Meetup.com is a site that organizes groups worldwide into one area. Meetup.com is a free site to either find and join groups on a wide range of topics from technology to sports to politics and more, or a site designed for starting your own group and promoting your own causes. The site has alot of search functionality, where you can‚ find “meetups” by topic, city or group, or find people and connect with them directly. There are a number of ways to communicate with groups and organizers of groups within the site as well. If you become a member of a group, you will get invited to all the local events, where you can attend and network with all the members face-to-face. For recruiters, this is a great way to reach out directly with potential job seekers and get referrals and leads for open positions. Staying active in your local community through groups found on Meetup.com is a great way to promote your company, market job openings‚ and get your name out there as well - all of this being subtle of course.‚ ‚ 

Here is a look at the site in action. Say I want to find groups focused on Information Technology local to Pittsburgh, PA.

I note one group titled DotNext-Pittsburgh and click on it.

I see that this meetup group is for people who like to learn new skills in the technology arena. This group has 4 ways listed where a member attending the meeting could get involved. For example: you could introduce‚ your company’s product or service (making it relevant to the group) and make an impression on why your company would be a great place to work.

I continue further, and click through on the organizer of the group and note that there are a few ways to reach out to him without attending the meetup. Say for instance the group really frowns on recruiter attending. So I may send the organizer my contact information and see if I can share my company and openings with him and the group at the next meeting. It sure doesn’t hurt.