Go Out AND Make Friends

By Aine C.

I love Meetup. Today’s update let me know that there are over five thousand meetups happening nearby. Here are a few of the most recommended, populated, and active groups in the D/M/V. This post may be especially useful for those of you looking to fill a bit of recent, unexpected time off (my rage and feels are with you all).

Geek Night Out members got to touch a meteorite.
Beats how I spent my evening. (via their Meetup page)

Geek Night Out

Creeping up on two thousand members, Geek Night Out is definitely one of the most highly recommended meetups for the metro area. If it’s a recurring event, odds are you can find at least dozen GNO members attending. Their next event is tomorrow for Black Cat’s Doctor Who Happy Hour - Victory of the Daleks. In total, they have 13 events coming up that include a LoL pubstomp, renfaire visits, and brews at Rock Bottom (since the government can evidently close even the woods like they're the goddamn Lorax). With member numbers in the thousands, it is unsurprising that Geek Night Out's interests run the gambit. So you’re bound to find something you like.

Washington DC Redditors

Tomorrow is Global Reddit Service Day and the Washington DC/Metro area Redditors are joining in. Some may be infuriated that the narwhal bacons because they feel that a Reddit meetup should be no more exciting than a Facebook meetup (as I was recently told by some poor kid with a broken keyboard and Tourette's). However, Reddit really isn't just another social media site, and it can be interesting to let relationships cross that line between /u/VulgarUsername and reality. There’s a face behind those names. Some of us are even women, without neckbeards OR fedoras. And in the same way that Reddit is good at acquiring or aggregating news faster than the schleps hired to plagiarize them for mainstream media, the meetups are excellent at finding upcoming events. There are also chapters in Northern Virginia and Baltimore if you’re not in the DC core area.

SciFi Fantasy Outpost

I’ll admit, sometimes The SciFi Fantasy Outpost are so on the ball for what is up and coming in NoVA that I’ll keep an eye out for events that even DCG hasn't caught wind of yet. For those of you not yet seething in jealousy, they have a group of 25 attending the Birchmere this evening for a Paul & Storm concert than includes a rare East Coast sighting of Wil Wheaton. If you just want to nerd out over lunch, they have regular meetings at Hamburger Hamlet. And as far as I know, they haven’t missed a single premier for a movie that had even an iota of geekdom in it. The next few coming up are Gravity and Ender’s Game. It's 447 fans with an amazing level of enthusiasm and involvement. Keep it up, Outpost!

I now know how to reuse my broken Nalgene bottle.
(Thanks, Michael Mol!)

Pathfinder Society of Baltimore

So, we all know that the image above isn’t his whole collection. Those are likely just by the computer in case he needs to reference them for his current games. Somewhere, there’s probably a bookcase slowly bowing under the sheer weight of corebooks and supplements. Sound like you? Especially if you’re not ready to break up with D&D 3.5 even after Wizards moved on? If you’re towards the northern side of our readership, check out the Pathfinder Society. Not only do they have regular games running, they can bring you up to speed on what is arguably the best version of the best edition of everyone’s most beloved gateway game. If you like a bit more variety and aren’t willing to hit up Charm City for your fix, there’s also a 3.5 players group that includes Pathfinder and D20 Modern out in Gaithersburg.

There are dozens of other groups to join. You couldn’t make it to everything if you tried.

• Amtgard of Alexandria
• Columbia Geeks and Nerds with an Emphasis on Joss Whedon
  (don't let the highly specific name scare you off)
• Bethesda Nerds with Wine
• Alexandria-Arlington Regional Gaming Group
• Adult Nerdfighters of the DC Metro Area

DC Geek's unofficial motto tends to be, “There’s no reason for a geek to be bored in DC.” However, there’s also no reason to attend all these amazing events alone. The plethora of meetups show that the gamer/geek/nerd stereotype of the loner is a wild inacuracy. We (ok, most of us) are social, warm, and welcoming. Go search around for the things you love and find people who love them too.