My First Time

I was afraid to say where I was going. And a little nervous when I got there. Felt a bit like an online-dating virgin would have ten years ago.

I was a few minutes late when I walked into the restaurant. There was a long table with about 15 women seated at it. I debated waiting to ask the server or walking straight over to the table. What was the worst that could happen? If it wasn't the right group, no one there knew me.

I took a deep breath and walked toward them. "Hi, is this the KCBlog group?"

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To be honest, I had heard about people meeting IRL, but didn't entirely understand the allure. Though it would be fun to chat it up with a couple of people I know through blogs and Twitter, in general, I like the anonymity of the Internet. And going to BlogHer or TypeA would be fun, but I can't afford to do anything like that right now, so it didn't seem like anything to worry about.

Then a few weeks ago, a woman I used to work with who has a money-saving blog told me about a group of local bloggers who were getting together.

I had mixed emotions about going. On the one hand, I was looking forward to seeing ex-coworker again. On the other, I didn't know any of these other people, or their blogs, so what was that going to be like? Were they all going to be full-time bloggers with way more experience and talent than me? Were they going to be talking about stuff I didn't understand? Were they going to be rich housewives with time on their hands I couldn't relate to?

It ended up being a lot of fun. One of the girls who organized it explained that she was interested in setting up a support group so we could help drive traffic to each other's sides, give each other feedback, and help each other with questions. And it's exposed me to a whole bunch of blogs I probably wouldn't have found on my own. We plan to meet once a month, and in July, I'll go without all the nervousness that goes with the first time.