Angel Rutledge
Co-founder, Meetify
Published: Aug 24, 2022
There’s no doubt the last couple of years have brought change to all our lives in ways we never expected, right? Some have been good. We’ve realized how important it is to spend time with those we love. We’ve gotten outdoors more often. We’ve realized how valuable and fragile our health is.
And some changes have been hard.
We’ve felt isolated. We’ve experienced loss and then more loss. We’ve realized that people we love disagree with us on issues that feel so fundamental to who we are.
Now, we’re all figuring out ways to move forward while the future still feels uncertain.
One solution that’s been most encouraging for Dan and me is to meet with people in person as it’s gotten safer to do so. There’s something about getting together face to face that makes life feel more doable, isn’t there? Catching up feels more authentic. Common ground is easier to find. Proposing ideas generates more excitement. Closing a deal takes less time. Life is simply better when we’re together.
But we noticed in scheduling meetups with people that the process isn’t easy. Sure, there are plenty of tools that make it simple to meet remotely. But what about in person? Where will you meet? When will you meet? The endless texts and emails back and forth are clunky at best. At worst, they kill the desire to get together.
I found this when I tried to meet up with a group of girlfriends for dinner. We were so excited to get together again. That is, until we were many scrolls down in a group chat trying to figure out a night we were all available. Once that was decided, we still had to pick a new restaurant to check out. Of course, it needed to be between us all because we’re busy and don’t have time to drive across town. A simple girls’ night out took forever to plan.
Then, I noticed the same problems with scheduling advising meetups with entrepreneurs around the city, arranging board meeting lunches, and planning a walk on a greenway trail with friends from church. Sometimes, I’d resort to just meeting virtually, but let’s be honest, there’s only so much Zoom fatigue any of us can endure. I wanted to be with people!
At the same time, Dan was frustrated with scheduling a time to meet for coffee with friends who were busy running their businesses. He’d propose a place and time in an email, trying to short circuit the back and forth madness to get a meeting on the calendar. Inevitably, it wouldn’t work and he’d end up in an email loop. As a natural introvert, friction like this could motivate him to stop reaching out altogether.
Dan and Angel Rutledge meeting over coffee
Does it all sound familiar? Maybe you meet for different reasons, but the problems are the same. It’s confusing to find a central location to meet. It’s tough to agree on a good date and time. You have to interrupt someone you really don’t want to bug over and over. Not to mention all the interruptions you have to endure. It all involves consulting your calendar, your map app and your communication tools just to set up a simple meeting.
Don’t despair. There’s good news. When Dan and I get irritated by a process we and a lot of other people often face, we start talking about creating a way to fix it. We got you.
So hang tight. A better way is coming. A simple solution to agree on a place and time to meet in person is almost here. Meet + Simplify = Meetify. Stick with us over the next month to get early access to Meetify and learn more about what goes into launching a startup.
For now, check out our Coming Soon page to get a glimpse of what we have in store for you!
And hey, if connecting in person has caused some of the same problems for you, would you do us a favor and share this post on your favorite social account? There are share buttons at the top of this post. Or feel free to share your own message about why you're excited Meetify is coming. Thank you!
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