A historical account. I no longer run the Meetup groups described here or offer sponsorship access to them. This page preserves a chapter of my work in the Washington, DC area.
For a time, I ran Professions on Purpose and a collection of other Meetup communities, bringing people together around work, entrepreneurship, technology, design, and creative pursuits.
These were real-life laboratories. I learned a great deal from bringing people together, and I want to keep a record of that work: the communities, the partnerships, and the possibilities that emerged through them.
The communities
The former Partnerships and Sponsorships pages listed the groups below. These are the original group links; they may now lead to changed or unavailable pages and do not indicate my current involvement.
The membership figures are an undated historical snapshot from those pages, not current audience figures. People could belong to more than one group.
- Professions on Purpose — 2,805 memberships recorded
- Impact Project — 1,525 memberships recorded
- DC Aspiring Entrepreneurs — 1,980 memberships recorded
- Lean Startup Academy — 2,543 memberships recorded
- Start Up Central — 7,053 memberships recorded
- Mobile DC — 2,682 memberships recorded
- DC UX, Visual and Interactive Design — 1,441 memberships recorded
- DC Web Design & Development — 1,564 memberships recorded
- DC Creative Studio: Film, Digital Video, Photography & Media — 1,752 memberships recorded
Earlier sponsorships and partnerships
On the sponsorship page from that period, I listed paid sponsorships from Visa, the Small Business Administration, Zoho, and QS. I also described working with smaller businesses, local businesses, and other organizations.
The old page offered sponsorship, advertising, and custom partnerships to organizations with compatible missions and relevant offerings. Its FAQ discussed in-kind support and explained why I preferred a clear commitment from a sponsor over commission-only promotion.
Those descriptions belong to that period. They are preserved here as part of the history, rather than an offer of access to those groups today.
Real-life laboratories
The group names and figures tell part of the story. For me, the experience of bringing people together matters too: these communities were places to explore ideas and possibilities in real life.
Today, I think about that experience alongside what I call a “serendipity engine”: creating more opportunities for people, ideas, and possibilities to meet.
For what I’m open to now, visit Partnerships & possibilities.
Explore past events and formats: panels, career clinics, office hours, mixers, and speed coaching.