Monday 1 April 2019

Social Media Meetup Group / Bemusing Security Search at Theatre Impossible


Meetup is a website different to most other social media sites as the emphasis is on actually meeting up in person, as opposed to arguing with strangers on the internet. The Social Media Meetup goes full circle, and brings people together to meet in person to then discuss social media.

As I'm trying to move into a PR role, this might involve SM, and as I'm a blogger using and covering Twitter and Instagram I might benefit from a few extra tips. You might too. The group doesn't have any events planned as yet but the plan seems to be to start with Guest Speakers with a Q+A session, then to move onto Social Surgery Sessions with Mentors and your laptops (I don't have one).

Meetup is quieter than usual at the moment, with even the big groups like Young Professionals seeing their attendee numbers drop and After Work Drinks disappearing altogether. Must be the economy, or perhaps going out drinking just doesn't appeal to many people any more. I dunno. But even when people RSVP, a lot don't actually turn up, meaning people get booted out of said meetup groups altogether.

I've never understood that: why RSVP to a meetup unless you're definitely going to go? A week ago I ran a meetup for cocktails in a Spinningfields bar. 10 people said they'd come. Other than me, there was one attendee on the night. What's happening here? Are people changing their minds? Forgetting? RSVPing but not actually committing?

Whatever the case, my enthusiasm for Meetup is starting to wane. I'm tired of being let down. I'm tired of 10 people saying they're going to do something, then being left stood on my own, or with only one other person. I realise getting angry won't solve anything- this is the way people are. They have busy lives, and the click of a mouse isn't going to fix a date in their minds. The calendars that we all have on our phones go largely unused. (Mine doesn't- I rely on it daily.) But with big changes in my life coming up, which I'll discuss another time, I don't need the added stress of trying to organise nights out only to be stood up on the day.

There is one other thing: Theatre Impossible on Peter St. I've been a good number of times since it opened early last year. The extreme, crazy stage shows featuring sword-sallowing contortionists and faux-lesbian sploshing scenes are eye-opening (and frequently eye-watering) at first, but even they can get repetitive after a while. I've been keen to try other places. Friday night was the last time.

I was searched when I went in, which I never have a problem with. The doormen claim they found 'contraband' on me. He wouldn't tell me what it was, and I sure as shit didn't have anything on me, but he claimed it went in the drug bin.

Right.

That night some 'hip hop MCs' performed a 'rap battle,' which was only a sibilance-infected babble-fest featuring two talentless bastards. I walked out. I won't be back.

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