thanks for being curious about the good hangout! while this vision is just a bebe seed right now, here’s the info we’ve got -

what: a community of individuals in the twin cities (currently) who are interested in making more meaningful connections through casual gatherings. we’ve started with just folks I know from living in Minneapolis for 8 years - people from college, from the hospitality industry, meeting out and about, really anyone who I’ve felt a shared connection with.

Many of these people have similar things in common - they’re kind, inspiring, open, and creative (in many different ways), and although this word fails to capture the exact essence of what all we’re capturing - they’re fun. They’re a good hang.

why: you might be tired of hearing this - but despite being more “connected” than ever - everyone is so f*cking lonely. the loneliness epidemic is real - and it has serious health, economic, and ecological impacts. working for a small local business, we discuss social trends on a daily basis. we’re not sociologists by any means - but you can’t deny the fact that people are gathering less than usual, scrolling more than ever, and that events like break the bubble, pitch your friend, and timeleft are taking off. everyone is craving more in-person connection, but people (ESPECIALLY midwesterners) are afraid to seek it out.

which is why one of the original ideas for a name was “friends of friends” - because it takes that “scary” stranger aspect out of it and instead connects you with people that you already know you’re going to have (at least some) things in common with, or at least someone that you know is personally vouched for by someone you trust.

if you’re curious about why this group originally started - you can view the initial landing page here and learn the whole story about how supportive girlfriends surrounding me after a major life event sparked wanting to connect all the wonderful people i know - and everyone they’ve ever found wonderful, and so on and so forth

who: anybody who exemplifies the above - anyone who is interested in making new (platonic) meaningful connections, who wants to learn new things, and most importantly - they make others around them feel safe.
**anyone who violates this won’t be welcome (sorry not at all sorry)

how to join??

a few different ways!

• you can sign up to get email updates / join the slack channel here

• come to our first event! full details here

the vision~~

we want this thing to grow. we want friends to invite their cool, kind friends. we want people to meet new people - to form book clubs, craft groups, hiking groups. we want to host symposiums where we can all educate each other on making sourdough, managing our finances, and building websites. group trips! a slack channel where someone can say “hey, it’s Friday, i’m free tonight - what’s everyone up to?” everyone having a network of support that they can access.

eventually, who knows - maybe we have a Good Hangout Chicago, a Good Hangout Gotenberg (selfishly ;), Good Hangouts everywhere! i’ve always been passionate about connecting others, about people in general, and the fervor i feel about building this equates to binging a book when i was 13 years old. that’s a feeling i want to chase, to foster, to grow <3