If you’re just starting out in your professional career, or you’re new to Calgary, a common problem is where do you go to meet new people?  The desire to meet new people doesn’t have to be for professional reasons, it could just be to make new friends or hang out with people who share some common interests with you.  Local Calgary meetup groups are a great way to do this.

Not everyone is an extrovert who can strike up a conversation with just about anybody, meetups at least give you some common ground and a starting point to initiate a dialogue.  The organizers are also there to help with introductions and keep the conversations flowing. There are a ton of reasons why you should attend a Calgary Meet Up Group but for the sake of expedience here are the top three.

Professional Connections

No matter what stage you’re at in your career you can always benefit from networking, and if you own your own business networking is a must.  When you’re fresh out of university and looking to land that dream job don’t overlook meetup groups as a great way to get your foot in the door.  LinkedIn and job boards only show a portion of the opportunities that are out there.  Meet ups can provide you the opportunity to meet clients, employers and potential business partners if you use them.

Make New Friends

Meetups don’t have to be all about business, meeting people when you’re new in town is never that easy.  No matter how obscure your interests may be you can probably find a meetup group for it.  Competitive scrabble…no problem, medieval basket weaving…meets on Thursdays.  So that might be a slight exaggeration but Calgary is a big city, there will be people you share common interests with.  There are groups for people who share a love of reading, fitness, health and wellness, movies and technology, you can find something you like.

Learn a New Skill

There are an endless number of Meetup groups in Calgary and many of them are there to teach you a new skill.  The tech and the art scenes are hugely popular, learn to write code or paint a masterpiece.  If neither of those are your thing you can learn a second language, or unleash your inner foodie.  There are free or inexpensive events all over the city that will help pick up a new skill and meet new people at the same time.