When I was first starting my career journey as a software developer around a decade ago, the internet was a little bit different. I constantly found myself surrounded, both IRL and on the web, by folks who were more motivated by time than money. This was great for me, a student with plenty of the former and basically none of the latter.
The best meetup groups I’ve ever been involved with were run by passionate, dedicated people; people who were not financially motivated, but dedicated their time and yes, sometimes their own money, to creating an environment where other people can have fun and succeed. I think there’s a clear parallel between these social clubs for programmers and random websites I stumble across; now-a-days, across every function I participate in, it feels like it’s harder and harder for someone to talk about their passions without money coming into the equation.
Frankly, I don’t have a lot of fun in spaces — physical or digital — where everyone’s trying to figure out how to make a buck. And it feels like those spaces are more and more prevalent now, and that spaces where people can just come together without having to pay rent for the privilege are few and far between.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of folks out there making a positive impact in the world without profit being their first priority. rsvp.place is a space for those people.
I want this site to be in a peer group of organizations with the following principles:
This site is only in its first iteration, but I hope you’ll stay tuned as it turns into something that reflects the ethos of the spaces I want to help foster.
—Joe