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Hi there,

 For some time now I have the feeling that the online BeWelcome is making progress with new features, better functionality, improved design etc. However, the real life part of our community is still not as active as it could be. Maybe this is just a subjective impression due to my own personal situation, but at least the real life part is not so visible here in the forum or anywhere else.

 So I would like everybody interested in building local communities to participate in this thread and share what kind of activities could be organized, what has been done and worked well or not worked so well. 

 Looking forward to reading loads of nice ideas!

Claudia

Ehhh, you are from Fürth???!!!! I grew up in Feucht, close to Nbg :D

 You could organize a meeting at the Christkindles-Markt der Partnerstädte - it's less crowded and intercultural ;) - And expats + travellers in town will love to go the christkindles markt anyway - it might be a nice starting point, since many people feel more comfortable to meet in a neutral place at first rather than somebody's flat.- Otherwise I really like your idea!

Hi,

What I realized from my experience of being local volunteer for another network (where we did regular meetings every first Sunday of the month) is that meeting at a neutral place helps to make people feel comfortable.

A BW meeting for the sake of BW will be difficult. The best is to invite for some activity together, like going to the christmas market (you d be surprised how fast you make best friends there...), a city tour, carneval etc. Don't make BW the center of the meeting, people won't feel at ease (especially if they are no active volunteers).

As a matter of fact we have a whole bunch of information about local volunteering and getting active on a local level in the wiki!

You could also check for planned meetings of other networks like CS and HC and - if you feel inspired - tell them about your preferences in a friendly way :-)