The Connection Runners

Detroit Bloggers Meet-Up & Launch Party

Last night, Megan and I were feeling network-y (yeah, it's a word), so we headed to a blogging event in downtown Royal Oak.

The event was a launch party for a local blogging network called Detroit Bloggers, a group that formed when a few local bloggers decided they wanted to be able to meet with other writers in the area and share new knowledge via guest speakers and discussions.

Megan picked me up around 6:30, and we headed toward Commune Lounge, a swanky little basement bar (that I believe used to be called Cinq) to get our network on.

As we nervously descended the steps into Commune, Megan and I wondered what would happen. (As though vampires or other blood-sucking social media ghouls would be there? Ha.)

We checked with the very welcoming Elena (who blogs at Mommy is in Timeout) and signed in, filling out name tags ("What the heck should we write on them?") and began to mingle and share our immense knowledge of SEO stare at groups of people like it was the first day of high school and we were still wearing overalls and turtlenecks.

Honestly, we were lost at first. Everyone seemed to know each other, know stuff about blogging and social media, and know how to obtain graphically appealing business cards with their contact info.

After gaining enough confidence to meander toward the bar and order drinks (I would've killed to be able to have a tall glass of liquid courage, but I settled for the ever-powering H20) and a pizza to split.

Blogger Meet-Up Tip: Stuffing your face in a dark corner is a great way to meet people.

Elena, Becks (Detroit Moxie), and Lauren (Mrs. Weber's Neighborhood) gave a warm opening speech, outlining the mission of Detroit Bloggers and sharing several upcoming guest speakers events that sound interesting.

Then they separated us into color-coded groups for a quick meet and greet. There were 8 or so other bloggers in my group; blog content varied from pop culture to food to mommyhood and more. It was nice to see such a wide variety of content, even in such a small group.

Getting into a small group also opened up the Conversation Door for Megan and me, and (gasp!) we actually crawled out of our shells a bit to talk with others. While some bloggers had been thriving in Blog Land for years, we found others that were like us - new, feeble, and wondering about the vast world that is Blogging.

Although Megan and I wished we'd met more running/fitness/health bloggers last night, the event, overall, was a great avenue for meeting new people and learning more about the local blogging community. With a ton events on the Detroit Bloggers schedule in the upcoming months, I just may find myself at another meet-up very soon.

Before we left, I finally pulled out my sorry-looking point & shoot (everyone else had gorgeous, gleaming DSLRs... swoon!) and asked a very nice Greek-food blogger to snap a photo of us:

We survived!

We headed out to leave, but then Coldstone whispered to us seductively from across the street, and this happened:

"Hey there, Megan. I'm ice cream. Remember me? We used to have a love affair before you got knocked up. I have a feeling you want to indulge again now, though."

I settled for a kid's size cup of chocolate with a brownie mixed in (thanks, Megan, for saving me from Coldstone Boy's suggestion of cinnamon) and we nommed outside in the fading sunlight on Main Street.

Before I sign off, and in the spirit of all things social media, join me in the following places:
-Follow my blog by using Google Friend Connect (on the right)
-Follow along by subscribing via RSS Feed or Google Reader
-Join me in the Twitter madness (@roadagainmegan)
-Find me on the Daily Mile

Now, questions for you:
-Live in the Detroit/Michigan/local area? Megan and I were thinking about having a Fitness/Health/Running blog meet-up sometime soon! Leave a comment or contact me (roadagainmegan@gmail.com) if you're interested!

-How far do you go when it comes to social media? Do you tweet, Facebook, etc... ?