I'm delighted to see that Andy Carvin of the Digital Divide Network has announced the formation of local DDN Meetups.  In other words, you can now click on a central web address provided by Meetup.Com and sign up to start or join a group in your neighborhood of other individuals who are interested in addressing the digital divide. 

To me, the service provided by Meetup.Com seems like a great concept with a less than perfect execution.  However, I've been tremendously impressed by the way Meetups have answered the question of how to bring together in person the many individuals who engage in online conversations about important issues.  Although I wouldn't claim that Meetups oriented to particular candidates significantly affected the outcome of the 2004 presidential election here in the USA, an argument can be made that they shaped the primaries.  And wouldn't surprise me if Meetups were a key element in the 2008 election.

So on one level, I think we should be watching how Meetups work to foster the great cross-over in civic engagement:  up from the workstation and out into the world.  On another level, I'm particularly interested in the success of Digital Divide Network Meetups - which will of course be chance to get up from the workstation and out in the the world, to further the mission of ensuring that more people can sit down in front of workstations.

Sounds good to me!