetup gathered for the second time recently. It is interesting to watch how quickly a group of 15 people who don’t know each other can gather and really enjoy themselves based on a common interest — in our case it is food and fitness.
In the Meetup, we share a few MovNat-inspired movements, practice, learn a traditional lift or fitness move (such as the pushup), practice more, talk about Paleo eating and enjoy tasting some Paleo food.
The Fit2Play gym owners, Jeff Turner and Ryan Callahan are kind enough to provide the gym space to us at no charge. Jeff teaches the gym movement skills and I share the MovNat-inspired information.
I am fascinated by the Meetup concept. There are more than 4,000 Meetups in our area (central Ohio) with every topic you can imagine … such as Tapping, Dining, Fitness, Crocheting, WordPress and much more.
A Meetup costs about $12-$20 a month for the organizer and the software is easy to use; you build your group and communicate. Some Meetup organizers charge participants a fee — currently our Meetup is free.
From a Marketing perspective, this is pure genius. The Meetup software gives you the platform to communicate all the event details, sends out
automatic reminders and suggests Meetups you might enjoy based on your interests and location as identified in your profile. Meetup also sends evaluations after gatherings.
Organizers can post photos from events, load files and communicate directly with Meetup members by email or posting on the Meetup page.
Leading a Meetup is helping me to learn, stretch and grow in planning and communication. I am also researching food and fitness and figuring out how to share it well — I am enjoying the challenge. Best of all, I am meeting new people and they are (hopefully!) learning and growing as well.
Are you involved in Meetups? How do you like the concept?