Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

The design community is a two headed beast. You have the online design world that is filled with lots of prolific designers, writers, and twitterers. On the other side you have the offline design world filled with lots of events, meetups, conferences and tweetups.  As a web designer who primarily works online I find it extremely easy to exist solely in the online design community and neglect the offline community. This can lead to burnout when work and play, as well as socializing take place online. I’ve found that often times the solution to this burnout is human contact. (remember humans… those people behind the twitter names and avatars?)

But I’m Shy!!!

I moved to Boston just about two years ago. After a few weeks of job searching I was hired at a small design firm and ramped up my freelancing career. This life situation wasn’t exactly conducive to making friends or living a balanced life… I knew I needed to get out of my comfort zone and go out and meet people.

I’ll admit that I’m not the most social person in the world, or even the most outgoing for that matter. In fact I’m really geeky (well what web designer isn’t…) and kind of shy at times. I’m slowly realizing that no matter how great the online design community is – it’s no substitute for face to face contact with REAL HUMAN beings…

Taking Action!

I’ been attempting to attend more local events and meet more people – even if I’m terrified to do so.  Ive recently been attending some local design and development meetups. So far I’ve managed to make it out to a few AIGA Boston events, Refresh Boston, Build Guild Salem as well as BostonEErs. I just want to encourage everyone who reads this to get out and get involved in your local design community – you never know who you will meet and how you can learn from them! I’ve meet some incredibly cool people at these events including @unruthless, @mkivikoski,  @jasonrobb,  @inkpixelspaper as well as others.

I’m looking forward to attending more web/design events and meet ups and continue to make new friends. If you are in the Boston/new england area and we haven’t met in real life connect with me on twitter @nikibrown or shoot me an email hi at nikibrown dot com and say Hi – I’m game for making new friends and more nerdy webby learning!

Resources In Your Area

AIGA http://aiga.org/

American Institute of Graphic Artists – AIGA has lots of local chapters around the country and most likely in your neck of the woods. This group focuses mostly on graphic designers and is (at least in my experience) heavy on print designers.

MeetUp.com http://www.meetup.com/

Meetup.com is a site that lets individuals organize and host group activities – this isnt focused solely on design, but everything from knitting to cooking to web design! Do a quick search for design or development in your town and get involved!

Build Guild http://buildguild.org

Not sure how many build guilds exist outside of the Salem, MA area – but if you are around the New england/north shore area you should check this event out. Its held at a bar in Salem and filled with lots of good geek talk and beer!

Refresh (insert your city name here)

http://refreshingcities.org/
Refresh is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, & professional culture of New Media endeavors in the Boston area while promoting design, technology, usability, and standards.

Also consider starting an event in your area if there aren’t any!

Your Thoughts

Leave a comment and let me know what offline design events you attend or recommend others check out! Huzzah!