OTTAWA – A female entrepreneur has launched an all-new, first-of-its-kind website that could re-define the very meaning of ‘girls’ night out.’

Girlfriend Social, a new start-up venture by 29-year-old Amanda Blain, is an online social networking website that helps women of all ages and backgrounds meet new friends. The website (www.girlfriendsocial.com) - which is free for women to join - also provides an opportunity to meet other women at live events in a safe, friendly environment.

“When I first moved to a new city, I realized how hard it is to meet new people and to make friends,” says Amanda Blain, president and founder of Girlfriend Social. “That’s when I thought about creating a website that could help with this.”

Since creating GirlfriendSocial.com several months ago, the website has taken on a life of its own. With almost no advertising, the website has grown to thousands of members – and the number of women signing up is increasing daily.

Undoubtedly, part of the member growth stems from many events that Girlfriend Social has helped facilitate, including pub nights, dog walks, scrapbooking get togethers, bowling nights, rock climbing, movie nights, and a lobster dinner.

Outside of events, Girlfriend Social also helps women meet each other one-on-one.

As Blain notes, one member who loved theatre used the website to find another woman to see shows with – much to the relief of her boyfriend who didn’t enjoy accompanying her. Another stay-at-home mom used the website to seek out other women in similar circumstances; she even found another woman just like her that lived a few streets over.

“I’ve found a way to bridge the gap between social media and real life fun and the results have been amazing,” says Blain. “The women that have joined this website keep telling me what a positive impact Girlfriend Social has on their social lives,” says Blain.

As Girlfriend Social grows, the business community has taken notice. Ms. Blain notes that numerous establishments have been eager to host Girlfriend Social outings or to partner with Girlfriend Social for promotions and contests.

“Pubs and bars want women to come to their venues because of the business boom it brings them, while other companies want to sponsor our events because it’s a way for them to reach lots of women,” says Blain.

While Blain admits that interest from the business community wasn’t unexpected, what did catch her by surprise was the quick growth of her member base

“Women from coast-to-coast are telling me they want events in their community,” says Blain. “They tell me that nothing like this website exists where they’re from.”

To deal with the growth, Blain is looking to higher independant local reps in each major metro area to help promote and be responsible for running the events locally, while maintaining the same look and feel Girlfriend Social members have come to expect from events.

“Girlfriend Social wants to provide outgoing, social women an opporunitity to make some income while having fun, meeting new friends and being social. ” says Blain. “Local area GFS reps, are what makes the site continue to grow and evolve. ”

Although Blain welcomes the growth of Girlfriend Social’s membership, she does admit that keeping pace with the website’s growth hasn’t been easy.

“I do everything on the website from web design, graphic design, answering member enquiries, to hosting events,” says Blain. “It’s tough doing all this alone.”

Despite the struggles of being a one-woman army, Blain has a lot of motivation to keep things moving forward.

“When I see the impact this website has on women’s lives, it’s good motivation to keep me going,” says Blain. “Who knows, I hope one day this could be the hot, new social media network for women everywhere.”