I attended my first #instabeerupCLT in March, and I’ve been every month since (kicking myself for not going before then!). I am incredibly excited for next week’s #instayearup at Unknown Brewing.

Instabeerup is more than just an opportunity to have beer at one of Charlotte’s many craft breweries. You can do that any day of the week. It is a chance to casually network and an even better opportunity to make new friends. In fact, one of the “rules” is to meet at least one new person. I’ve been fortunate to meet journalists, funny guys, Kristi of @FeastFoodTours, other people in my field of work, and a few ‘friends’ from Twitter. Being friends IRL is way more fun.

I look forward to these monthly gatherings because they aren’t stiff networking events where everyone is walking around with name tags, business cards and a personal agenda, it’s more everyone is walking around with name tags, a pint and a friendly smile.

While I personally haven’t made connections for my career, I have enjoyed meeting new people and hearing about their exciting ventures in Charlotte. Also, there’s beer. And sometimes the first beer is sponsored by someone awesome like Yellow Cab of Charlotte.

So unless you hate beer, don’t want to make any connections for future jobs or new friends, and are basically a recluse, you SHOULD be going to #instabeerup. My husband is an introvert and he went, so you can, too. Again, unless you are a hermit, I expect to see you on Thursday, 6/25 at Unknown Brewing with a smile on your face, beer in your hand and talking to at least one new person.

PS – let’s give it up for Corri Smith (@corriasmith) and Amy Herman (@VTGCLT) for putting this together. Charlotte is a big place, with so many smart people and so much potential, so we need to be getting together more often. Share your ideas, make new friends, taste good beer, do big things in our city.