It all began with an idea on wheels.
The Meet Cart was a concept that bounced into Emily Hope Dobkin’s brain as a whimsical and worthwhile way to bring strangers together.
Generated from Emily’s desire to bridge different groups of people together through creative experiences, The Meet Cart was initially created the summer of 2018 amidst witnessing our country living in a time of great disconnect and divide. That first edition of The Meet Cart was literally a box on bicycle wheels: some plywood with hand-cut felt letters sufficed as a pop up space where Emily facilitated a series of games and activities that invited strangers to meet, greet and play. The games ranged from “MAD ABOUT YOU AND ME MAD LIBS,” “7 SECOND STORIES,” and always a customizable activity dependent on the location or event. 2018-2019 brought The Meet Cart to destinations across Denver, CO, including RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Rebel Bread Bakery, Marie L. Greenwood School, Cheesman Park, ReCreative Denver, Denver Art Museum, The Matchbox Design Festival, and a variety of birthday parties.
At the end of 2019, Emily found an old Vegas casino cart via Vogel Haus Vintage at The Horseshoe Market. Immediately, she knew this fit her original vision of a vintage-ice-cream-wagon-inspired Meet Cart. She enlisted her multi talented friends/artists, Jessica, Sarah, and Larry Polzin of Stargazer Creations to complete a crimson cladded transformation that beckoned old fashioned flair and nostalgia (see transformation process here).
Enter: 2020. Hello, global pandemic. Hello new phrases added to our vocabulary like “social distancing.” Alas, there seemed to be a real need to connect people more than ever...and in a virtual capacity that was/is fun, interactive, meaningful and uplifting. Like an ambulance flashing its red lights into the darkness, The Meet Cart has come to the rescue to zoom rooms worldwide offering participatory social experiences—from celebrations to company happy hours, amidst various community building experiences such as university orientations, CreativeMornings Global field trips and TEDx adventures.
The Meet Cart is powered by Betterish, a business Emily founded in 2019 as a platform to creatively encourage people to make better things, better relationships and better days. Community building, community engagement, and community collaboration is at the heart of every Betterish project. Emily has been identified as a “people person extraordinaire” (Denver Westword)---in addition to being dubbed as a bridge builder, a connector, a joiner, a facilitator of joy, and a gracious/kind/fun emcee (proof can be found here). For such reasons, she most recently dressed up as a Connectectasaurus Rex for Halloween.
To learn more about Betterish and Emily’s background of wide ranging creative experiences, pop over here or connect with her here.
the meet cart now: 2020
the meet cart then: 2018