Anybody who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of networking through channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I’m also a huge fan of more traditional in-person methods, such as social get togethers, happy hours, and business events. The online methods have their advantage for sure — a much wider reach to far more people, but they still lack that personal contact that a smile and a handshake will get you. These in-person meetings will be remembered far longer than any online method possibly could. That being said, the perfect follow up to such a meeting would be to connect in the online world (if of course this is a person you would want to connect with).
Managing Celiac Handbook, I come across a lot of events and needless to say, I’ve attended quite a few. I’ve met a lot of great people and discovered a lot of amazing gluten-free resources. One group that I am a member of (but I’m sorry to say that I haven’t actually attended one of their events) is the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group. With well over 1,000 members, over 100 events already held, and at least seven already planned in the coming months, they have been a consistently strong player in the NYC celiac community. Everything from happy hours to charity fundraisers to wine and cheese events — I think I even saw a yoga event in there somewhere. My point being that their meetups are as diverse as one would expect in NYC. While I would rarely recommend something that I haven’t personally tried — I feel very comfortable in recommending this meetup group as a group that “gets it”.
I do a lot of traveling, but unfortunately, New York City has not been one of my destinations — but it will happen — hopefully sooner rather than later. There are just too many great celiac friendly restaurants, bakeries, and businesses — I really have no reason to stay away much longer. Once that trip happens, you will undoubtedly be hearing from me talking about what is quite possibly the gluten-free capital of the world.
