Posts from Meetup

IRL is short for "in real life" as if there were anything other than real life.

I am always energized when the online world connects with the real world. We had a Meetup last night for people who gave to the AVC/Gotham Gal Donors Choose 50th Birthday campaign.

379 people donated to the Donors Choose campaign. Of them, 168 signed up to attend the Meetup last night. We didn't count people on the way in, but it sure felt like most of those 168 people showed up.

And of course, many of them are regulars here at AVC. I met people for the first time who have been reading this blog for six or seven years. And I met people for the first time who are some of the most frequent commenters here. I am not going to name names because I'd leave someone out and they'd feel dissed. So I'd just like to say it was so great to meet all of you.

Many times people say to me "I feel like I know you" because of this blog and Gotham Gal's blog and all of our other online activities.  But I also feel like I know so many of you from reading your thoughts day after day after day. Making that IRL connection seals the deal and the online friendship gets stronger and better. That was the big takeaway from last night's event. Thanks to all of you who made the trip, whether it was a subway ride or a cross atlantic flight.

AVC regulars have probably noticed that the Donors Choose widget is gone from the right sidebar. That's because the month of August 2011 has come and gone and the Fifty For Fifty campaign is over.

It was a smashing success.

365 people donated a total of $54,028 (as of right now) and helped over 10,000 students by funding programs that connect these students' families to their classrooms.

10,000 students is a lot of kids. And these are mostly kids who need some help. Their teachers thank you, I thank you, the Gotham Gal thanks you, and I sure hope their families thank you.

There's a meetup for everyone (all 365 people) who gave to this campaign as well as me and The Gotham Gal and some folks from Donors Choose on November 9th, from 6pm to 8pm, at the USV Event Space. The Meetup page is here if you'd like to attend.

Finally, I promised to post a list of all donors along with their Twitter handles. I will do that once I get the list from the Donors Choose team.

In closing, I just want to say that the outpouring of support on this campaign is deeply appreciated by The Gotham Gal and me. We could not have asked for a better 50th birthday present. Thank you.

One hundred forty seven people have donated to the Donors Choose campaign we are running this month here at AVC. That's incredible to see. With five days left, we are on pace to raise $20,000 from about 175 people. Here is how we've done in prior years.

So this is likely to be our biggest year ever and that's before the HP Match which will double the amount we raise for classrooms where young woman learn science and math.

As many of you know, we are going to have a meetup to celebrate this campaign. It will be on December 8th at 6pm at Washington Irving High School right off Union Square in NYC. The meetup is open to anyone who gives to the AVC Donors Choose campaign.

Here's the Meetup.com page for the event on December 8th. Please go RSVP if you plan to attend. We will have the list of all the donors at the event so you need to be on that list in addition to RSVP'ing.

I hope to see you there.