MessageParty lets you start a location–specific chat room:

This is an iPhone app that lets you create a chat room that’s targeted at a specific location, like a classroom or a concert venue. You just sign in with Facebook and away you go. You can see what conversations are happening nearby, and there’s also a room for the city you’re in right now. It’s pretty neat. At this point, there’s not many people using it, but if it gets a user base, I can see it being a pretty interesting place to check out.

I really like the idea of these location–specific conversations. TimeinB5 is a startup that’s doing something similar, but targeted at people waiting around in airports. It’s a bit funny to let people socialize by being antisocial and playing with their gadgets, but such is life. If you can stumble across an interesting new friend from the comfort of your iPhone, well, that’s pretty nifty.

Follow them at @messageparty.