I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.
--Groucho Marx
I am a lifelong Groucho Marx fan... When I was in High School I once cut classes to spend the entire day on line in front of a Manhattan movie theater just to catch a fleeting glimpse of a frail, elderly Groucho walking the red carpet at the re-release of the Marx Brothers' 1930 classic film, ANIMAL CRACKERS. I have been "Groucho" at many a Halloween celebration and costume party. When I first created an account at Virtual World SECOND LIFE and saw that "Marx" was one of the available surnames I was able to secure "Groucho Marx" as my Avatar.
As much as I admire Groucho, however, I have to disagree with his famous quote above. I would join a club that would accept me as a member! As a matter of fact, last night I joined a club that welcomed me as a member: Social Media Club.
Alex de Carvalho and Social Media Club founder Chris Heuer organized the launch of Social Media Club South Florida and the inaugural event attracted about 40 Floridians for an evening of engagement and great conversation. With chapters all across the globe, Social Media Club is doing a great job of "...building an organization and a community where the many diverse groups of people who care about social media can come together to discover, connect, share, and learn."
If you are looking to turn your online Social Networking into some real world social engagement don't be like Groucho. Go ahead and join the local Social Media Club, and if your area doesn't have one yet, go ahead and contact Chris to find out how you can start a chapter!
Here is Chris talking a bit about the origin and purpose of Social Media Club:
Update: Here is some audio of the conversation at Social Media Club South Florida as recorded by Chris:
