Introducing TUAW Meetups on April 3 to celebrate the iPad and multiplayer games

Love the iPad? Want to meet fellow enthusiasts? If you're familiar with Meetup.com already you know that for groups who share a common interest like the iPad, it's a low-friction way to assemble those affinity groups and share real-world experiences. In other words: it's a great way to set up a meetup!

We're hip to this vibe and have partnered up with Meetup to "host" our first in a series of gatherings. The first one will be April 3, the anniversary of the iPad being available to the masses. Specifically, we're inviting people to set up local get-togethers through the Meetup page here, bring your iPads and play board games (like Reiner Knizia's Battleline or Small World) or multiplayer games (like Carcassonne or Real Racing 2).

It's a no-pressure, fun way to get together with other iPad enthusiasts. You're welcome to share tips, cool apps and stories as well -- with Meetup the events are really shaped by the hosts, so we hope to see a variety of fun events out there.

These could take place in a coffee shop or any other public space, preferably one with Wi-Fi. Just go to this Meetup page, either sign up to become a host or sign up to attend an event and set your calendar for April 3. Over the next several weeks we'll detail our own hosts' plans (we're hoping to establish a few with our writers so you can meet the fine bloggers here at TUAW in real life) and share what events have been set up where we don't have staff.

Above all, have fun with this! The iPad is a fun, magical device, and we hope your meetups are as well. Let us know in the comments if you plan to host or attend one.