Yet more evidence that the world is getting smaller...

I went to a "meetup" tonight for MySQL. I figured that it would be a good way to get useful, practical information about who uses this software and maybe see what kinds of employment opportunities existed for people with experience using and programming that software, i.e. me.

The organiser had created a whole bunch of meetups for different web design areas and combined them. About 25 nerds met at the Fiddler's Green in downtown Toronto. It turns out the whole thing was largely about him and his take on "the industry" (something he couldn't really pin down, frustratingly), and in his case it was all about search engine optimisation. So we heard him ramble on for the better part of painful, painful hour. Overall, it was a pretty useless gathering, harmless but not quite as informative or fun as I had hoped.

Most interesing, I did meet a friend I had lost contact with in grade 9. It was quite funny because his physical appearance and mannerisms were unmistakable, even after more than 15 years. In junior high, he was a pretty scrawny, ectomorphic kid, and now he's got a 5 o'clock shadow, a deeper voice and the early signs of a beer gut. Our conversation was brief, but he seemed like a nice guy. He started a web design company and wanted to hire a "web integrator" for a decent amount of cash. I wasn't interested in the job and that was the closest I got to tangible job search results in the evening.

I probably won't be going back to this meetup, but maybe I'll sign up for a random one and see who turns up...