It was an honor to meet with @powellx5 and @derekefreeman today in Springfield, Missouri. Thank you both for taking time to gather together and for inviting family to be apart of our meetup.

Was the meetup a success or a failure?

The answer to that question depends on how you measure success.

Did we have lots of people attend?
Nope! Our numbers were small. As the meetup organizer, I felt a bit discouraged at first. But I had to remind myself that quality engagement is a better of measure of success than the numbers that we so commonly use. Engagement is the goal. Growing numbers are future proof of present engagement.

Did I have a chance to get to know two of my fellow Steemians?
Definitely! I am so glad I had this opportunity. I am a firm supporter of growing community on the Steemit platform, but there was something special about meeting face-to-face.

We talked about ...

We talked about life, both on Steemit and off. I learned about their families, their jobs, and their dreams. We talked about our Steemit experience, about when/why we joined Steemit, and about our goals on the Steemit platform and in the Steemit community.

We talked about the genuine interaction that we have experienced in our community compared to "fake realities" that people create on other social media networks. We talked about our concerns for the battles that rage within our community and how we sometimes feel helpless and too small to make a difference.

So what's next?

If you were not able to join our Steemit meetup today we missed you! But do not worry, we already started talking about the next meetup. And this time we want to include more people in the planning process.

Today made the Steemit community more real to me. Today made me want to pursue even deeper relationships. Today turned two Steemit names into friends, and for that I am grateful.

I hope the same for you!

FYI, I just created the Ozarks Steemit Events Discord Channel so that we can start communicating about future events organized for Steemit users in the area. Over the coming weeks, we will start creating more structure for the Discord channel.

Final Thoughts

Today was a good day, and I hope that the next time we organize an event there were will many more people who can participate. I look forward to meeting many more of you in the future.

I want to hear from you.

1. Have you ever attended a Steemit meetup?
2. In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of a Steemit meetup?
3. What things do you do to create a greater sense of community with other Steemit users?

Thanks for stopping by!

@SumatraNate

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Image Source:
Photo was taken on my iPhone. A special thanks to @powellx5's husband for taking the photo.