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Back in June, when Angelo and I discussed starting a small social group for people in the web design & development industry, we wanted to create an opportunity for local folks to get together each month and talk geek, drink adult elixirs, and network a little bit. A few hours each month spent among like-minded people in an environment that had food, drinks, and very little structure or routine.

We threw together a small website that, for the most part, relies on other websites to do most of the heavy lifting, we created a twitter account and wrote a few silly things in it, and we utilized Yahoo!’s Upcoming! website to handle the event and attendee details. Throw in a few instant messages to friends in the industry, a Facebook group (Thanks Paul!), a Flickr group for photos, and we were done with the online part. I then spent a very small amount of time visiting a few local restaurants to ask if they would have us for an evening and, finally, we spent about $30 on a geeky gift to give away.

That’s it. About 30 combined hours of work, $30 out of pocket, and we had created a simple social event for folks who do what we do. Once a few friends told a few of their friends we had our final and most important ingredient: people.

Since Angelo and I started the Build Guild I’ve had a few out-of-state friends say to me, “I wish we had something like that where I live.” I immediately think about how easy it was to start the Build Guild and I tell my friends that they should try to make a social event/group of their own; they might be surprised how many like-minded folks there are in their area. What’s the worst that can happen? Better yet, what’s the best that can happen?

My point here is that if you feel the same way—that there aren’t any web design & development social groups in your area—then try to start one. You might be surprised with what happens.