The First Meetup

I've explained how it came to be many times, so I'll be brief. It all started during the early days of the YourPants.org message boards in 2011 (pre hack). I saw a few SoCal Nerdfighters trying to put together a meetup. Nothing seemed to be happening so I took the reigns. After posting a Facebook event for September in Downtown Disney. It got a large response. Over 50 people RSVPed. 

On the day of, I brought a Nerdfighter photo scavenger hunt and some dollar store prizes. My friend Derek and I made some cute Nerdfighter themed bookmarks that had the meetup date on them to pass out.  Over 20 people showed up and over all it was a huge success. 

At the end of the day there was maybe about 5 of us left and we started talking about the next time we'd hang out. We discussed an October gathering (for Halloween), a November gathering (NaNoWriMo), and a December gathering (Holiday time). Those of course led to monthly meetups which we kept up for an entire year.  

So many people I met that day have continued to be strong members of CNC and (even more important) great friends. We've remained a strong group and even though our meetups have been less frequent, we are as connected as ever. 

I am so grateful for everyone who came to meet each other that first day. I never would have made so many new amazing friends and I hope that others had a similar experience. You are all what makes hosting CalNerdCon meetups so much fun. Thank you.

~Jenny~
Blog: magiccatjenny.com
YouTube: youtube.com/magiccatjenny
Twitter: twitter.com/magiccatjenny
Tumblr: magiccatjenny.tumblr.com

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If you'd like to guest post on CalNerdCon about a past meetup email us at CalNerdCon[at]gmail[dot]com