By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com San Diego Blogger
One of the best things about living in San Diego is all the events and things to do that happen around the city on a year-round basis. One of the problems about living in San Diego is trying to figure out what to do and, often more importantly, with whom do them.
Yes, there all kinds of meet-ups, Facebook groups, Eventbrite invitations and such but you often don’t know what you are getting into until you get there. You face the distinct possibility that you have nothing in common with the people there and your excitement goes as flat as a stale San Diego IPA.
That is what the free app Walkabout seeks to overcome. Now before you scream “NOT ANOTHER APP!,” read me out here. Walkabout – which is not a dating app – seeks to connect people with the same interests within the community.
Walkabout is a “you should know your neighbor” app according to President Jessica Young.
The idea is to be focused on getting people in specific neighborhoods together at places where they can walk, thus the name Walkabout. But in reality if you, say, live in North Park, you are certainly welcome to go to something that’s happening in the Gaslamp Quarter or East Village.
“The concept is simple, you should get to know your neighbors and enjoy San Diego,” Young explained. “Walkabout it not a friendship app, it’s not a dating app. It’s way more simple. It’s ‘you should get to know your neighbors.’ So we guarantee when you show up, you’re not going to be alone. We’re going to introduce you to people and you’re going to be in the mix.”
Yes, she said “guarantee,” tho she laughed when I humorously challenged her on it. “I don’t guarantee you will love all the people (chuckles) but I guarantee you will meet people,” she said. Fair enough!
Walkabout hosts events, mainly at bars and restaurants but at other places, too. For example, it had an event for Padres Opening Day. “We hosted an after party with Mission Brewery that was exclusive for us,” Young said. “We had drink specials, we had baseball trivia, and we had about a hundred people just hanging out together, and it was a totally free event.”
There are more than 200 business in Walkabout’s network. These businesses provide deals on food and drink, among other things. One is a friend of PubClub.com which does walking tours throughout the city, Way To Go San Diego. It’s part of the daily list of things to do and events listed on the homepage and those that are not put on by the app are marked as “not organized by Walkabout.” This is a free service, by the way, and Walkabout does not collect any user information.
“If it’s a Walkabout event,” Young said, “we have (our) people there who are connectors and that guarantees you’re going to meet people.”
It is working, too. Walkabout has grown from a little more than 900 users when it launched in 2023 to 18,000 – and growing – today.
PubClub.com attended one of its events, at the North Park beerfest, where it had three pop-up tents providing the only shade at the event. It also had its own beer tap in partnership with San Diego’s Mission Brewing, which enabled its users to avoid the ridiculously long lines at all the beer tent stations. So you could actually get a beer without a wait and have the leisurely time to mingle with other users.
The app is available on the Appple App store for iPhone or Google Play for Android phones. Its website is Walkabout.app.
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