Inspired by our love affair with President and Mrs. Obama and the love affair they share with the public, with us, Zach and I did a great job of creating a unique event. Thirteen ppl rsvp’d and thirteen ppl showed. I don’t care what you think about the number, getting 100% attendance from rsvps says something about a meetup. That’s a sigb of success no matter how small or large a meetup is and we at SUCCESS with the OPPOSITE SEX: GET RELATED not DATED™ do it consistently.
THE RECAP: We discussed receiving & sending love letters from junior high school to now & all the things those memories bring to mind. We wrote letters. Danced together. Then shared abt it.
Taking a look at what love letters meant and what form they came in from our memories brought up the notes passed in class (check yes or no), rejection when the letter is not received well, keeping the bad ones as evidence, that love letters come in the form of text messages, notes strewn on the floor as a suprise when you come home, and that we are not always accepting of that whatever way a member of the opposite sex chooses to express themselves. Moreover, we really began to appreciate the power of the hand-written thought and word.
Presentation matters in letter writing. These were written on the most amazing 3X5 vintage toile stationery sets. My aunt gave them to me as a gift two Xmas’s ago (Thx Aunt Bernetta). I visited the website tricoastaldesign.com on the back of the stationary cards. This stationary was designed in toile to “revive the lost art of letter writing.” Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toile for definition and images. The decorating pattern on this 3×5 stationary set consisted of 10 cards on an off-white background with a black floral pattern and 10 cards with an inverse pattern of black background and an off-white pattern.
Buy a box of stationary so the receiver can hear the ripping open of the envelope. Imagine re-reading the note. Share it with friends because of its presentation. Smell your cologne on the paper creating an olfactory bouquet of your sentiments. Here’s one of the love letters written anonymously by one participant to another of the opp. sex:
TO: HER
“I’m your sedative. Take a
piece of me whenever you
can.” (Seal)
Know that you are loved,
thought of, and appreciated.
Enjoy you, because I
am everyday.
Love
Zach and I organized the perfect evening even if we do say so. Overall the ratings from surveys collected by organizers reflects why you should come join us. Consistently excellent scores once again from all who attended the entire event which included 13 single and divorced men and women ages 25 and up.
Here are some of the comments:
- Everything worked for me, esp. the dancing.
- The letter writing exercise was wonderful. I also enjoyed the dancing. Wonderful get together!
- What worked: theme of love letters + dancing. Nice one! What didn’t work: time-keeping comments.
- Letter writing exercise was awesome. I like the insightfulness. The soul train line was awesome. Engaging , entertaining.
- Would be valuable to always share why we come at the beginning. (I usually do this and didn’t this time.)
ABOUT THE VENUE: Perfect space for dancing (wish I had A/C). Intimate context was perfect for sharing and letter writing.
ARE WE A MEETUP SUCCESS STORY?:
Each month meetups are rated online. The online rating form asks “Are you a Meetup success story? If so, we want to hear from you! Please tell us how Meetup has enabled you to make a difference in the world or the lives of others!” This is what I wrote:
Black singles and divorcees are part of a demographic that is higher than any other nationally. Regaring marital status: the highest rates of single folks, separation and divorce according to 2000 US Census and the trends continue to rise. SWTOS really alters the view of ourselves and of each other particularly between the sexes. This is a truly alternative kind of event. One of my long-term members (3 yrs plus) is getting married in 15 days and attribues that in part to his participation in the group (he’s our youngest member at 28).
A new member that came to the July meetup last night came simply because I made an appeal at the 11th hour –in the form of a love letter following our July meetup theme (LOVE LETTERS FROM THE WHITEHOUSE). He said he came because of it and he contributed SO MUCH to the evening. (In fact, he wrote the love letter above.) This group allows people to experience intimacy no matter what their circumstance in a relationship. Instead of staying home watching TV Fridays or hanging out with the same sex, they come out and REALLY share who they are in a way that makes us all richer. Every event is consistently ranked tops by both men and women.
