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“Fellow Meetuppers,

I don’t write to our whole community often, but this week is
special because it’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many
people don’t know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.

Let me tell you the Meetup story. I was living a couple miles
from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought
local community doesn’t matter much if we’ve got the internet
and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I
hoped they wouldn’t bother me.

When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors
in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to
neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they’d normally
ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each
other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being
neighborly.

A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring
people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was
born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet — and
grow local communities?

We didn’t know if it would work. Most people thought it was a
crazy idea — especially because terrorism is designed to make
people distrust one another.

A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months
after 9/11.

Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it’s
working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups,
Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups… a wild variety of
100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common — except one
thing.

Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to
neighbors. And what often happens next is still amazing to me.
They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and
motivate each other, they babysit each other’s kids and find
other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace
together. They make friends and form powerful community. It’s
powerful stuff.

It’s a wonderful revolution in local community, and it’s thanks
to everyone who shows up.

Meetups aren’t about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it
weren’t for 9/11.

9/11 didn’t make us too scared to go outside or talk to
strangers. 9/11 didn’t rip us apart. No, we’re building new
community together!!!!

The towers fell, but we rise up. And we’re just getting started
with these Meetups.

Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ)
Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup
New York City
September 2011″

1. Smashing Magazine has compiled 33 high-quality fonts, free for most uses. (The only one I couldn’t figure out how to download was Ubuntu, which brings the count down to 32–still not a shabby number.) For all you font fiends out there, fest on these.

2. The much-teased-about, Drew-Barrymore-directed Best Coast video has been released! Enjoy it below:

Without further ado, courtesy of Tips and Tricks-HQ:

PS If you’re looking to download a remix of The Look, get your hands on it over at Abeano Music.

Directed by Lorenzo Fonda

Read about the differences between HTML5 and HTML4 at W3C.

Have fun playing The Gamits’ musical puzzle-game-thingy.

Pretty cool, huh? I wish I had thought of it. Obviously, this technique can only be used to a certain extent. It looses its surprise and wonder after the first viewing, but it only takes one memorable experience with a brand to remember it. Think about that the next time your design team is trying to come up with “the next big thing.” Take a chance.

Another nice thing about this ad is that it uses intelligent, creative technology instead of trying to push the envelope with overt or implied sexuality. It has become so easy for brands to sell with sex, and it’s refreshing to see a successful advertisement that doesn’t. Way to go, Bimmer, Beemer, Beamer. Way to go.

In a completely different vein, Sid Ceaser of Ceaser Photography made an incredible proposal video! He even bought customized puppets from The Muppet Whatnot Workshop! Watch the video below.

This makes me think about what my next Flip video project will be! And, yes. She said “yes.”

Finally, for your Christmas cheer:

WayMakers homepage before the redesign

WayMakers original inner page

As you can see, there wasn’t a whole lot of structure of visual interest in their previous design. It felt like the contents of the pages were floating, untethered. There was no flow between items on the page. We, as users, need visual clues to tell us where to look first, second, and third. Without those clues, there’s a lack of focus and a website’s call-to-action or entire purpose may be missed. Another problem with the website was a lack of consistency from the home page to the inner pages. The left menu items moved to the top and a submenu replaced it on the left. This is a User Interface Design no-no. Additionally, the wording of the menu items was cryptic. Why should I click on “A Prayed-For Planet…” or “…For Christ’s Greater Glory”? If a user can’t immediately determine what a menu link means, they will get frustrated and leave the site.

All of these problems were fixed in the redesign.

WayMakers redesigned homepage

WayMakers redesigned inner page

Now, there is a clear hierarchy, concise menu items, and consistent menu bars. As a result, user retention should be higher.

Estimated Launch Date: November 10, 2010.

• Online portfolio redesign — CHECK
• Network, network network — CHECK
• Move to a city with opportunities — CHECK
• Freelance — CHECK
• If necessary, find temp work — CHECK
• Make a budget — CHECK
• Live off ramen noodles — HECK NO

So, if you’re interested in hiring me for a project or a full-time job with benefits (!), click the CONTACT button on the left. Together, we can make our dreams come true…………

Ironically, no one seems to be monitoring (or at least not monitoring well) the Twitter account associated with Inbound Marketing University. There’s a lot of spam showing up in their sidebar widget.