Even in a connected world, it is sometimes hard to find people with similar interests. One tool that was fairly hot for filling that need a few years ago was Meetup.com. Newspapers and news stations ran articles and features on it. Everyone knew someone who had used it to find a group focused on one of their passions. Then, Dean happened.

When Howard Dean threw his hat in the ring as a Presidential candidate, his campaign team saw the value of Meetup.com and used it to start Dean for America groups. It caught on like wild fire and should be considered one of the primary reasons Dean came from behind and was able to utilize the Internet to generate money in ways his competition would eventually mirror.

Since then, with the exception of use by Dean's new group Democracy for America, Meetup.com has pretty much fallen off the radar. Out of curiosity, Dane101 decided to pop in on Meetup.com and see what kind of exciting groups are offered in Madison these days. In addition to the token Phish, U2, Star Trek, political and knitting groups, here are just a few others that we found interesting:

The Madison Good Charlotte Group. Touting nine members this group is for fans of the "punk-rock" band Good Charlotte. Sadly, they haven't met since December, so the age old question "Who is cuter, Benji or Joel?" may never be answered.

The Madison Furries Meetup Group. Ahhh...furries. Furries are enthusiasts of anthropomorphic animals. They are individuals who find films like Disney’s "Robin Hood" - where all of the characters are animals - or comics like "Omaha The Cat Dancer" - where the main character is a cat and a stripper - alluring entertainment. On the Brunching Shuttlecocks Geek Hierarchy, they are third rung from the bottom. General Furries are above "Erotic Furries" and people who write erotic Star Trek fan fic where all the characters are furries and they put a furry version of themselves in the story.

The Madison Sean Hannity Meetup Group. The thing about furries is you have to respect them for not being embarrassed about who they are and embracing what makes them happy. At least they are honest with who they are. And then there are the people that get together to talk about their passion for Sean Hannity. Yep. Hannity.

The Madison Insane Clown Posse Meetup Group. The founder of this group was really excited about starting this group, note the use of the exclamation point, "This shit here's just gettin off tha ground, so any of you Lo's and Lette's that wanna be down... let me hear ya!!!!! anyone else can git tha fuck outta here if you ain't down with the clown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then there are the two Madison singles groups. One is called just "Madison Singles Meetup" and the other is "Madison Newly Single Meetup." The later is assumedly for people who don’t like a challenge and hope to catch someone on the rebound.