How many forum members have you met in person ?? Where to meet forum members ??

I "virtually" met 5 members several years ago in a Zoom call. It was truly a pleasure chatting with them. The call was organized by a younger member who is no longer in the forum. In fact, only one of the members is still in the forum and I still feel like I have a very special bond with her.
 

Of this forum nobody. But my wife and me met some members of German forums shortly after the year 2000 in person. The friendship to a couple in Austria lasted not only until the husband's death but after this via handwritten letters with his widow. During the Covid plandemic the contact suddenly broke. I don't know what has happened to her.
 
I've met people from other forums and other forms of social media. Met a wonderful woman from Washington state who posts the most amazing garden photos on Facebook. When we were passing through on our way home from a conference Lia had attended in Vancouver a few years ago we made arrangements to meet her to visit Heronswood nursery and garden and also Windcliff, the private garden of the same gents who made Heronswood. Because she volunteers at the latter we were able to see that one too. I've met many other gardening friend through Facebook.

I've met people from other discussion forums and had some visit here, though no one from here so far. But aside from Facebook the place where I've met people in RL is Flickr, the photo storing site. Planned most of my 2008 trip with the help of one fellow who we met for lunch who took us to his favorite local estate garden after. On that trip I also got to visit a couple, Tony and Marie, in their garden in Walsall. I have no doubt if we lived closer we would be regular chums.

When we first started having yearly garden/studio parties I'd invite friends who pictures I'd admired on Flickr and have had visits from some who cam from Oregon, San Diego, LA and a few from San Francisco whose paths I had not crossed in RL.
 
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There was an original forum here in the UK which was started by a national company for the elderly somewhere around late 90s/early 2000, which was very popular. Started as a closed (private) forum and was ace.
Sadly, when it went global (not private), that's when trouble started - cue the racists, homophobes and anti-Semitic posters - couple that with new lousy mods who were little Hitlers in disguise, it went downhill fast. It closed down because of those posters stirring it, which was widely reported in the media.

After it's closure it spawned loads of new over 50 sites by ex-members. Some private, some not, some still thriving, some closed for various reasons including one recently (Buzz).

But back to the OP - yes, I've met many from forums I've been a member of. On one, I started a meet up thread for canal boating freaks like myself, which progressed well - barbeques, pubs ... it was fun with a capital 'F' ;)
And there were those I didn't meet but gelled with where we swapped phone numbers or e-mails. Had a relationship with one chap, been witness for a couple who met and married off a forum and so much more - lots of many good memories from those times, along with the sad and bloody awful times.

Couple of fond memories I'd like to share...one chap I met in the boaters thread era, was a chartered surveyor. Great SOH, had a penchant for flirtyness which I loved to slap him down for. Good banter between us. He was a dreamboat to have in my back pocket - I moved a few times then and he did the surveys on the 'next property'. Never accepted payment, but I insisted treating him to a meal out as thanks.

Shopping in town one day, I noticed a bloke and recognised him from the his profile pic. He was older than me and his posts were such fun, chirpy, upbeat. Such a hoot and came across as such a great guy.
And there he was looking at underpants - so me being me, I went up to him and said 'Jimbo!'. His face was a picture - such confusion at this strange woman calling his name. :D
Cutting it short - he lived 10mins from me, widower with grandkids and his family were just as barmy as he was. We often went for drink or pub grub, days out etc.

I'm still a member of some sites, but not active. It's interesting that some sites still hark back to the good old days of that first site - even those sh*t stirring members are still spouting and getting suspended or banned, who go on to other sites and behave for a while and the cycle restarts until they get found out and banned or suspended. Never fathomed out how people get round the system of rejoining :unsure:

I don't want to replicate any those days I'm just happy moseying along in here, dropping in now and again, and reading what's happening in other folks' lives outside of the UK. 😊
 
None on this web forum but dozens of dozens of members from other forums. This SF forum is rather modest with members widely scattered world wide so not easy to meet others herein. Much more likely for people to say meet others on local regional enthusiast forums. A majority of tech un-savvy people on the Internet are afraid of using their real names. Have no skeletons in my closets, nothing to hide over, and not afraid of talking to strangers.

Have been a public person using my real name with my public web site for 2+ decades. In fact, I am prominently on Linkedin though inactive since career retiring and of course know dozens of other professionals that is termed networking. And would welcome publicly meeting most (but not all) members on SF given purpose if they were out here in the SF Bay Area.
 
I am in favor for a video conversation if anyone is interested? PM me
 
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Naturally said:
I message almost daily with one member but as far as I know, have never met any of yous in person.
If we ever did meet, where would it likely be ??
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No, never done it. The other forums I am on are all US-centric, which to a large extent this one is too. There is one forum member here who is a short trip to, but the least said about that the better. :D

I think it's important to remember that people are always different in real life. Forums, for all our efforts, are still one step removed from who we really are. Meeting someone would be fun, but I'd say it'd be like meeting a completely new person.
 

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