Head Tale

I don't hang out there as much as I used to but MetaFilter is still one of my favourite online communities – not least because the number of librarians that hang out there. (The link is to a cool Greasemonkey script that marks all posts by librarians on the site.)

I'd lurked on the site for a year or two before finally deciding to join in the days after 9/11 feeling the need to post *something* somewhere and this place seeming like a good fit.  (When I told librarian extraordinaire and MF Moderator, Jessamyn West this story, she replied: “Oh, so you're one of those people.”)  And now that I look, the big thing that pushed me over the edge was looking for a copy of David Letterman's first monologue post-9/11.  Er, not as profound as I remembered.  But that's how you rolled in the days before YouTube, kids.

In fact, you can tell how long I've been around the site since I registered as “Jaybo” rather than my current nom de plume, HeadTale!  Each member is assigned a number and at the time, the fact that I had a five-digit number (11490) often made me feel inferior, especially since I could've had a much smaller number had I joined when I first started reading the site (a lesson I've learned well – now, any technology that comes along – I sign-up and grab my user name if available immediately!) 

Anyhow, the site is ten years old this summer and with some mild prompting at CLA from Jessamyn, I signed on to host the Regina version of MetaFilter's worldwide birthday meet-ups.

We're going to meet at the Cathedral Village Free House on Saturday July 18 at 2pm until whenever (I suspect it'll go until midnight!).  The Regina MF community is smallish (there are approximately three of us – at least of those who identify their location in their MF profiles) so even if you're not a MF member, feel free to swing by and say 'hello' and heft a birthday beer with me.  Who knows – there may be birthday surprises in store…

If you're not in Regina, check out the map of the 80+ locations worldwide that are hosting meet-ups – pretty amazing to see an online community represented in a geographic (and with the comments in the threads for each meet-up, also personalized) way like that.

It's a great community so whether you show up at a MF meet-up or not, why not consider becoming a member?  It's $5 USD for a lifetime membership – less than the cost of a single pint – which will allow you to post messages and responses across the various parts of the MetaFilter network of sites – including the always useful Ask.MetaFilter – plus you'll be well-positioned to host the 15th Anniversary bash!)

If you're on the fence, here's a taste of the debauchery that can result at a MF meet-up (featuring Jessamyn West who was in town for Sask Library Association conference in 2008)…