A MingleSpace is a clearly marked spot where people are encouraged to introduce themselves to others. It’s a place to say hi to someone you haven’t met yet—at a bustling event or your favorite café. MingleSpaces create everyday opportunities for connection and make social interaction feel natural and inviting.
Imagine walking into a coffee shop and seeing a table labeled as a MingleSpace—you instantly know that starting a conversation is welcome. Or at a community fair, a designated area signals that meeting others is encouraged. Instead of wondering if it’s okay to approach someone, the MingleSpace makes permission visible.
Why MingleSpaces matter
In a world where people are often around others but may not interact, MingleSpaces make connection approachable. They’re not just about meeting new people—they create friendly, engaging environments where conversations unfold easily.
By designating an area at an event or public space, MingleSpaces remove hesitation and normalize spontaneous interaction.
Another Example
Think of going to the county fair or a music event. You may have a conversation at one of the booths or vendors. You may run into someone you know and strike up a conversation but the people you meet may be limited to people you already know in town, especially if you are an introvert.
Or more difficult, imagine you come to the event alone and are feeling lonely or introverted. In order to talk to someone, you have to start a conversation or get lucky that someone asks you how it’s going. But what if there was a booth or a place at the fair called the minglespace, centralized and easy for people to get to, where you can go?
The people congregating there all know they’d like to talk with others. We just need to give each other the permission to engage. It’s a simple thing we can do.
Examples
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Coffee Shops & Shared Spaces: a table for guests open to chatting.
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Public Parks: a bench or picnic table marked as a MingleSpace.
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Festivals & Fairs: a booth or seating area dedicated to conversation.
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Libraries & Community Centers: a room or table where meeting new people is explicitly invited.
Our Mission
We envision more places embracing MingleSpaces as a simple way to enhance community connection. By creating MingleSpaces, we make it easier to connect without awkwardness or uncertainty. We work with organizers, event planners, and local businesses to bring MingleSpaces to public places everywhere.
In Conclusion
All of these neighborhood activities above can help create the feeling for all that the neighborhood is more than the sum of the houses, apartments, and individuals living in them -- that there is also a source and basis of connection between us. They can help people can let their guard down and be themselves when running into each other and more easily meet each other and say hi, which develops into a sense of trust.
Not only can creating a connected neighborhood lead to feeling safer, less lonely, and have a support network with nearby neighbors in an emergency, it can also lead to new opportunities and neighborhood projects not otherwise possible, and utilize talents and ideas of people living in the community.
It all starts by reaching out to neighbors living on either side of us and across the street and saying hi. Take a small step today in the direction of making your neighborhood feel like living in a part of a bigger family, not just a place you live in
