Registration is now open for the 2014 (in)RL conference-that-isn’t-a-conference on the weekend of April 25 & 26. Every year I try to explain it to my friends and I’m not sure if I succeed, so I’m going to recap what (in)RL is and what it isn’t.

What (in)RL Isn’t

• Unpronounceable (just say in real life).
• Far from home (attend a meetup in your area).
• Some kind of social media thing you won’t understand.
• An uptight social function where you need to worry what to wear and how to act.

What (in)RL Is

• Free!
• Old friends and new friends hanging out together for an afternoon (or morning, or evening, whenever the local meetup you attend is scheduled).
• In a home, a coffee shop, a restaurant, church, or wherever the hostess chooses.
• Casual.
• Large or small.

I love this year’s We Need Your Story theme. Everyone has a story, but not always an opportunity to share it.

I’ve hosted the last two years and each year has been a mix of old friends and women I’ve never met. An (in)RL meetup is a place where you can show up and make new friends even if you don’t know the hostess or anyone else on the attendee list.

Click to play this year’s (in)RL trailer (email subscribers, click over to the post to view). [If you watch closely, you’ll see me and Holley Gerth looking silly at about the 5:04 mark.]

I hope you’ll sign up for an (in)RL meetup!