FAIRFAX, VA , December 15, 2003 - Following on the surprise phenomenon of hundreds of thousands of Americans signing up for local Meetups around 2004 Presidential candidates, Meetups will be available to supporters of every Presidential, Congressional and Gubernatorial candidate in the 2004 election. Meetup.com, the people-powered service that organizes real world, face-to-face local gatherings about anything, anywhere, has partnered with Capitol Advantage®, the pioneer in online advocacy, election and voter registration solutions, to create and promote monthly Meetup Days for all major campaigns across the country.

"The people have spoken, and they want to Meetup with fellow local supporters of any candidate for any election," said Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup.com. "Thanks to this exciting partnership with Capitol Advantage, we will help more people be more connected to their community and their government."

As part of this relationship, Capitol Advantage will share its election and candidate database with Meetup to create monthly Meetup Days for each candidate expected to run for major office in 2004. By January 15, 2004, Meetups will be created for each candidate in approximately 500 races at the Presidential, Senate, House and Gubernatorial levels. Candidates of both major parties and declared independent and third-party candidates will be included.

"Our business is dedicated to helping people change the world through civic participation," says Bob Hansan, President of Capitol Advantage. "Our network of Web sites attracts millions of Americans each year by providing tools for citizens to register to vote, identify their elected officials, and research their candidates for office. We're very pleased to partner with Meetup.com so that in the coming election season Americans can easily connect online and then move offline to neighborhood cafes and bookstores to work for candidates they support. Election 2004 will be the year of mass civic participation through these Meetup events."

Capitol Advantage will feature candidate Meetups prominently as part of its election service available on major media Web sites including its public service site Congress.org.

"We see Meetup and Capitol Advantage as a highly potent combination for promoting grassroots participation in the upcoming elections", said James Vaughn, Director of E-Government & Politics at America Online, "As a featured part of AOL Election Guide, AOL members will be involved in this election both online and now offline like never before."

This agreement partners two innovators in grassroots. Capitol Advantage pioneered the concept of online grassroots activism in 1996 with the launch of the Capwiz™ legislative action center. Today more than 1200 non-profits, interest groups and corporations use that system to achieve their political aims. The company continues its leadership role in the industry with its election and advocacy product innovations and strategic partnerships with groups like Meetup.

Meetup organizes local group gatherings about anything anywhere. Since launching in June of 2002, nearly 1 million people have created Meetups on over 2,600 topics and interests. Nearly 30,000 Meetups have occurred in cities and small towns around the world. Over 250,000 people have registered for political Meetups, representing 25% of all Meetup memberships.

About Capitol Advantage
Capitol Advantage (http://www.capitoladvantage.com) supplies online solutions and publications that enable ordinary citizens to change the world through civic participation. The company was founded in 1986, and is best known for its congressional directories and for the Capwiz Advocacy System, the grassroots and election cornerstone to more than 1200 associations, corporations and nonprofits across the political spectrum. Major news sites use Capwiz as well, connecting millions of citizens to their elected officials and to information about candidates for office in their districts. The Capwiz Media Network™ includes AOL®, MSN®, Yahoo!®, USA Today®, C-SPAN®, NY Times, and more than 100 other media portals. Capitol Advantage tools also facilitate voter registration, and have been used by more than 85,000 citizens to register so far this year. The company provides the Congress.org™ portal as a public service, and is the driving force behind Participate America and National Civic Participation Week. The company is privately held and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Meetup
Meetup Inc. (http://www.meetup.com) helps stimulate local community by creating global "Meetup Days" for most any topic of interest. Meetups are real world, face-to-face group gatherings that can take place in thousands of towns in 45 countries at local cafes, restaurants, bookstores, bars, and other local establishments. Since launching in June 2002, Meetup has become a grassroots phenomenon, with nearly 1 million people registered for monthly Meetups on more than 2,600 topics and interests. Meetup's commercial and political partners include Bill O'Reilly, Clark for President, Common Cause, Dean for America, Democratic National Committee, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Grassroots Enterprise, Investor's Business Daily, John Edwards for President, John Kerry for President, Kucinich for President, March for Choice, Townhall (Heritage Foundation), United Nations Foundation among others. Meetup is non-partisan, based in New York City, and is privately held.

Contact:

Sean Murphy
Chief Operating Officer
Capitol Advantage, LLC
703-289-4670
smurphy@capitoladvantage.com

Myles Weissleder
VP, Communications
Meetup, Inc.
415-332-3205
myles@meetup.com