How to run a Meetup – Lessons learned running React Vienna for a year

How to run a Meetup – Lessons learned running React Vienna for a year(medium.com)

96 points by nik-graf 9 years ago | 17 comments

musha68k 9 years ago |

I sneaked into ReactVienna for the first time in mid 2015 and it has been the most inclusive and lively meetup I've experienced to date.

I remember well, how on a correlating (free) workshop Nik Graf and Andrey Okonetchnikov in particular were getting out of their way to teach us on how to go about that crazy webpack/react/redux development stack.

The folks from ReactVienna are also very well connected, so we had the best very special meetups this October - amazing talks featuring Sean Grove, Richard Feldman and David Nolen talking about what's new regarding Reason, Elm and ClojureScript respectively.

I've been wanting to emigrate from Austria ever since university but the current vibes here in Vienna do make me feel like wanting to stay in the EU for the first time in a long time.

Of course, contributing to that is the fact that there have been other great meetups happening regularly at Sektor5 (super welcoming co-working place) over the last couple of years: viennajs, viennarb and cljvie only to name a few that interest me.

As pointed out in the article - ReactVienna and all the other meetups are collaborative efforts and I'd like to applaud the teams - thanks for showing up, Vienna has become so much more interesting thanks to you <3

herge 9 years ago |

The key to a meet up or a community's longevity is consistency. If you can consistently schedule events like the second Monday of every month or every two months, people can remember that and plan around those events, as opposed to waiting for an announcement.

Also, a meet up does not have to be long. A couple of presentations for a total of a hour is a fine excuse to meet at the bar afterwards and talk technology. Finding speakers for events is hard, so even alternating between 'talk/presentation' nights and just bar nights can work, especially to keep a 'every month' rhythm going.

macintux 9 years ago | |

> A couple of presentations for a total of a hour is a fine excuse to meet at the bar afterwards and talk technology.

Speaking as someone who rarely drinks and doesn't like trying to listen to conversations in loud environments: organizing a short meetup as a prelude to retiring to a bar isn't necessarily going to be the most inclusive strategy.

herge 9 years ago | | |

Even for drinkers, it's important to find a 'quiet' bar, or at least one where you can talk among yourselves, especially towards 8-9pm when meetups finish.

Eridrus 9 years ago | | |

I don't drink either, but sadly there's not a tonne of good alternatives to bars. And not all bars are loud, finding a quiet one isn't that hard, especially on a week night.

franze 9 years ago | |

Consistancy! 100% agree: viennajs, ever last wednesday of the month, 3 to 4 talks, every talk needs to show some code, optional: sponsored pizza & beer

austrias biggest meetup, works like a charm

olegp 9 years ago |

That's a good and concise summary. If you're considering running a meetup but want more info before diving in at the deep end, check out this series of blog posts I've started writing on the topic:

https://blog.toughbyte.com/what-is-a-meetup-and-why-should-i...

The blog series is still ongoing, but it is based on a talk I gave earlier this year, which you can check out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNZTLcutqKk

PS. If you're looking for a platform geared towards technical meetups, take a look at Meetabit which we're working on at Toughbyte: https://meetabit.com/ - your feedback would be really appreciated. We're currently available in only a few cities, but would be happy to add more cities if there's enough interest.

yeraydarias 9 years ago |

I totally agree with the author on the importance of the motivation, though in my experience money as a motivation in the creation of a local group or meetup is not a very good idea. Not profitable or easy to get money at least.

I prefer to focus on side benefits like community improvement, a point of meeting for professionals and so on.

cableshaft 9 years ago | |

I've been paying a Meetup groups fees for over two years because I think it's good to keep the group going and not have it worry about generating funds, and I can afford the $180 a year. We do sometimes put out a collection jar during a meetup which tends to bring that down to about $130 a year usually, but I'd still pay it even if we didn't get any money, just so people have a group where they can post local geeky activities on.

I met the vast majority of my current friends through that group, so I feel like it's worth keeping it going.

I see a lot of other local Meetups shutting down after Meetup.com raised their prices last year, though. I'm a little surprised they're actually making more money after doing that, because I saw a loooot of groups shut down because of it.

nik-graf 9 years ago | |

I believe so too. From my experience it's hard to make money on a meetup. Still there are people who actually make a living out of it :)

lowglow 9 years ago |

I know meet-up organizers and members are going to want to post about their meet-ups here! Reply back with a meet-up and what is cool about it, we can get a list going.

Bellyache5 9 years ago | |

DevOpsRVA (http://devopsrva.com) is a group for those interested in cloud computing and automation in the Richmond, VA, USA area. We've been meeting monthly for about 18 months, typically on the 4th Wednesday. If you're in the area, come join us!

vmorgulis 9 years ago | |

Good idea :-)

We are starting HN meetup in Paris (France):

https://hn.silexlabs.org/

lexoyo 9 years ago | | |

nice!!