Two years ago, about 25 people gathered for a couple beers at VBGB, loosely organized under the hashtag #instabeerupCLT. The idea was simple: Let’s get all the people we kind of know from social media together in one room.

Then they did it again. Within a few months, they were bringing in more than 200 people. Nowadays the crowd is reaching 400+. When #instabeerupCLT celebrates its second birthday this Thursday, I expect there will be even more.

Not much has changed, really. There’s still no big-name guest speaker, no program and no tickets. So how did #instabeerupCLT become an institution in Charlotte so quickly?

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