I tried Pie Social, a million-dollar app that encourages socializing through in-person meetups.
It's being tested in Chicago right now, so I attended three events through the app.
The app makes meetups accessible but isn't exactly groundbreaking — it's mostly a directory.
Making friends is apparently a million-dollar problem — and the latest app trying to solve it is Pie Social.
The Chicago-based startup was founded by Andy Dunn, cofounder and former CEO of the menswear brand Bonobos. As of October, Pie reported it's raised about $24 million in capital.
Its goal is clear: "Make it easy to make friends," Dunn wrote on LinkedIn in October.
"We are building a social app to combat this problem. The job to be done is to make it easy to make friends," he wrote. "Our vision is for a world where doing things you enjoy with people you like should be as easy as calling an Uber."
Since the app is being tested in Chicago, where I live, I decided to see how effective Pie Social is in finding community, especially among social circles I wouldn't normally gravitate toward.
So, I downloaded the app and used it for a few days. Here's how it went.
The app's design felt simple and user-friendly.
I selected a few interests, including concerts and museums.
Pie Social; Gia Yetikyel
Downloading and signing up for the app was incredibly straightforward — and free.
Aside from my profile, the app is split into four other pages: Invites, Your Plans, Friends, and Chats. There was also the option to create an event of my own using the "+" at the bottom of the app.
There weren't many event options at first.
More event options seemed to appear the more I interacted with the app.
Gia Yetikyel
The core of Pie is its list of local events created by others (groups or individuals) that users can sign up for.
Pie doesn't have its own events. Instead, the app relies on people in the community to create meetups and offers incentives for those who do with the Pie Creator Fund.
Event creators can apply to it to receive payment for hosting — they're paid based on the number of RSVP responses to their events on the app.
A few events were already on my Invites page, including a coding meetup and a silent book club.
I could RSVP "Yes," "Maybe," or "No" on Pie, though some events had limited spots and required I leave the app to get a ticket or use an additional RSVP link.
Once I said "yes" to an event, it got added to my plans and I could message other attendees.
I noticed few events at first, especially for a lively city like Chicago. There was an average of one per day, and if I didn't seem interested in it, I'd have to look at another date for more options.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but it seemed that the more I used the app, the more new events popped up.
I first attended a field-day event, even though it was a little out of my element.
I took the bus up to Waveland Picnic Field in Lakeview.
The free event was on a sunny Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and included a yoga class, volleyball, and pizza.
Let's Do Fun Things is a Chicago-based meetup organization that started this summer and seems to list many events on the Pie app. Its founder, Sam Mahafzah, was a popular name among the attendees.
Upon arriving at the grassy field, he greeted me and waved for me to sit among the people talking and eating pizza under the trees.
I heard a lot about Chicago's social scene but not Pie.
I immediately struck up conversations with people upon arriving.
Gia Yetikyel
The crowd varied in age, looking like a mixture of people in their 20s and 30s. Some attendees even brought dogs, which was a fun surprise.
I got to know two people before the event's yoga class started. Both told me they'd learned about this meetup from other local social groups or the event creator, Mahafzah.
Although I know Chicago is a social city, I didn't realize how popular meetup groups were until this event. One person I spoke with even said he moved to Chicago for its social scene.
I liked how the event pushed me out of my comfort zone.
I don't usually seek out yoga classes or outdoor games, but I had fun at this event.
Gia Yetikyel
I'm not one for yoga, but I brought a mat and did my best not to collapse while doing a downward-facing dog. After, the event creator broke out a colorful parachute, reminiscent of elementary school gym class, and called people over to grab onto a loop and run in circles.
There was something absolutely freeing about screaming the lyrics to Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" while sitting underneath a parachute with a bunch of strangers. Silly, yes, but thoroughly fun.
My social skills were definitely on the stiffer side, but I managed to enjoy myself and exchange Instagram handles with two women before leaving.
This didn't feel like the start of some beautiful friendship, and I'm not certain we'll connect later, but it's nice knowing I might see them at future gatherings.
A field day isn't the first way I'd think of spending a Saturday, which made me a little anxious, especially with the added element of strangers. But the event allowed me to get out of my comfort zone — and Pie made it easier for me to seize that opportunity.
Notably, though, no one I spoke to at this meetup mentioned Pie.
The second event I attended was a crafting meetup.
I had previously attended Chicago Craft Club meetups, but I found out about this one on Pie.
Gia Yetikyel
The next event I attended was hosted by the Chicago Craft Club, which, on its Instagram page, describes itself as "a community for adult creatives of all ages." I was already familiar with the club as I had attended a couple of their events in the past that I'd found on TikTok and liked the vibes overall.
For this one, I RSVP'd on the Pie app and through Chicago Craft Club's separate link so I could receive a QR code I could use to get in.
This free, two-hour afternoon meetup was hosted at the immersive art experience, the WNDR Museum, in a large room with tables and folding chairs. For those who didn't bring a craft, there was an area with crayons, markers, and paper.
I loved the crafting crowd.
I had a nice time at the Chicago Craft Club.
Gia Yetikyel
After writing my name tag, I took a seat at the nearest table, which had four other people already knitting and drawing.
The room was lush with positive energy — a lot of the crowd was knitting, sharing encouragement and advice about stitches.
I opted to doodle with crayons as I got to know my table with the usual small talk that weaved its way from where we grew up to our favorite musicals. As the knitters fell into focus, the rest of us followed in a comfortable silence, sometimes asking a question or telling a funny story.
The group told me they'd learned about the Chicago Craft Club and its events from Instagram. Again, no one mentioned Pie.
Although I didn't exchange contact information with the group, I departed with the promise of seeing them at the next meetup.
Next time, I'll cut out the middleman and skip Pie since the club's events are listed online, and I had to RSVP elsewhere anyway.
The third event I attended was a bachata class.
I brought my friend to the bachata class.
Gia Yetikyel
For my third meetup, I looked for a meetup unlike the others, which led me to Salsa on a School Night.
Once again, this event was hosted by Let's Do Fun Things Chicago. The beginner-friendly bachata lesson was free with an RSVP, and attendees could bring a friend if they wished.
I brought a friend who was down because she'd previously attended similar meetups in Chicago that she found on Instagram. When we arrived at Barcocina Lakeview, I noticed that the back room was predominantly full of men, with a few familiar faces from the field-day event.
The first half hour was filled with mingling among the crowd. Once again, event host Mahafzah was there to greet attendees. I asked him how to make friends at events like this, and he immediately introduced us to two other women.
During our small talk, one of the women mentioned she used Pie to find events like this — the first time I heard the app mentioned in real life. She said she enjoyed using it.
The host's extroverted energy made all the difference.
The room was filled with people learning the steps to bachata.
Gia Yetikyel
At around 8:30 p.m., the bachata instructor climbed up on a table and gave step-by-step instructions on dancing. Over the next half hour, to the sounds of the rhythmic music, attendees spun, stepped, and shook their hips to the instructor's guidance.
When asked to pair with the opposite gender, I danced with Mahafzah, who cackled in delight as attendees shuffled with each other.
Later, when asked, Mahafzah told BI he started as a community organizer using the creator fund but is now a "Creator in Residence" at Pie, meaning he has equity in the company and is "embedded in the team part-time."
As Mahafzah went off to create content for the event, it was evident that his keen hosting skills played a large part in its overall success. He greeted nearly every attendee and spent all night introducing strangers to one another.
I liked Pie as a concept, but it's not particularly groundbreaking.
Andy Dunn's goal with Pie is nice, but I'm not sure the app is as helpful as he'd hoped.
Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Bonobos; Spencer Platt/Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/Insider
Although Pie isn't revolutionary, its goals are noble — people in their 20s and 30s crave genuine platonic connections, especially since the pandemic.
Pie does a decent job of gathering events for those who don't know where to begin, but it's akin to an application that organizes your subscriptions for you.
Unfortunately, I don't believe it's the groundbreaking connection-creator young adults have been looking for. It doesn't eliminate awkward lulls in conversation or uncertainty about potential future hangouts that come with making strangers into friends.
The app mostly just highlights the community-building work people are already doing in Chicago, whether it's free yoga classes in the West Loop or crafting sessions at a Logan Square brewery.
I found fun events on Pie, but I could've found and attended them without using the app at all — after all, that's what just about everyone I spoke to did.
Even so, I do think this app has the potential to be a useful tool for making friendships.
I'd use Pie again when my social-media algorithms get stale and I want to explore new social circles. If you're new to Chicago, though, it's a decent tool for making the seemingly overwhelming task of building a community that much more attainable.
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