callie, in our area the QB members from OR and WA meet together every couple of months. After a couple of gatherings we decided to go to the beach for the weekend. We call them retreats. Our first weekend away we had people we hadn't met before and some that new each other. We had so much fun we now go away twice a year. We have quilters that want to share a technique with others so we all learn something new and some of our trips we just eat, sew and laugh a lot. We have met so many nice people and developed some really nice friendships. Now when there's events in our area we get together and car pool or meet up with others at the event. All we did was post on the board our first get together and every time thereafter.
One of the nice things about this is we can keep the price down considerably. Some retreats get quite costly. We all bring something for meals and everything we could possibly need that the house doesn't supply. It really turns out to be a wonderful weekend.