After moving to The Upper West Side from Long Island in 1997, SDSN founder Dave Cervini found it challenging to make new friends. Many of his friends were still in the suburbs, getting married and starting families.  Meet Up & Facebook would not exist until ’03 & ’04. He was working On the Air and as Promotions Manager at 103.5 FM and 105.1 FM for ten years at that point.  After spending endless nights going out to bars, he realized there were dozens of things he wanted to do in the city but not alone and meeting people in bars was not they way he wanted to connect with people.

He approached several non profit groups and started to use the skills as an event planner for the radio stations to plan social events for people to come together while doing specific activities that he enjoyed.  The results were amazing!  While his initial focus was to perhaps meet someone special, he realized that he was meeting great new friends that shared similar interests.

In the beginning he attended all the activities and used his connections from the radio industry to plan some unique experiences.  In 2004 he decide to leave his career in radio to pursue this full time and the New York Social Network was born! Back then he hosted 3-5 events a week.  Today, with a focus on trying to plan as many diverse experiences as possible, the NYSN hosts 9-18 fun actives each week for people to come together.

In 2023, Dave moved with his family to La Mesa, CA and started the San Diego Social Network in 2024. This was initially as a way to make local friends and to get people back out to socialize and connect with other people after COVID! And since that time, it has blossomed into it’s own.

As of today, Dave continues to host many events bicoastally between San Diego and New York City, but we now have an enthusiastic team of part-time staff who handle the rest.  100% of our staff were in fact actual members of SDSN and were looking to meet others prior to joining our team. This gives each of our hosts that special insider’s perspective and connection with the guests who come out to our events.