Remember when you and your friends would make and exchange mix tapes and CDs? The San Francisco Mixtape Society has re-created the experience in a bigger scale, and with strangers.

The society held their first mix tape exchange event Jan. 30 in the Make-out Room located in the Mission. Over 100 people gathered with their mix CDs, tapes or USB sticks to exchange among each other.

Founded by two music enthusiasts, Annie Lin and John Verrochi, the event was organized in a fashion not only for people to exchange music, but also to socialize among people with the same common ground.

"This is about putting face time into it," Verrochi said. "People can just discover new music on the Internet, but something like this brings people together to share music and make new friends."

Both Verrochi and Lin belong to a mix tape society while they lived in Brooklyn. When they moved to San Francisco, they realized that there wasn't a mix tape society. They figured the people in the city would benefit from such a thing, so they took it upon themselves to start one.

Their idea wasn't just about strangers exchanging mix music in a bar. It was a social event that allowed people to gather under a common ground: music.

Lucianne Walkowicz always liked the idea of swapping mix tapes between friends. She was intrigued when she found out something like this was going on.

"I haven't received a mix tape in a long time," Walkowicz said. "The great thing about mix tapes is that you don't have to rely on radio to discover new music."

The tracks that people put on their mix tapes were not at random either. The event had a theme and the people made the mixes accordingly. The theme was city versus town, and people put whatever comes to mind that reminded them of a city or town. Some people were even creative enough to make their own album cover.

The exchange process was almost like a white elephant gift exchange. All the people participating received a number upon entering the event. They would individually raffle to see whom they would swap their music with. At the end, the person with the best mix that fit the theme wins a prize.

Eban Green was an IT technician by day, but in his spare time was working as a producer and a promoter. He thought this event was a great networking idea.

"With a price of a beer, you could have a new experience," Green said.

Lin was glad to see that the first event was a success and not "just all my friends showing up for it."

The society is hoping to keep things going and hope to have another event in two months with a new theme.