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49 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: post
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status: publish
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published: true
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title: About supply and demand, or how to start your own social group
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author: Julien Lengrand-Lambert
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author_login: jlengrand
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author_email: julien@lengrand.fr
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author_url: http://www.lengrand.fr
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categories:
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- Uncategorized
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comments: []
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---
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My first post in a loooooong time.
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This article has been on my list for long, but for some reason I lost the motivation for writing those last months.
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I am gonna try to force myself to get to it again, because I know it does help me feel better about myself.
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<br /><br />
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I have been increasingly using [Meetup](http://www.meetup.com/) those last two years. I met a lot of great guys in Meetups. Heard lots of inspiring people. Listen to great talks that motivated me trying even harder to be good at what I do.
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<br /><br />
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One of the meetups I started going to on a regular basis was the [Appsterdam Peer Lab](http://www.meetup.com/Appsterdam/). Meetings happen every Saturday from 9 to 12, in a nice coffee place in Amsterdam.
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The idea is simple : get there, and start coding on your projects. Do what you want. And enjoy being around others that can help you if you are stuck.
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I really liked this meetups, because it motivated me getting up on Saturday Mornings, and do what I love most : build stuff.
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The meetup became some kind of milestone of the week, forcing me to make some progress on this project I want to push out.
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<br /><br />
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[Appsterdam Peer Lab](http://www.meetup.com/Appsterdam)/ is one of the reasons [Brestram](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.lengrand.brestram&hl=en) is on the app store today, with more than 5k installs and some paying users instead of lying somewhere half baked on my hard drive.
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<br /><br />
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The only real issue of this meetup was that it takes place in Amsterdam. More than an hour away from my house. Which meant I had to get up at 7.30 on Saturdays to get to it.
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That was just a bit too hardcore for me :).
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<br /><br />
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Not sure what to do next I tried something: Create a similar meetup in the city I live in. [Saturday Morning Coding Utrecht](http://www.meetup.com/Saturday-Morning-Coding-Utrecht/) was born.
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I wasn't sure about this. I was thinking for myself : No one is crazy enough to get up at 8 on Saturdays in Utrecht. You won't get anyone, all the cool guys will be in Amsterdam.
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<br /><br />
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The first weeks, I was anxious. The meetings were really quiet. I was mostly sitting alone in the coffeeshop. But at least I was still pushing on my projects during this time, so I kept going.
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<br /><br />
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Last month, [Saturday Morning Coding Utrecht](http://www.meetup.com/Saturday-Morning-Coding-Utrecht/) reached its first year of existence. And I love what it brought me.
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Slowly, a small community of people started to emerge. **The group is now compozed of more than 130 members**. Last week, we were 11 to join, in the same coffee place. Some [startup communities](http://hollandstartup.com/) or office spaces offered to host us. Some other times, business oriented guys showed up, talking about their projects.
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<br /><br />
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The meetup is full of activity now, with people interested to hear each others stories.
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But there is more to it. **I found real friends there. Guys that I have built projects with, won hackathons with, and that I hope to stay in contact with wherever I go next.**
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<br /><br />
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**What I get out of this is simple: If the thing you want doesn't exist where you are, try to create it yourself!**
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You don't have much to lose, and you never know what it can bring you back.
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<br /><br />
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Here is to one more year of Saturday Morning Coding Utrecht!
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<br /><br />
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Cheers,
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Julien |