I mean, you wanna do the closed-table we’re-buddy-friends thing, then go out together, right, but don’t just park your clique at a tweet-up and make it obvious you’re not interested in anyone else joining you. Know what I mean? There’s a distinction.

But I agree that it can’t be on only the people supposedly doing the shunning. I was PMSing the day I wrote.

PERSONALLY, I’m not really taking offense ‘cos I don’t feel I’ve really been shunned much of anyplace. There was *one* tweetup I felt exemplified my posting, but it was also a really stupid venue to have a tweetup in.

And I get what you’re saying too, about going to tweetups because X is there, etc. I think that’s doing it right, too. I think I got way off of Raul’s original posting’s topic and in so doing the original focus evaporated, but originally this was supposed to be about expanding social media. In that context, I think more interaction should be expected.

If it’s more of a tweetup being held by individual groups that are making it public in case others want to come, that’s different, I guess. It’s inclusionist AND exclusionist by its very nature.

Oh, a muddled mess I’ve made.

And, incidentally, YOU spoke to ME at my first tweetup, so you’re not THAT awkward. :)

I’ll usually come out to tweetups because I know people I know will be there and it’ll be a good chance to have a beer with them. Meeting people is nice, but secondary. Am I doing it wrong?

Not rude, just awkward.

(also, it’s Vancouver, do you really expect to go somewhere and _not_ find people that are quiet and isolationist? :P)

Tris– :D

JP– Ironically, I have no chocolate. Just a big cup of fail. ;)

Raul– Y’know, I think the 604 space is great and fine. I think it’s the membership who chooses to respect old allegiances rather than welcoming new faces with more than just platitudes. When I hear the story of people who show up at tweet-ups to never even have ANYONE approach them to say him, that chokes me. And that’s NOT on you, but you need to accept that it does happen. And it’s NOT on YOU. You can’t mediate other people. They need to step the fuck up and say HEY, WELCOME. WHO ARE YA? Because I was at a Tweetup in May and I saw a few people show up who weren’t like me, (I get my face in the mix, whether you want me to or not) and sat on the outskirts, waiting for people to say hi. *I* went over, and it was my first time meeting 90% of the people there. NO ONE ELSE CAME OVER, despite it being obvious these folk were in the same party — despite a GIVEAWAY happening 2 feet down the same table, and that’s bullshit. There were 35 people there. (You were there for all of 15 minutes earlier, before this, and you said hello to many people.)

So my point is, this shit’s going on, and either people are oblivious to how rude it appears, or it’s happening on purpose, and either way, it should change. If we want a diverse community, it NEEDS to change. And that means people like me saying so, loudly.

Me, I’m okay with that, as long as I get it some of the time.

Colleen– Thank you, honey.

Glenda– I appreciate you saying so. Thanks.

Robyn– Hey, absolutely, get out to some. For every person who blows it, there’s probably a couple people you’d love meeting. Trouble is, you really need to make the effort to get into people’s faces and say hi, otherwise it might not be the winning experience you’d hope. :P

And thanks. :)

Haha, Amen!! :D

Great post by the way. Perhaps I should head to a few “Tweetups” myself one of these days!

Truth be told, I do write for myself, and your post reminds me of the many reasons why I write for myself. I’ve started a “Raul is going to be a bit of a recluse” season and one of the reasons is precisely because I can feel the cliques emerging.

I have worked REALLY hard at making the Vancouver Blogger Meetup inclusive, and I do seriously hope I can continue doing so. I want the space to be a welcoming one, and I want my friends to know that no matter what, they’ll be in my life regardless of skin color, sexual orientation or body abilities.

Thanks for this, Steff. And for being you.
Raul´s last blog ..Where is the diversity in social media conferences?

Twitter: @jaypiddy
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