Meet The Neighbors is an endeavor to introduce people who live in the same building or neighborhood.  We combine the communication tools of the internet with real-life, local action to help form relationships of all kinds between actual, physical neighbors.  Our underlying assumption is that people will benefit in every way possible from knowing and being connected to their neighbors. 

It's so common in urban environments that many of us don't even know the people who live next door.  Your neighbor relationships are reduced to nodding in the hall and having brief conversations about the weather in the elevator.  Meet The Neighbors aims to remove the proverbial walls that keep neighbors from speaking.  It is our hope that all manner of relationships will develop between people who live right near each other.  You don't need to go across town to find community - you can have it right at home.

The benefits of knowing your neighbors can be personal, business or romantic. Forging connections and community in your actual building will create powerful opportunities for collective action (such as fixing up the backyard patio, working together to improve the building, and sharing valuable information about the neighborhood's resources).  Meet The Neighbors gives you the power to create a whole new mini-universe at home, and you don't even have to go outside.

We combine all the proven communications tools of the internet with real, local action taken by our members. 

We provide you with these tools:

·          A central home page, accessible only by you and your neighbors

·          Private Messaging features

·          A public Message Board just for your building

·          Event Planning tools to organize gatherings & RSVP

·          Polling features so you can all vote on stuff

·          Official MTN gatherings in your neighborhood, with other local buildings

·          Advice and support on how to build community (we have lots of experience!)

·          Security & Privacy that protects your identity

Take a tour and see what it looks like!

You just take these easy steps:

1) Register your building (or neighborhood)
2) Print up the flyer that we generate for you
3) Slip it under everyone’s door and hang it up in the hallways
4) Your neighbors will get the word and then join the building
5) Introduce yourself to each neighbor that joins, and introduce them to each other
6) Plan a gathering and take initiative – your neighbors will respond!

We're very confident that the combination of our tools and your local efforts will result in the creation of a vibrant community in your building or neighborhood!

Meet The Neighbors was established by this guy named Jared Nissim.  In December of 2001, Jared founded The Lunch Club - his little endeavor to hold lunch, brunch and dinner gatherings that build community.  Since that time, Jared has organized and hosted over 400 gatherings.  The Lunch Club has grown to 4500 members and new elements are always being added to it.

Jared got the idea for Meet The Neighbors during the early months of The Lunch Club when he decided it was time to meet the other people who lived in his apartment building.  He printed up a note, slipped it under everyone's door, gathered people's email addresses and organized a gathering.  You can read the story here. Suffice to say, many of the people in his building got to know each other. They helped each other out. They became close friends. 

People just need a little initiative and they respond.  Jared thought it was a good idea to make use of all the best internet communication tools to build a site that lets anyone do what he did, in their own building.  You're lookin' at it.

MeetTheNeighbors has two main components: Apartment Buildings and Neighborhoods.  You can join either one or the other, but not both (at this time). Which one is right for your community? You decide!

Option 1 - Apartment Buildings

If you live in an apartment building with many units, we suggest you make use of the Apartment Building section and focus on meeting your building mates.  For instance, if you're in a building with 100 units, you have lots of neighbors right there to meet.  If your building is already registered, just join it! If not, you can register it yourself. 

Option 2 - Neighborhoods 

If you live in a small building with just a few units, or in a house in the suburbs, or an urban sprawl of some sort, we suggest you make use of the Neighborhood section and focus on meeting the people who live right around you in the other houses or small buildings. 

Why are there two options? MeetTheNeighbors was born out of the need to help people who live in dense urban areas meet the people who share the same walls and roof.  However, not everyone lives in a big apartment building or a city, and we want all people to have the chance to meet their neighbors!

NOTE: Remember, the only way this is going to really happen is if you decide to take responsibility for it.  Whether you are in a building or a neighborhood, it's still up to you to let your neighbors know about it by passing out the flyer to everyone you'd like to include. 

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When Jared first did this in his building, 12 out of 20 residents responded and attended the first gathering.  We consider this to be very good results.  If over half the people in your building respond, this is a great achievement.  It is reasonable to expect results in the 25-50% range at first.  But it's up to you to "fan the flame" and make your community grow.  It doesn't happen on it's own. You need to put energy into it. 

If you register your building and find that people are not joining up, perhaps you should re-distribute the flyer.  To maximize your results, we suggest you slip the flyer under everyone's door and hang it up in the lobby.  Also, talk to your neighbors, whenever you run into them and explain in person that you now have this really cool way for everyone to communicate! :-)

We should stress that just registering your building is not enough.  People need someone to take the initiative to organize, and if you can be that person, we think you'll find a lot of willing participants.

Yes!  If you click the Neighbors link at the top of your homepage, you will see that you can search for neighbors who live within a radius of up to 5 miles from you. 

If you do not wish to be contacted by your nearby neighbors, simply go to My Profile and uncheck the box next to Would you like your profile to be viewable by neighbors in nearby buildings?

If you have ever wondered about the other people who live in your building...if you ever thought "It would be nice to know who lives next door" or "Hmm, these people seem cool, but no one really talks to each other here..." then Meet The Neighbors is for you!  Anyone who wishes to be involved in taking action to build community right in his or her own building, should participate in Meet The Neighbors! 

Or perhaps you already live in a particularly social building.  You can use our great communications tools for your existing community!  Why not?

Oh, you must be 18 years of age to join!

Meet The Neighbors is not just a website - it's a call to action!  We provide the tools for you to take some very simple steps, right where you live, to create a vibrant, real-life community with the people you share the same walls and roof with.  We help YOU take these steps - but you actually have to take them if this is going to work for you.

We are not just another site where you register, create a profile and get cast into the "networking sea" to fish for contacts and people you have stuff in common with.  We are all about helping you create relationships with the people who already live right across the hall or downstairs.  Meet The Neighbors is about real-life, in-person, face-to-face relationships with your actual, physical neighbors - not random strangers in cyberspace.

Also, we are working on Meet The Neighbors and The Lunch Club full-time.  So, we're here to help you and we want to make sure you have the best community experience possible! 

When we see that a lot of people are joining in a particular geographic area, we will organize an official MTN gathering right in the middle of that neighborhood!   And, we'll invite only the people who live right there - so you can be sure that everyone at the gathering is one of your local neighbors!

We have organized over 400 gatherings since December of 2001, in the form of The Lunch Club - and now we'll be doing it for specific neighborhoods and areas.

Come and get introduced by our host to all of your neighbors!  If you are interested in being a local MTN Host for your area, please contact us!

You can plan a gathering for your building or neighborhood very easily!  Anyone can do it.  You don't have to wait for someone else to do the planning. 

All you need is to determine the following information:

1) What kind of gathering will it be?  It could be a Happy Hour, party, a Lunch or Dinner, hanging out in someone's apartment, a backyard BBQ...the sky is the limit! You just have to pick what you want to do.

2) Pick a date.  If you wish, you can post a poll and see which date is best for your gathering.  However, when it comes down to it, we suggest you decide the date and hold firm to your decision. Those who can come, will. 

3) Pick a location and notify the establishment.  Most bars and restaurants will be happy to set aside space for neighborhood gatherings.

Once you have all this information, just go to the Events section of your building or neighborhood and click Add an Event.  Fill in all the information and post it.  A notification will be sent out to all your neighbors.

We suggest you contact people individually and invite them.  If you put a little energy into creating conversations between people, you may find that a buzz develops about your gathering.

A few things to keep in mind:  Always be early to your own gathering and make sure things are all set.  If you RSVP for a gathering, this means you are committed to going.  Please respect your neighbors and their efforts to organize on your behalf. Your participation is key to the success of your community.

At your gathering, you are the host!  So take it upon yourself to greet everyone. Do your best to learn everyone's name. And above all, spend some energy on introducing people to each other.  That is the most important thing you can do.  :-)

Well, as with anything on the internet, you have to be discerning about what you post here. 

Do not post your personal information.

We ask only for your first name.

We don't know your apartment number.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Only reveal your apartment number or phone number to a neighbor you meet in person and have developed a sense of trust with them.)

Your email address is not displayed.

The point of this site is to facilitate communication and group gatherings for people who live in the same building.  But you still need to maintain a level of discretion about what you post, in terms of personal information.  Definitely do not reveal your apartment number, etc, without having met someone in person and developed a level of trust. 

Make use of our Private Messaging features to carry on more intimate conversations in which you can reveal personal details to people you have already met and trust.

You can ignore certain people if you don't want them to see you. Plus, the primary contact for each building has the power to remove intruders and profane messages.  And we suggest you do not meet anyone in person unless they can identify something that only a neighbor would know, and on top of that it's recommended that people only meet in groups.

Otherwise, you can post whatever you wish about yourself!  It's our hope that people will spend some time and make their Neighbor Profiles unique and interesting. Talking about the things you are interested in, and what you have to offer the community.

We do hope that you refrain from vulgar profanity.  If you make use of offensive language, your neighbors may just vote to have you removed...so be nice!

One thing to keep in mind:  Neighbor Profiles are not personal ads.  Be yourself!

Yes you can!  At the bottom of every Neighbor Profile, you can send them a message.  You also have an Inbox & Sent Items folder, with standard message managing tools.  Just click Mail at the upper left corner.

Ah, communication! It's beautiful. 

The Primary Contact “gets the ball rolling” in his or her building. This means you register your building, print and pass out the flyer to everyone. You’ll also have some moderator powers. We also suggest you plan a gathering, if you are willing!

This doesn’t require much work at all. Any neighbor can post events, messages and polls. You’ll have the ability to delete postings that are offensive or erroneous. Also, if there are “intruders” in your building, you will have the power to remove them. Keep in mind, Primary Contacts need their neighbors’ ongoing approval – so please do your best to stay on good terms with everyone.

As the Primary Contact, we hope you will put some energy into making this a success. Plan gatherings often! Contact people and say hello! At the very least, you might have to delete an offensive message once in a while. Remember, this works best when you are proactive and take initiative to organize your neighbors.

If you want to hand over the reins at some point, you can simply pass your Primary Contact powers to one of your neighbors.

Well, they were both started by the same guy.  And they are complimentary endeavors because they both have the same goal to create community.  If you enjoy meeting the people in your building, you might also enjoy meeting random people from all around the city at a lunch, brunch or dinner gathering with The Lunch Club!

If you are moving buildings and would like to transfer your MTN account to your new building, go to My Profile and scroll down to the "Leaving?" box on the left.  You have two options -

1) Move to a new building (either join one or register one)

2) Cancel your MTN account altogether. 

We hope you'll choose to be a pioneer in your new building!

We prefer to call it an endeavor. We are sustained by the proceeds from our premium gatherings. We may also display advertisements here and there, but we aim not to make them too blaring. 

MTN goes to great lengths to protect your privacy, security and anonymity.

•We do not collect last names
•We do not collect apartment numbers
•We do not display, share or sell your email address (read our Privacy Policy)
•You can reveal as little or as much as you like to your neighbors
•Photos are optional
•You can Ignore certain people if you do not wish to hear from or be seen by them
•We encourage people to meet in groups
•Your Primary Contact has moderating powers to remove intruders or unwanted postings from your Message Board
•If you are having trouble with other users or with your Primary Contact, just get in touch with MTN and we will respond as quickly as we can to resolve the matter

Important Note: Before meeting anyone through MTN, we suggest you ask one another an Identifying Question about the building you live in, which will confirm that you are actually good, honest neighbors.