These crazy people I call my friends!

I've written previously about Lunch Up Guelph, but I need to talk about it again.

I need to talk about it because I want to talk about another event I am a part of and as I was mentally making my notes for a blog post I had to think back about how I came to be a part of the group. And just like any good story, it started a few years ago, with Lunch Up Guelph.

For those of you who didn't click the link, Lunch Up Guelph was an accidental success. I had had a very busy month and realized I hadn't talked to some of my favourite people in real life lately, only through Twitter. I put out an open invitation, on Twitter natch, to join me for lunch later that week.

While I had always used Twitter to meet and chat with new people I more used it then to keep in touch with friends I had in real life, who also happened to spend time on Twitter. And I missed those people. Because no matter how much time you spend online, or even on the phone or in a video chat, there is something about spending time together around a table, looking at a person's face while they are telling a story, hugging them hello and goodbye, that simply can't be duplicated online.

And that was what I missed. So I set up a lunch so I could spend time with my friends. As it turns out, a lot of people were feeling the same way, and we ended up having an intimate afternoon for 32!

I mention this event again because it was the event where I really met both Sean Yo and Danny

Williamson. Both were people I knew through Twitter. Both were people I knew very casually in real life because they worked with people I did know. One for sure, maybe both are the reason I am part of  Ignite Guelph now.

Ignite Guelph was what I was going to write about, until I realized I wasn't sure how I came to call the people who sit at the table with me at the meetings my friends. I had to do some backtracking and realized I can blame it all on, I mean thank, Lunch Up Guelph and Twitter.

I help people understand how to use online media, especially social media, to improve their business. But the great bait and switch of what I do is that using Twitter will also improve your life.

How does an adult make new friends? It's not like our parents set up play dates for us anymore. We don't go to school and find a collection of peers who might befriend us. Most of us don't even hang out in bars or clubs anymore, lowering our inhibitions and making it easier to talk to strangers. I grew up with parents who had few friends but many work colleagues and until I became an adult I never really understood that.

When people ask me what my favourite social media network is, I say Twitter, without a doubt. The people I spend the most time with, the people I rely on, the people I love came to me through Twitter. And those people help me make my choices everyday. They help me to find the groups, events, clients and friends I want in my life. And sometimes I curse them, because there is just So. Much. Awesome. in Guelph.