Casual Events: a free alternative to Meetup

I have released a new app called Casual Events.  Check it out here.

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Of all the degeneracy and anti-social behaviour that social media has wrought, Meetup, while not strictly “social media”, is probably one of the more “social” things to emerge from the Internet. Certainly more social than say Facebook or Twitter.

Nevertheless, using it comes at a cost. If you want to host a group, as soon as you exceed 50 members you will have to pay a hefty semi-annual fee. That burden shouldn’t lie on the organizer — the one doing all the work. Inevitably, grassroots groups tend to fade away and groups advertising (and sometimes financially predatory) in nature tend to be the lone survivors. Fake users are also a problem when they bring grassroots groups over the 50 user limit.

I’ve developed a platform that brings all the social pros of Meetup, minus some of its cons. It is a platform with the “free” price tag that you’ve come to expect.

It’s called Casual Events. The app can be used online, or on your Android or iOS smart phone.

There is no cost to host a group of any size, or to use the platform in general. To help fund the project, I solicit for donations and use my own ethical (i.e. non-tracking, non-invasive, non-discriminatory) ad network, where anyone can purchase ad space. No more snooping of your private messages, e-mails, browsing history, etc. that Google AdSense and Facebook ads are notorious for, selling your privacy to the highest bidders.

The platform is politics free. Against the current trend of most platforms that tend to censor and ban anything that goes against the predominant political ideology of its management, I promise not to ban groups and events willy-nilly, unless the group or event is in clear violation of a law.

Because the platform is developed and maintained by one person, there is no requirement to subsidize New York or Silicon Valley salaries. The platform is not owned by a mega-corporation, and thus is free of the usual corrupt practices of selling out your privacy and pushing political agendas.

There won’t be hoops to jump through to get a certain bug fixed or a feature requested. Whereas a large company tends to be overrun by bureaucracy and may act very slowly to address the users’ needs, this new platform, particularly in its early stages, will be agile and flexible. If you are one of its early adopters you will likely have a large influence in the direction and improvements it takes!

Get started today and see you on Casual Events!