The Ohio Meetup Group is a 501c3 nonprofit organization created to advocate and provide resources in the state of Ohio, and across the United States for:
The Ohio Meetup Group was born from a scholarship fund that was created at an annual
conference and reunion called The Ohio Meetup (OMU). The OMU is a celebration of DJs,
streamers, gamers, and their communities who met on Twitch during the pandemic. Once
the world opened back up, in 2021, The OMU committee was formed to bring this
international group together every summer to celebrate another year of life beyond the
pandemic.
The first OMU started as a reunion, in 2022. After the inaugural year, the committee
recognized the need to use OMU as an opportunity to help enrich, enlighten, and educate
this growing community of professionals once they left the reunion. The following year, the
OMU became The Ohio Meetup Conference. One day of the meetup was designated as a day
of mental, physical, emotional, financial, and even spiritual enrichment and growth. This
was accomplished through presentations from professionals within our Twitch community
that included: a life coach, an OB/GYN, a financial advisor, an insurance agent, and a
counselor.
It was a successful day spent learning, laughing, crying, sharing, and goal setting. In a
survey sent out weeks following the event, over 90% of the attendees requested that this
be a regular part of our annual reunion. And that’s how The Annual Ohio Meetup
Conference was born.
During one of the weekend’s events, a surprise scholarship was presented to one of the
committee members (Darrell Newsom) in honor of the recent passing of his father. On that
day, The Harvey James Newsom Scholarship Fund was created. In hopes of helping
unconventional students further their education, the OMU committee decided to take the
scholarship one step further and create a foundation to keep the scholarship fund growing.
The committee decided that we not only wanted to assist students with furthering their
education, but also to provide members of the community (outside of OMU) to develop
health and wellness skills and competencies to take greater control of their own lives. To do
this The Ohio Meetup Group nonprofit organization was created.
Along with the private Annual Ohio Meetup Conference, The Ohio Meetup Group provides wellness conferences for the public, holds fundraising events to increase funding for The Harvey James Newsom Scholarship Fund, and provides resources to create an elevated understanding of the importance of the impact of a healthy mental and physical well-being.