It all started with her:
Aoibhinn McGee, born and raised in Ireland
Aoibhinn moved to Berlin around 1998. She found a job in an Irish Pub and just had a good time – until her son Jules was born in January 2000. Waitressing was out of question then, of course. And as much as she loves her son, she felt that she needed just a little bit more social input.
So she set an ad in Zitty and tipBerlin, made some flyers and called for the very first Connect meeting on October 11, 2000. To her great amazement, about 70 people showed up… and Connect grew quickly. Less than a year later, there were more than 400 people who had signed up for our newsletter (no longer available) and the weekly meetings had an average attendance of around 50 people.
In 2002, she went on with her mission “Connect – The Next Generation” and was pregnant again. The twins were born in May 2003. As three little kids are a full-time job already, she had to cut short, and Connect was taken over by a committee. We do our best to continue making Connect a friendly, welcoming place.
For several reasons, we decided to “go legal” and founded Connect – The English Speakers Cultural Club, Berlin e.V. in the fall of 2003. (See below.)