I found a site that lists a lot of group meetings and there are some in my area. My interests are for meeting other webmasters and bloggers and sharing ideas. They get together for coffee or whatever to network. My fear of going to this place is that someone who is super ambitious is going to see my idea in a meeting and copy it. I saw a list of some of the other blogs and they were really bad and had no focus. My idea isnt very successful yet, but it can trigger an "ah-ha, I didnt even think of that" moment in someone and they'll rip me off. I dont know if it happens a lot, but I'm worried about it. Maybe other people arent as calculated as I am. I dunno. However I do need to network because I just work alone at home and its hard for me to try to grow my business sitting behind my desk talking to no one. Plus I need to make friends too. Maybe if I just go to the meetings and talk about my business but talk about how business sucks and im not making much money, then it wont be likely someone will copy me. Thoughts on this? Sorry for rambling
Maybe find a more advanced group if you feel that the one's you're seeing now are that bad. Yes, there will be a lot of AH HA's going around. I think that is the whole point. If you dont' think you'll glean anything useful, stick to yourself in the shadows and don't share your ideas. Work with your own secret recipe if you think it is already pretty good If you need a think tank, but are worried about them stealing, then don't be too open with the other members.