It’s been more than ten years since I began exploring ways to connect locals and visitors here in Houston. I really can’t believe that, but when I think about the path that the organization has taken, I realize how much has been done and where we’ve arrived. We’ve worked with so many unbelievable Greeters, some of whom are Greeters now, continuing to share their favorite Houston haunts. Hundreds of Greets have taken place serving hundreds of visitors and we’ve learned that with a viable and efficient way to connect the two, visitors and locals want to share experiences. It’s been a wonderful response to such a simple concept, both here in Houston and around the world in Global Greeter Network partner cities. When we started in Houston in 2006 we knew of five partner cities around the world. Today there are more than 120.
I’m grateful for all the work done by so many volunteers along the way. From donors, board members, interns, accountants, lawyers, city officials, family and friends – especially during the years I was away from the organization. It is now, with great pride and gusto that we’re re-engaging and re-launching a more efficient (and we think effective) Houston Greeters platform to serve the on-going demand from Greeters and Visitors for, what I consider, such a valuable human experience.
I invite you to explore the options available. For both Greeters and Visitors our newly designed and re-launched website is engineered for ease of use and for organizational efficiency. We’ve learned from the past and listened to the feedback and we’re excited to share the new look of Houston Greeters with you. Our goal is to serve all who want to be a Greeter and all visitors who are interested in meeting a Greeter. Houston’s Greeters are outgoing self-motivated individuals and we think we’ve identified ways to help make the process smoother for all.
While we re-launch in a beta format to iron out the kinks that no-doubt will arise, I thank you all for taking a few minutes to learn about the new Houston Greeters and hope you enjoy browsing. Hope to see you around Houston…maybe on my next Greet!
Susan