This evening there was a wikimeetup in Philadelphia, and though there were few people in attendance (there were about 20 people or so, and I've never been to another wikimeetup so I have nothing to compare it to) I would say it was an excellent success. We introduced ourselves all around, took some good pictures, and made the crucial announcement about the new chapter.
The response was generally very positive, and even the few people who were more cautious about the idea seemed interested in the concept. It's very clear that our chapter is not "traditional" in the sense of the previous chapters. Since we are just a state, and we are generally english-speaking, we aren't going to serve as any sort of informal embassy or point of contact for the WMF.
What we can do, however, is to provide a collaborative framework for outreach: We can attract new contributors, we can attract new readers, and we can do it at the community level. This is what seems to have people most excited.
The response from people at the meetup was very positive, and the response we've been getting from other people in the previous days and weeks has been positive as well. I'm excited because we are making real progress and attracting real members, and we have the chance to do some real good with it.
