Dear Web, please help me get outside
Story byPatrick Cushing
Patrick Cushing is a recent transplant to San Francisco, where he writes about both public companies as a member of Wikinvest and early star(show all)Patrick Cushing is a recent transplant to San Francisco, where he writes about both public companies as a member of Wikinvest and early startups on Enter Venture. He previously worked for the NYC government, a software firm in India, and graduated in 2006 from Columbia University’s engineering school.
Check out hisLinkedInandBlogfor more information.
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Go to an event
Back in the days before the web, finding out about an event was a bit of a crap shoot. You might see a flyer for the event somewhere or an ad in a magazine or newspaper. With the web, you can find just about any type of event you can imagine. You can find business and tech events on sites likeGarysguideor get a list of events by your location withEventful. You can even find tickets to professional events (i.e., you have an overpriced ticket with a bar code) resold for extra high prices on StubHub, Ebay, orcraigslist.
Create your own event
Services likeMeetUpandMIXTThelp you form both online and real life groups to help both your business and social life. You can create an ad hoc gathering focused on learning something new with aBarCampevent. If that doesn’t work, there are all kinds of other “unconferences” you can create — you can even create your own overpriced tickets with tools likeEventBrite.
Find a date
It’s hard to watch TV these days without seeing the dueling ads betweenMatch.comandeHarmony. Real people are using these services, and you can use not-so-real compatibility tests to find them. If that doesn’t work for you, try finding dates based on religion with sites likeJDate,MuslimFriends, or,Christian Cafe.
Go to China (or somewhere similar)
Ernst-Jan has been traveling around China for the past week with otherbloggers. What a great idea! You can find great travel deals on sites likeKayak, Orbitz, or Travelocity. Read about about whatever the places you choose to visit withLonely Planet(or getpaid to writeabout them) or crash on a couch withCouchSurfer.
Go outside
When all else fails, fire up one ofyourfavoritedirectionsservices and walk or drive to somewhere new. You can look up a nice park using one of your local park websites, or find a team to play sports with using site’s like New York’sZogSports.
The future of the web is all about getting away from it!
