INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

Had an unexpected e-mail 3 weeks after my last meetup. YOU HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GROUP LEICESTER 20s & 30s SOCIAL I tried to contact the group organizer Ben only to discover that he had blocked my messages. I did however spot a clue, the group had been renamed Leicester 20 to 32 social. I also noticed that a couple of peoples profiles who attended the 2 previous meets had been replaced with the words "former member". I thought it was pathetic to change the age range of the group especially after doing 2 great nights out. If everyone had been in the 18 - 25 age range and I felt out of place I wouldn't have come back the second time. But that wasn't the case. I will reach a point one day when clubs and loud bars won't be my thing but I can decide that for myself. I did message a couple of people to find out what was going on but the bottom line was it's Bens group, he paid to host it and there's nothing I could do. I immediately joined sever...

The second meetup had more or less the same format as the first. Met at 45 west again this time with around 20 people instead of 12. This time was a lot more comfortable as there was the familiarity of knowing several people I met the first time round. We only went one other place Après Lounge which was pub like in the front but had a room with a dance floor out at the back. Again it was a great night, this picture was taken just before we left. By this point it was clear that meetup was going to be a regular thing, this time some were moving on to a club. I headed back on the last bus. I now had to plan the logistics of getting home from city centers such Leicester after midnight. 

After 2 months I finally bit the bullet and attended my first ever meetup. Headed into Leicester to a upmarket looking bar called 45 west . Within 10 minutes of arriving I was recognized by the organizer Ben and was soon joined by everyone else. It was his first meetup with the group he has just created so most of the dozen people were complete strangers. We all seemed to get on well as it was as good a start as I could have hoped for. After a couple of hours we moved onto the next pub Brewdog which I had been in once before. By this point drinks and conversation were flowing well and I had this "why didn't I do this years ago feeling". Finally we headed to Firebug , a bit more of a rough and ready type pub so we did a fairly good variety in just a few hours. By this point time was ticking down and some were calling it a night so I got the last bus and headed home.