South Durhamites

ABOUT THE GROUP:
The primary focus of the group is to have social activities in the south Durham area, although we have Meetups that occur in other parts of Durham and in other parts of the Triangle area.

Activities might include, but aren’t limited to:
·  Breakfasts, lunches, dinners
·  Meeting for drinks
·  Meeting for coffee
·  Concerts or other music-related events
·  Sporting events (watching in person or at a restaurant/bar)
·  Arts and culture gatherings (museums, art walks, etc.)
·  Hikes or walks
·  Volunteer events

WE ARE DEFINITELY NOT A SINGLES GROUP!
We welcome anybody looking for a positive, enjoyable social environment – singles, couples (married or not), and individuals who are married or otherwise in a relationship but attend our Meetups by themselves.

WHILE WE DO NOT HAVE ANY STATED AGE MINIMUM/RANGE, A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF OUR REGULAR MEMBERS ARE IN THEIR 50s AND 60s. Just mentioning this so that you are aware of this, especially if you are noticeably younger than 50 and are looking for groups whose regular members are in your age range.

WE ARE A VERY WELCOMING GROUP.
We are always happy to see familiar faces along with people we’ve never met before or haven’t seen in a while.  First-timers, relative newcomers, “veterans” of the group, and members who haven’t been around in a while are always welcome at our gatherings.   We understand how intimidating or nerve-wracking it might be when you attend your first Meetup, as every one of us has been in those shoes before.  We encourage our organizers and members to make our first-timers feel comfortable and welcome.

GUIDELINES FOR OUR MEETUP GATHERINGS:
(1) You are expected to pay for your own costs of attending an event, such as food/drinks, admission charges, and ticket costs.  Please don’t share your “sob story” with others in our group in the hope that someone else will pay for your meal or drinks.

(2) Please show up to our Meetups on time if it’s important for you to be on time – for example, dinner reservations at a restaurant.

(3) “No shows” and late cancellations for our events are definite no-nos.  Not showing up to a Meetup for which you RSVP’d, or cancelling your RSVP close to the event start time, is disrespectful to the organizer of the event and perhaps to the venue where the event is being held.

Examples of this include:

-- Events that are limited to a maximum number of people, have reached that maximum, and have members on the waiting list for the event.  A no-show or late cancellation usually results in it being too late for someone on the waiting list to attend.

-- Events held at a restaurant, where the restaurant has reserved tables specifically for our group.  It puts the event organizer in a bad spot if the restaurant reserved more space than it had to and potentially loses business because of this.

While our group does not have any specific rules about how many “no shows” or late cancellations are allowed for a member, please be aware that you may feel the wrath of the group organizer(s) if you are a no-show, late cancellation, or arrive late to an event.

But more importantly – multiple no-shows or late cancellations by any member will not be tolerated.  This also applies to multiple late arrivals to Meetups where it is important to be on time (such as dinner reservations).

Members who are multiple “offenders” are subject to being removed from our group, but will always be given a (respectful) warning first in the hope that a warning is all that is needed.  If that member continues to no-show or cancel RSVPs late, it is very likely that he/she will be removed from our group.

GUIDELINES FOR MEMBER PROFILES:
Some of these guidelines follow the Meetup Usage and Content Policies.  Click on this link to learn more about Meetup’s policies.

(1) Your profile must be for you only.  Profiles are not allowed for multiple people together, such as husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend.

(2) Your profile name must include your first name that you commonly go by, but there is no requirement to include your last name in your profile.  If you commonly go by your initials, it’s OK to use those initials as your profile name.

GUIDELINES FOR MEMBER PROFILE PHOTOS:
We require each group member to have a Meetup profile photo that clearly shows his/her face, close enough to the camera to make it easy for people to see what he/she looks like. We ask that members use a fairly recent photo.

We will not approve your request to join our group if your profile photo (1) shows you and another person or multiple other people, or of you and a pet; (2) shows you wearing sunglasses or anything else that makes it more difficult to see what you look like; (3) is blurry or cuts off part of your face/head; or (4) exceeds the boundaries of good taste.

If the group organizer decides that your photo does not “pass muster”, you will be able to submit another request to join our group after you have changed your profile photo to one that meets our requirements.  Your profile will not be approved for membership in our group unless and until your profile photo meets our requirements.  It doesn’t matter if your “unsatisfactory” photo has been approved by other Meetup groups.

Also, for current members, if the group organizer determines that your current profile photo does not meet our requirements, you will be asked to change that photo to one that does. You take the risk of being removed from the group if you do not comply with the request to change your photo.

Click on this link to read about how to change your Meetup profile photo.

GUIDELINES FOR MEMBER BEHAVIOR:
We want our group to be enjoyable, safe, and comfortable for our members.  So…please respect your fellow South Durhamites Meetup group members.  Read the rules for using Meetup to understand the rules and policies about being a part of a Meetup group.

In addition to those Meetup guidelines:

-- Do not show up “under the influence” to our events, or get to that point while at our events.  Needless to say, please drink responsibly if you are driving.

-- Don’t air your “dirty laundry” in public at our Meetups.  If you have a beef with someone else, don’t argue with each other in front of the rest of the group.  “Take it outside”, as they say.

HOW TO EDIT YOUR E-MAIL AND CELL PHONE PUSH NOTIFICATION SETTINGS SO YOU ARE NOTIFIED ABOUT OUR MEETUP EVENTS:
You can check our Meetup web page whenever you want to see what events have been posted, but it's easier to automatically receive email and/or cell phone notifications from Meetup whenever an event is posted.

Here's how to edit your email notification settings, and here's how to edit your push notification settings.