Becker

He wanted to meet them. But when Becker went online looking for networking and social activities to gather with his professional peers, the 38-year-old investment advisor found É nothing.

There were groups in Columbia, where he works with The Mutual Fund Store, or Rockville in Montgomery County, or D.C., but not in Frederick County.

"I've yet to see where there's a networking group," he said.

And he didn't want to drive all the way to D.C. to meet up with people like him, young professionals, then back to Frederick .

"Well, no one else is going to start it. I'll do it," he told himself.

This week, Becker took out an account with MeetUp.com, a social networking site that originally shot to fame for its prominent part in Howard Dean's 2000 presidential campaign, and formed the Frederick Young Professionals Networking Group.

MeetUp allows like minded individuals to find others nearby who share their interests and get together.

Within two days, two others had signed up. The group is free to join, for Frederick County residents only, and the first event the group will hold is at 6 p.m., Sept. 19 at Isabella's Tavern and Tapas, 44 N. Market St., in downtown Frederick .

The group was welcomed by Frederick County Chamber of Commerce's Program and Event Coordinator Jessica Hibbard. She and Katie Nash, the Chamber's public policy coordinator, will be at the Young Professionals inaugural event.

"More opportunities for networking are always needed, and I'd imagine that the Frederick business community will welcome this new opportunity," Hibbard said.

The Chamber presents over 70 events a month, she said. Monthly business card exchanges for Chamber members attract a diverse crowd of up to 175 people, many aged 25 to 40. Members sometimes join more than one networking organization.

An exchange is scheduled for Sept. 19, the night of the Young Professionals gathering. It will end at 6:30 p.m. Hibbard and Nash will go along to Isabella's after, Hibbard said.

The Young Professionals group has a more serious aspect for Becker than simply socializing -- surviving an intergenerational resource grab between the Baby Boomers, those born post WWII, and Gen X and Y, born from the 1970s on.

The baby boomers, Becker said, aren't doing X and Y any favors, especially with regard to housing prices and financial resources like Social Security, pensions and retirement benefits.

"Gen X, Gen Y, which is the young professionals, really have to band together and work together and share ideas and experiences to be able to make it through, because I think it's going to be a tough road ahead," Becker said.

The youngest of nine siblings, Becker has directly experienced that conflict.

He has more in common with his nieces and nephews than his older brothers and sister, he said. It's the difference between being technologically savvy and not being, the difference between liking U2 and the Black Eyed Peas, and Johnny Mathis and Engelbert Humperdinck

"I think it would be very popular, because there's a lot of young professionals," Becker said. "Why not go out and see the sites, patronize things in Frederick , and help Frederick grow with all the new people coming in?"