While connecting online is a great thing, connecting in person is even better.

There will be plenty of opportunities over the next few months to get some face-to-face time with the folks who are making Social Media happen in San Antonio.  In addition to the monthly gatherings, there are several Camp, Startup and Workshop opportunities coming up. The best way to become involved with the community is to participate. Stay tuned or better yet, show up to any and all upcoming events.

You may ask yourself, “What are these face-to-face meeting opportunities?” Well, here are just a few of the events I’m involved in:
PodCamp San Antonio 3.0 May 16th El Tropicano Hotel 9am-5pm: This is the event that started the whole UnConference movement in San Antonio. Organized by the San Antonio Podcasting Group, this event covers: Blogging, Podcasting, Online Video, Virtual Worlds & Social Media. Registration is open now.

Startup Weekend San Antonio II May 29-31st If you’re interested in the Startup Scene, then this is the event for you. This 2 1/2 day event will take you from the concept on Friday night to a fully launched business on Sunday evening.  Registration opens on May 1st.

TweetCamp San Antonio July 18th If you love everything Twitter, but want to know more then this is the event for you. Or if you don’t know what Twitter is but keep hearing about it on the Tonight Show and CNN then get ready to get immersed in the Twitter-sphere! From terminology to third party apps to  mobile tweeting, you won’t want to miss a minute of this micro-blogging event. Registration is open now.

For those of you who are early birds and like to get your Social Media fix in with a hearty breakfast and a strong cup of Joe, then Social Media Breakfast is the event for you. Every third Wednesday of the month you’ll find topics ranging from Journalism and Social Media to Social Media 101. Registration is ongoing.

There is also the group that attracts the tech and early adopter crowd, Social Media Club San Antonio. We think it might have something to do with the fact that most of the tech-centric crowd can more closely relate to the night owl than they can to the early bird.  Meetings are every second Thursday of the month from 6:00-8:00pm. Feel free to join the community site where we’re able to connect in between monthly meetings.

There are also impromptu gatherings which allow fans of the micro-blogging service Twitter to congregate for some face-to-face networking. These events are called Tweetups and can be organized and attended by anyone who is either part of Twitter or at least Twiter-curious. The best way to find out more about these events is to stay tuned into the Twitter stream or at least have a friend who keeps track of such things.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the events in town. I happen to know for a fact that every first Friday of the month, Susan Price hosts a First Friday Co-Working at Firecat Studio. This monthly event recently celebrated it’s one year anniversary. It has grown in popularity with each passing month. One reason is the highly interactive Brown Bag Lunch which is based around current points of interest in business, marketing and social media. There are additional Co-Working spaces around town such as T-14 in the San Antonio Technology Center as well as C4 to name a few. Find out more on the Co-Working San Antonio Blog.

These events are just the tip of the iceburg. Every day it seems I’m hearing about folks in the community coming up with new and innovative ways to connect. There has never been a better time to be involved. Jump in. The water is not only fine, your friends have already joined the fun.

Cheers!