Erin McElvaney

Hey all :)  You might know I've been living in Durham in the RTP area for about two months now.  I have spent probably an inordinate amount of time/effort finding fun things to do and ways to meet new people, since I knew virtually no one when I moved.  I figured I'd set up this section as a central resource point for myself and any others new to the area who are looking for ways to get involved and do fun things! 

Check out the links section to find some meet-up groups or volunteer organizations.  If anyone has more groups that they know about or links of interest, please comment here and I will add them to those already listed.  It's a growing list :). 

Here are some notes on the different organizations:

Meet-up Groups:
Triangle Meetup - This was referred to me by someone I met throught a different meet-up group. I haven't attended any events with them yet, but it looks fun!

Raleigh-Durham New In Town Meetup Group-  I attended their monthly meetup the other day.  They got together at Champps in Southpoint at 8 on Tuesday.  We ordered drinks/appetizers/meals/whatever and chatted and met a bunch of new people.  I exchanged emails with a bunch of people.  It was a good time:)

North Raleigh New In Town Meetup Group- I haven't joined this group yet, but I believe their get togethers will be at the greenhouse, which is also used as evergreen church's office.  It looks like a nice place to hang out--pool or ping pong or foosball I think they have.. Let me know if anyone goes to this.

Tri Sports Social Club- I went to the only thing I have been able to go to yet--it was a 'party' at Hard Times Cafe in downtown Raleigh.  They bought everyone's first beer!  It was fun, and I met a few people there that I've stayed in touch with and hung out with since then.  Everyone seemed friendly and like they were having a good time.  I'm excited about joining the volleyball leagues and anything else they have.  It seems like a fun group that goes out a lot, too.  They also do weekend trips and stuff.

Volunteer Groups/Organizations:
Habitat for Humanity - I worked on the IBM house through the Women's Diversity Network Group one Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  I worked on cutting, measuring, and hammering in the framing and shelves in the windows. 

Raleigh Jaycees - This link was referred to me from someone I met at a meet-up group (the new in town one).  It looks like a great group to get involved with and they do a lot of community and volunteer work but also some fun things--like they are sponsoring a haunted house as a fund raiser!

Miscelaneous:
Durham Arts Council - They have a whole catalog of classes on their site.  I signed up for their hiphop/ street jazz dance class.  It's not too expensive ($68/ 8 classes, 1hr each), and it's SOO much fun.  I'm not even a dancer-type.  They also have a lot of great other classes online.  They are located in downtown Durham which is convenient to me.  They have a CenterFest which I went to as well, where a lot of local artists display and sell their work, etc.  I stopped by that this year and it was pretty neat.

Triangle Citysearch website - I've used this to find places to eat and go out, get reviews and cost estimates, etc.  It's a handy little site. :)

IBM Internal Links:
Don't bother unless you're connected to the IBM intranet as an employee.. :)

Volleyball Links:
I haven't checked into any of these very much.  I'm looking for pickup games in the area, though... preferably indoor.  It seems like no volleyball seasons start until Jan or so!  Let me know if you find any other good references or links, or just information on where to play!