The Official Meetup HQ Blog

Who's behind Meetup.com? Episode #25: Richard Boenigk

by Davide

Can you tell how you ended up getting a job at Meetup? How long ago was that? What do you essentially do?
Four and a half years ago, I came to New York with no job and no plan. I found the Meetup job posting and I just about fell over. This was shortly after the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, when a grassroots campaign, organized through Meetup, made the unknown Howard Dean a real contender for the nomination. I had been harboring a serious website-crush for Meetup.com and here was my chance to be part of it. I fixed up my resume, wrote a swooning cover letter, and crossed my fingers.

I'm a UI Engineer. The "UI" stands for "User Interface". I work on the parts of the site that you see and touch. If a website were a radio, I would be the one working on the knobs, the switches, and the radio dial. Before a project is finished, I'll have done some designing, some programming, and some road-testing of the new features with real users to make sure it all makes sense.

You're from Clewiston, Florida... America's Sweetest Town. Does that has anything to do with your dietary choices or with your workout routine?
Well, while people in Clewiston are very sweet, the town's nickname comes from being home to the United States Sugar Corporation. The town is surrounded by 30 miles of sugarcane fields in every direction. Trucks have bumper stickers that say "Raising cane!". The big event each year is the Sugar Festival, where a new Miss Sugar is crowned (a much better title than the neighboring town's beauty queen, Miss Swamp Cabbage).

The sugar-related food I miss the most living here in New York is southern sweet tea. You make it by adding the sugar to the water while it's still boiling, which lets you dissolve much more sugar than would be possible at room temperature. I like it because 1: it's delicious, and 2: I love that people are pushing the limits of physics to make the most sugary beverage possible.

You're known for designing beautiful things for Meetup. It seems like in the past 10 years, 'pretty' has been replaced by 'functional'. In 100 words, can you tell me how you evolved into the UI engineer you are today?
Aw, well thanks. Over the past few years, I've learned to approach making changes -- to style or functionality -- with a lot more respect. Once you create a new page, it's not yours anymore. People bring it into their home, they become used to it, they make it their own. When you make a change, it's as if you reached into their home and rearranged their furniture in the middle of the night.

Last night we all went to see the new Harry Potter together. Did you like? How was sitting next to Will Carlough?
Will and I are very different movie-watchers. Will has seen every movie in the history of the world, so it takes a lot to impress him. I see maybe 1 to 2 movies a year, so I think every movie I see is the best movie ever. That said, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the BEST MOVIE EVER.

Someone might say that internet professionals are not good at DIY, but you dispelled the assumption by recently building a wall in your apartment. How was it? How did it feel?
I hope I'm not carrying the banner of home improvement for the geeks... it took me an entire year to finish that wall! But I did finish it and it felt great. Just don't lean on it too much if you come by.

Davide is on Meetup's Community Support team.

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New Feature - UK Cities and Postal Codes!

by Greg

Finding Meetup Groups in the UK just got easier!

We've increased the number of cities in our database in the UK from 983 to 31,162, so now you can pinpoint exactly which city, town, village or hamlet you or your Meetup Group is located.

We've also added 1.8 million postcodes (ie. "KA7 2NU", "SW11 1AA"), so you can search for Meetup Groups within your exact neighborhood in any large city like London, Glasgow or Edinburgh.

To help others find your Meetup Group or find Groups that are more local to you, update your location now!

Here's how:

To update your Meetup Group's location, go to your Meetup Group > Group Settings > Basic Info > Where

To update your own account information, go to http://www.meetup.com/account/city/

Have feedback? Let us know!

Greg is Meetup's CTO.

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Meetup Chief Org in Wired Magazine

by Shavanna

You might remember the trip that Meetup's Chief Organizer Scott took to Iraq a few weeks ago with a bunch of other executives from tech companies like Google and YouTube. 

A reporter from Wired Magazine has written a behind-the-scenes account of the trip, giving insight into the execs' meetings with Iraqi government officials, conversations with professors and students from the University of Baghdad, and impressions the trip had on the group of U.S. technology leaders.

 Of their purpose in going to Baghdad, Scott notes:

"...we were there to sell the Internet," Heiferman says. "If we raised the consciousness on that even a little, maybe it can help the people self-organize."

You can see the rest of the Wired article here.

Shavanna is on Meetup's Community Support team.

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Meetup Shutterbugs! HQ Needs Your Help!

by Adaam

Hello Meetup shutterbugs! We're hoping y'all can help us with a little decorating project.

The walls in the Meetup HQ offices are a nice bright red, but they're pretty much bare. It's a little sad.

So we decided we'd jazz them up a bit with pictures of some of our favorite people -- Meetup members and Organizers!

We'd love to have a picture of your Meetup Group.

So if you've got good pictures, upload them to you Meetup Group and then send the photo links (or the photo itself)  to us at photos@meetup.com!

What do we mean by 'good pictures'?

We are going to blow them up to hang them on the wall, so the higher the resolution, the better.

And photos with Meetup logos or folks in their Meetup t-shirts are awesome. (Pssst: You can get logos and signs and all sorts of fun stuff if you go to your Meetup's home page and click 'Promote' in the left column.)

They don't need to be fancy. Pictures of your Meetup Group doing whatever it is your Meetup Group does are great. Sitting around laughing and talking, practicing your Italian, watching the dogs play, catching your breath after a really great hike  -- whatever. And of course, a good old-fashioned, "Everyone get together, I'm taking a picture!" photo will do. Individuals, a few people, a whole bunch of people, whatever.

Want a sneak preview of what we're doing with the photos? Check out the first round of photos we've got up on the wall already:

But don't worry: we've got a lot of wall space to cover.

We're hoping to have this project wrapped up by the end of summer (that way, we can ward off the winter blues with lots of bright, colorful pictures!)

So if you can get them in by Monday, August 31st, that would be great.

We're really excited! All of your lovely, smiling faces will inspire us every day.

Adaam is Operations Coordinator at Meetup HQ.

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New Release - July 20, 2009 - PayPal Enhancements

by Maya

Hi everyone,

There are many benefits to charging your members to attend Meetups or to pay Meetup Group membership dues/donations, among them:
1. it can help with the costs of running your Meetup Group
2. members who pay (even the smallest) Meetup fees are much less likely to flake.

If you use PayPal to collect Meetup fees or Membership dues/donations, your life just got easier. Meetup HQ has made two big enhancements to how PayPal works on Meetup.com:
1. You can now require that members make a payment in order to RSVP for your Meetups.
2. All PayPal transactions will now automatically be recorded on your Meetup Group's website.



Read below for more details.

Thanks!
Maya


More details:

Require payment to RSVP
When you set up your next Meetup, go to the "Charging for this Meetup?" section, select the PayPal option, and then the "Require payment to RSVP" option.

PayPal transactions will be automatically recorded
- See member payment information and status in the Money section of your Meetup Group, and a roll up for all your groups in your Account section.
- If the member is paying Meetup Group Dues, you can see their payment information and status on their profile page and on your member list.
- If the member is paying Meetup Event Fees, you can see their payment information and status next to their name on each Meetup's RSVP page.
- Members can see their own payment status and payment information.
- Members cannot see each other's payment status or information.
- Refunds will need to be issued on PayPal.com, but refund information will be reflected on your Meetup Group.
- Amazon Payments users - you can continue to use Amazon Payments. The PayPal feature will work exactly like Amazon Payments with these exceptions: you'll need to issue refunds on PayPal.com, but all refund information will be reflected on your Meetup Group; no batch refunds.

And, both PayPal and Amazon Payments charge their own transaction fees. Meetup is not charging any additional transaction fees on top of this.

Got feedback?

Maya leads the Product Management team at Meetup.

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Meetup Sponsors Get the Word Out

by Cindy

Did you know that Meetup HQ helps find sponsors for hundreds of Meetup Groups? Some sponsors give products to sample, or money to support their next event, and some sponsor Meetup Groups to get the word out about a fun new entertainment spot in their area.

For the past 2 months, Sands Casino and Resorts Bethlehem has been sponsoring social Meetups in the Tri-State area. "NEW JERSEY BLACK NIGHTLIFE" one of the groups participating, has wide variety of Meetups ranging from barbeques to plays, book club meetings to fishing trips, and of course nights out on the town.  And now they are planning to have a Meetup at Sands in the next few months where members will get the VIP treatment!

 

 

Cindy is an Account Executive for Meetup Sponsors.

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Who's behind Meetup.com? Episode #24: Antonio Ortiz

by Davide

What do you do for Meetup.com and how long have you worked here?
I've been with the Meetup since November of 2007. I'm a Team Leader in Support here, which means I'm basically the Walker, Texas Ranger of the Support department. I'm ready to give you a roundhouse kick to the face when you are not performing, but I'm also ready to give you hug and teach you a life lesson when needed. It's all about balance.

Your working style is fast, pragmatic, efficient and straightforward. Is that a consequence of the way you were raised as a kid? Were your parents as strict as you are with us?
Hmm... When I think of my working style, that first thing that comes to my mind is a mullet. You know, business in the front, party in the back? I like to have fun, but when I'm at work, it's all business, dude. I'm not sure if that makes any sense or if I answered any of your questions, but I wanted to throw mullet in this interview because it's the coolest haircut ever. EVER!

You have awesome tattoos and you know all the words to My Fair Lady. Isn't that a contradiction? How did your love for musicals develop?
Honestly, My Fair Lady was the inspiration for most of my tattoos. The moment I heard 'Wouldn't It be Loverly?', the only thing I could think about was getting my arms covered in jail yard tattoos. As soon as I walked into a tattoo shop singing that song, the dude sat me down in the chair and created the magic you see on my arms today. After hearing that, how can you not love musicals?

I've heard Dirty Dancing is your favorite movie. When was the last time somebody put Antonio in a corner?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know who is spreading that rumor, but It's actually my second favorite movie. There's a little masterpiece called Road House which will always be number one in my heart. Patrick Swayze read that script and knew he was about to embark on a journey. The performance turned out to be an inspiration for a lot of people, including myself.

I really can't remember that last time I was put in an actual corner.

Our team works really hard every day, non stop. How many people did we talk to yesterday (email, phones, boards, etc.)?
We dealt with about 3.1415926535897932384626433832795... members yesterday. Off the top of my head, I don't know if that's the daily average, but I'm sure it's pretty close.

Davide is on Meetup's Community Support team.

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The Group that Shall Not be Named made the local News!

by Andrea

As Harry Potter mania swept New York City last night, NY1 was on the scene to capture the buzz.  Check out this clip of J. Rosenthal and his Harry Potter Meetup, appropriately called The Group that Shall Not be Named. 

Elsewhere on the East Coast, you'll find more Potter-themed fun to keep you busy like Potterdelphia's outdoor event and screening, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" under the Stars at Penn's Landing in Philly.

And on the West Coast, don't miss Akatraz 2009!  A Harry Potter Symposium in San Francisco this weekend.  You just might bump into The Seattle Harry Potter Meetup and other happy Muggles.

Andrea is the lead Support Specialist on Meetup's Community Support team.

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New Release - Promote your Meetup on Facebook!

by Jesse

We've had a lot of success with members of Meetup Groups alerting their Facebook friends and family when they RSVP for a Meetup. (Did you know you can do this? Check the Facebook box the next time you RSVP!) Now, Organizers can easily promote their Meetups on Facebook, too.

When you schedule a Meetup, there's a new section on the page called "Promote this Meetup." Open it, check the Facebook box, and then when you schedule your Meetup (not when you save a draft), your friends on Facebook will see this in their feed and on your Wall:

The process is the same as posting to Facebook when you RSVP: you'll be asked to login to Facebook (Meetup never sees your password), and then a popup will show you what's about to post. Click "Publish" to confirm. You can add a comment, too.

After you do this once, the checkbox will automatically be checked for you next time. (You can always uncheck it.)

This is available to Private Meetup Groups, too. In their post, no details show up - only the name of the group.

There are an estimated 200 bazillion people on Facebook - some of them are waiting to hear about your Meetup! (And, it's nice just letting your friends know what you do with your time.) We know a lot of Meetup Groups already manually promote themselves on Facebook ... now it's even easier!

Thanks,
Jesse

Jesse is a Product Manager at Meetup.

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The Meetup Group that Shall Not Be Named...

by Kate

... about the name on everyone's lips!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out this week and Harry Potter Meetup Groups were buzzing with activity!

There are 35 Meetup Groups who've tagged themselves with "Harry Potter" and many of them remain active between movie release dates.

NYC's Harry Potter fan Group is one great example.  They go by "The Group that Shall Not be Named," in reference to the arch nemesis in J.K. Rowling's world. 

There was of course a spectacular Meetup for opening night of The Half-Blood Prince, but these Potter fans are always exploring ways to stay connected. 

They organize Quiddich games (a popular sport in the series), readings, and outings to Potter-related performances. 

There was even a recent Meetup where they enjoyed a "Pottercast" -- an event that you should really read about on the event page to fully appreciate.

It looks like all the Harry Potter Meetup Groups have already enjoyed the film, but if you're a fan, there are plenty of future Meetups to help you stay spell-bound.

Kate in on Meetup's Community Support team.

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