Great Charity Happy Hour for SMYAL last night

Hey there,

 So I went to my first Meetup last night. Ever.

I'd been on the site for years, but then this one came long, and I thought why not.

It was hosted by the 20s & 30s Going Out Group at Ultrabar, right at 9th & F St, NW.

And it was a charity happy hour, of which 80% of the donations collected were going to SMYAL, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League here in DC, an organization for LGBT youth, of which I am actually an alumn.

It was a well attended event, and a great mix of folk, both 1st timers to the group, and veterans. Met a handful of people working on PhD's, as well as some tax folk, and IT people. I was the token arts & nonprofit person, it seemed, representing, which was fun. I even met someone who works at the International Spy Museum and knew a friend of mine who just started there, working with their media.

Small world, right?

It seems like most of the people in attendance were just looking to meet fresh faces, as well as find things to do. So as a SpeakeasyDC board member, I did my due diligence and suggested they check out our monthly open mic at Town Danceboutique. And, yes, I had brought our cards with me, just in case the need arose. And it did.

Speaking of board members doing their due diligence, as I was leaving and just about at the door, I was stopped by a member of SMYAL's Board of Directors, Billy Feitweis. He had actually recognized me from seeing a tweet of mine which @SMYALDC retweeted, about going to the event.

Getting ready to head to a Charity Happy Hour hosted by @20sand30sgroup, benefiting @smyaldc, which I'm an alumn of :-) 20sand30sgroup.com/events/9587866…
— JR Russ (@AWayofLife0) January 11, 2013

I obviously appreciated that he took the time to say hello and connect. And I especially love that it happened because of social media!!

So yeah good people, good cause, good times. Hoping to catch up with the new friends I made last night, as well as looking forward to the next 20's & 30's Going Out Group event. What's especially great is that even though it says 20's & 30's, a regular attendee told me that it clarified it on the website, that the group was for people who were, or simply still felt like they were in their 20's & 30's.

Which is good...I was afraid I only had 8 more years of being involved. And hey, if you're in the DC area, maybe I'll see you at an event soon,

- JR