June 2008 Archives

This week, we travel from the seat of western culture to the "Land of the Rising Sun".  As they say, the whole world passes through the "Big Mikan" and Meetup is not to be left out.

Its my pleasure to introduce you to the Meetup Organizer of the Week for June 25, 2008, Chris Wells and his group, The Tokyo Improv-A-Go-Go Meetup!


I was introduced to Chris' group in a most pleasant manner.  One of my colleagues here at Meetup mentioned how a friend of his had found a wonderful, welcoming Meetup group within a week of arriving in Tokyo, Japan.  Low and behold, the group is the Tokyo Improv-A-Go-Go Meetup.  This heart-warming story truly brings home our mission of a Meetup Everywhere about Most Everything!

Thanks, Chris!

How long have you lived in Tokyo?

I've lived in Tokyo for 14 years, by way of Costa Rica and Kansas City, MO.

When your not performing at Improv-a-go-go, where would we find you?

I have a production company and I'm a professional narrator, doing the voice-overs on videos for Japanese companies and organizations.

I also produce and direct the Tokyo Comedy Show, Japan's longest-running English-language comedy show at 13 years, and perform as an improviser with it's in-house improv troupe, Spontaneous Confusion.

Tell us about your interest in improv, when did you begin performing, etc.

I started doing performances in grade school and on my high school's speech team, and continued through college, although I was a psychology major.

When I came to Japan to study the Japanese language and culture, a friend invited me to perform at a new show he was organizing, the Tokyo Comedy Store. And I've been hooked on improv ever since.

We've been lucky to have Keith Johnstone, inventor of Theatre Sports and all-around improv guru, come to Tokyo twice over the last decade and teach workshops here. The whole world really does eventually pass through the Big Mikan!

How were you introduced to Meetup.com?

Another organizer of several great Tokyo Meetups, Lauren Shannon, told me about it.

Has your experience as a Meetup Organizer changed or improved your life?

I have Meetups for both our TCS improv workshop and the open-mike/student show we call Improv-a-Go-Go and it's had a huge positive effect on our turn-out.

Not only in terms of just numbers, but also the speed with which newcomers in Tokyo find us. For the very first time last week I had someone show up to the workshop within one month of arriving in Japan! It seems like it used to take people over a year before they got settled in enough to really explore the various communities here

Do you have any big plans for your Meetup this year and beyond?

I'd like to keep on increasing the number of participants in our IAGG show and improv workshop.

Last week Mary, Gary, Matt and I (Jesse) flew down to Texas to connect with Meetup organizers there. Our first stop was a Central Market in Austin, where we had some tasty snacks and talked with about 22 great people. It was a little hard to hear, but Meetup organizers aren't afraid to speak up. We got feedback from our recent features launch, suggestions for new features for the web site, listened to the joys and challenges of running Meetup Groups, and stayed late to answer lots of questions. A new Organizer Meetup started afterwards, to keep the good connections going. It was awesome meeting such a dedicated group of folks working hard to Keep Austin Weird. (Don't worry, that's a compliment.)

We didn't get a lot of time to hang out and explore Austin, but we did grab some great Mexican food (a theme on the trip). And we discovered Mary's secret talent for recognizing repurposed fast food restaurant buildings. Also, we learned that Austin has a lot of police officers, some of whom were kind enough to remind us that even rental cars should use headlights while driving at night.

The next day we headed over to San Antonio, and I for one was blown away by how beautiful the city is. San Antonio (or as Mary calls it, "Austin") has a relaxing "River Walk" that winds through the entire town. We lucked out with some time in our schedule to walk around and enjoy ourselves. I had the best burger I've had in years, and Mary and Matt shared some awesome BBQ ribs (I guess our group happened to have some of the few non-vegetarian Meetup staff.)

We held our San Antonio organizer event in a really cool restaurant, the Blue Star Brewery. We met with a smaller group of people, but had almost 100% attendance. Everyone was eager to share their stories and ideas and help one another with Meetuppy advice, and we all talked for a long time. Afterwards, Chris, the organizer of San Antonio's largest Meetup (Hiking), started up a new Organizer Meetup so people could continue getting together to help each other out. (And Jennifer gave us a great blog shoutout here. Thanks!)

We wrapped up our trip by stumbling onto an awesome Spanish-speaking festival of some kind, with amazing music and food. And, lest I forget, the next day we got to see the Alamo! We had a blast on the trip, and I want to thank all the Meetup organizers and members who met up with us. For anyone reading this who's never been to Texas, y'all should visit straightaway.

                                    

Hey All. 

There's a Depeche Mode song that I couldn't get out of my head last night.  Its called 'I Just Can't Get Enough.'  It must have been because we had just left our second city, Baltimore, and when it came to meeting with great folks, well, I just couldn't get enough. 

So hear begins a tale of two cities...

Keith, Aaron, Justin and I headed on 95 South for a sunny four hour trek to DC.  Its a fine place and we couldn't agree more, taxation without representation just isn't cool.  Our first stop was Chinatown, where we ate tastey Burmese food and chatted with some great DC organizers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I look at this photo and I see great minds helping us evolve Meetup into the greatest group organizing tool ever, not to mention, creating and enjoying community. 

Speaking of creating community, we have to give a shout to Diane and Carla for hosting us at their usual Meetup spot, and for coordinating the DC organizers' community.  Here they are along with my travel mates and Carla's bright daughter, Ciana, who is an up and coming DC organizer herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we made a quick hop on over to Baltimore.  We took in some sunny harbor views and ate some extra crabby crab cakes to fuel up for the next big event.  We arrived early at our destination, and what luck that was.  It turned out that the evening's host was none other than Arnold Dickens, organizer of Balitmore's famous and talented Bluegrass Music Meetup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got in about 45 minutes of sweet harmonies and kickin rythms before guests began to arrive.  Needless to say, we started in good spirits.

The meeting was another excellent one.  Though smaller in attendance, it was just as rich in information and ideas.  The best part was that it reminded my of how diverse Meetup is.  Even with just a small group represented, the diversity of people and purpose was inspiring.  And though I saw diversity in terms of the types of meetups represented, the organizers had a lot in common regarding their experiences and goals.  I was happy that this trip was able to bring them together and I think we'd all agree that the exchange of information and ideas made the trek through a pretty bold thunderstorm worth it.

So that was a wrap of one leg of this tour, but before I go, I want to again say thank you to all of the organizers who participated.  Meetup thanks you for making what Meetup what it is today, for all the people you've touched and the lives you've changed.  You all are pioneers and hats off to you. 

Brian, Aaron, Keith and Justin

Greetings y'all, you'se guys, ladies, gents, friends, members!    This is Brian from Meetup HQ.  I am writing to announce the official kickoff of the Meetup City Tour 2008. We like our desks and the red walls of our office are not so bad, but quite frankly, we are getting cabin fever (office fever more like it).  It's time to hit the road and we couldn't be happier.

Since Meetup represents over 37,000 cities in over 100 countries, we can't visit everyone, so this blog will be our community forum over the course of the Meetup City Tour 2008. Over the next two weeks, we'll post about our visits to each city.  We have some wacky people on our team, and very clever organizers, so expect both entertaining stories and great tips from fellow organizers.

We want to get to know you and we want you to get to know us and your fellow members and organizers.  This is your community, so feel free to participate and comment on the posts.
 
For those of you who Twitter, follow MeetupHQ!   We'll be sending tweets from on the road during the tours.  (Don't know what Twitter is?  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and an active Twitterer himself, wrote an amazing beginner's quick start guide and tutorial to using Twitter if you're interested in what it's all about.)

So thats about it for now.  I have to go home and pack, otherwise I could write all night!

We hope to hear from you soon.

Brian and the Meetup HQ.

Hi everybody,

As we mentioned in an earlier post, we're launching a lot of exciting new improvements to Meetup. While that post was a broad overview, here is a more comprehensive list of what exactly is new at Meetup.

Spring Cleaning

We redesigned the web site! It now has a cleaner look, with less clutter. Here's a detailed list of the main changes:

• Member home page: now lists all your upcoming Meetups
• Member home page: pins Meetup Groups you organize to the top
• Meetup Group home page: New design, with "What's New" given prominence.
• Meetup Group home page: You can edit your main headline directly.
• Meetup Groups section: Mailing Lists and Message Boards are two different side links.
• Meetup Groups section: There is a side link shortcut for organizers to schedule a Meetup.
• About Us pages: Easier-to-find Table of Contents, and a Recently Updated Pages box on every page.
• Calendar page: Clearer views, and a single day now stretches its box to accommodate any number of Meetups.
• Members page: Streamlined down to one view. This will make it easier to potentially add member searching.
• Photos section: Photo URLs change automatically.
• Group settings: Added as a direct link on the left side. All settings are now grouped into six simple pages.
• Organizer Resources: Organizer Help & Tools is now called Organizer Resources. There is now only one page, with eight clear choices.
• Promote page: Organized into three sections.
• Find a Meetup: "Meetups by City" and "Meetups by Topic" are now combined into one central resource to find a Meetup.
• City Calendar: Neater format, and added a fun photo sampler of (public) Meetups coming up that week in that city.
• City Calendar: Meetup Groups tab page lets you filter your search by topic.
• Terminology: "Meetup Groups" are the groups on the site, that host in-person "Meetups."
• Terminology: "Shouts" are now called "Greetings".

Click below to watch the Meetup Spring Cleaning video! (5 minutes, will open in another window)

Meetup Places

Organizers: want to find a place to hold your Meetup? Meetup Places lets you find venues that have been used by other organizers and read reviews made by Meetup Groups.

• Organizers decide which venues to make searchable. Share your existing saved venues or add and share new places.
• Search for venues by location. Enter in a full street address, the city/state or zip code or drag the marker on the map.
• See how well a venue's been rated and read reviews. Find out before you go if it's the best for your meetup.
• Are any other Meetup Groups scheduled at the same venue? We'll let you know.
• Has a venue shut down or moved? Update the info and we'll let everyone know about it.
• Know that the venue has wi-fi or is pet friendly? You can share this and additional attributes with others.

Click below to watch the Meetup Places video! (6 minutes, will open in another window)

Payments

Organizers: want to cover your costs, reserve a venue, or even pay yourself? We've integrated with Amazon Payments to make it easier for organizers to charge members to attend their Meetups. This is the list of features you'll find if you select the Amazon Payments option:

• Organizers can require that members must pay in order to RSVP
• Refund policy - Organizers state it, members accept it
• Organizers and members can see detailed transaction information
• One-click refunds
• Ability for organizers to manually add offline payments
• Also note: you can still choose to use Paypal instead, which didn't change

Click below to watch the Meetup payments video! (10 minutes, will open in another window)

Additional Features

• Organizers can set RSVP deadlines
• Organizers can ask their members questions when they rsvp
• A convenient printable ticket with all the Meetup's information, available for members and organizers to print out and bring to the Meetup

Meetup API

• The Meetup API allows developers to use the Topics, Groups and Events hosted and created on Meetup.com in their own applications and mashups.
• Any Meetup.com member can request an API key and start playing with the API right away.
• We're committed to making the information at the core of the service widely available -- while of course respecting the privacy of our Meetup groups and members.

Meetup in Other Languages

• By the end of the summer, Meetup will be translated into Italian!
• We have plans to add more languages in the future

Share your feedback

• Share your feedback in the New Features forum.
• Need Technical Assistance or find a Bug? Post it in the Help Forum
• Have a great idea or suggestion for making Meetup even better? Stop by the Suggestions Forum.

And now, a word from legal…

As you may have read on the HQ blog, we are making some upgrades to Meetup. As the Meetup service grows and we add new features, we need to make changes to our Terms of Service. We're posting an update to the TOS for Meetup.com and MeetupAlliance.com with the coming upgrade. We are not making any changes to our Privacy Policy with this upgrade.

A summary of the changes:

1. Adding terms for the new Payments feature.
2. Adding terms for the new Meetup API.
3. Synching up the Terms of Service of Meetup.com & MeetupAlliance.com, which reduces the complexity of having two similar, but slightly different TOS documents.
4. Adding terms about sponsorships and payments that you may receive from the sponsors that you arrange or accept.
5. Adding restrictions on the use of the service (Section 5.3 (a)(vi)&(vii)). <-- new numbering
6. Amending terms regarding the process of how we make future updates to the Terms Of Service.
7. Various other wording edits or removal of redundant language.
8. Extensive renumbering of the terms documents for easier reference. The new Terms of Service will launch simultaneously with the coming upgrade. You can see the current Terms of Service at any time by clicking the "Terms" link in the footer of every Meetup page.

Hi everyone,

Last week we posted screenshots and a description of the new features coming soon for Meetup. For those of you craving more detail, here are the features presented in video format. Each video takes you through the new features by showing real screenshots of the site, along with our voiceover descriptions. Click on the image to get to each video, which will pop up full-size in a new window.

Site redesign: 5-minute video, hosted by Jesse:

Meetup Places: 6-minute video, hosted by Viviane:

Payments: 10-minute video, hosted by Maya:

Greg Whalin and Maya Voskoboynikov, from Meetup HQ, demo upcoming Meetup improvements at the NY Tech Meetup

Nothing beats meeting people face-to-face. So, in a week, small teams from Meetup HQ will visit 13 cities to meet Meetup Organizers. Come share and hear Meetup stories and ideas!

If you are going to be in one of those towns, we'd love for you to join us.

We'll be in:

San Francisco, CA	Sunday, June 15th (afternoon)
Sacramento, CA	Monday, June 16th (evening)
Washington, DC	Sunday, June 15th (afternoon)
Baltimore, MD	Monday, June 16th (evening)
Orlando, FL	Tuesday, June 17th (evening)
Tampa, FL	Wednesday, June 18th (evening)
Austin, TX	Tuesday, June 17th (evening)
San Antonio, TX	Wednesday, June 18th (evening)
Raleigh, NC	Wednesday, June 18th (evening)
Durham, NC	Thursday, June 19th (evening)
Boston, MA	Friday, June 20th (evening)
Providence, RI	Saturday, June 21st (afternoon)
Philadelphia, PA	Tuesday, June 24th (evening)
New York, NY	Wednesday, June 25th (evening)

Assistant/Co-Organizers and potential Organizers are welcome too.

If you can join us, email RSVP to meetuptour@meetup.com by 10PM on Monday 6/9/08, EST. Please include your name, city of the tour, and names of guests. (Also, if you know a great place for the actual Meetup in these cities, please suggest it!)

This will be a blast! We'll blog about it as we go. So check back here for updates & photos.

PS. We wish we could make it to more cities. If you self-organize a Meetup of 25 Organizers of different Meetup Groups in your town at http://organizer.meetup.com, we'll try to make it! (Can't promise, but we'll try!)