Photo of a grandmother Now here’s a cool recipe for a meetup:

  • Round up a bunch of friends for a gathering using social media tools
  • Head to a good local restaurant
  • Share good conversation over a meal — prepared by your grandmother

That’s the gist of the idea dreamed up by Geneva, Switzerland-based entrepreneur Laurent Haug, founder of the Dinner with Grandma series. I heard all about it on the March 19/22 episode of Spark, an outstanding podcast from the CBC.

(The whole episode is good, but if you just want to hear the Dinner with Grandma segment, skip ahead to the 10:30 mark)

 
icon for podpress  March 19, 2008 episode of CBC's Spark podcast. : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Laurent’s held three of these meetups in Geneva, and now Spark is looking to bring the series to Canada.

Why these events work

For all the benefits of connecting and building relationships online — and there are plenty of ‘em — there tends to be something more intimate about sharing face-to-face time with those same friends and colleagues at events like conferences or unconferences, Social Media Breakfasts, or Tweetups.

It’s the reason a friend of mine attending the South by Southwest conference for the first time this year called it “an almost religious experience.” It’s the reason Jeff Pulver says “the more virtual we become, the more we need to have face-to-face meetings.

Face-to-face matters.

I say Dinner with Grandma would be one heckuva meetup to hold in my neck of the woods, in Boston, too. So if you’re game to help me organize it, please drop me a line, or leave a comment below.

(Flickr photo by laughlin)

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