Meeting Virtual Friends in Real Life
by Legolas of the Woodland Realm
Crossing over from virtual friendships into real life face-to-face meetings is one of the best experiences generated by the Internet. While one needs to take a few simple precautions to do this, the lurid stories in the media shouldn’t stop you. PanHistoria and its predecessor Ancient Sites promote team building and the resulting friendships as a matter of course. All you have to do is take advantage of the situation.
Meeting people on-line via moderated message boards, lists or sites like PanHistoria and the resulting conversations over time have the unique aspect of presenting the mind and personality first. All of the physical hang-ups of the first impression are thrown out. When the time comes you are meeting a friend and the fact that they are shorter, rounder, older, younger, or whatever than you imagined doesn’t matter for the affection is already there. You both have a good laugh about it and move on to more interesting things. Using a moderated board or site is essential. Problem people are identified and weeded out by the associated staff without your being involved.
First meetings, like first dates are best conducted in an open, commercial environment such as a coffeehouse or shopping mall. This is especially helpful if more than one person is coming from various areas, malls tend to be very visible tourist attractions. I have meet with groups where members were coming from as much as a three hour drive each way and we chose a midway point between the two. Examples would be meeting in Orange County, California for people driving in from Los Angeles and San Diego or Charlotte, North Carolina for drivers from Chapel Hill and Atlanta, Georgia. Science Fiction and Fantasy or Comic Book conventions and Renaissance Fairs work just as well and if arranged enough in advance can result in large numbers of attendees. Use your common sense, some imagination and you’ll be fine.
Over the past decade and a half I have met nearly a hundred virtual friends in all sorts of venues. One group I participated in was so into getting together one could announce you’d be in a city for a business trip and get volunteers for everything from local guides to rides to the airport. Many of us still correspond years after the fan club, mailing list and the series it supported died a peaceful death.
Recently one of my alter egos discovered two Pan members live within easy driving distance of the brain we share. Never had the chance to me anyone from PanHistoria so I (or we) are excited at the prospect.
Coffee anyone?
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