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| by Tamara |
Recently we heard from an amazing Organizer: Big Dave of the Tri-County Adventures Meetup Group in Boca Raton, Florida. It turns out that the group recently hit 1,000(!) past Meetups, and he was understandably proud of this accomplishment.
He's been running the group since March 2007, and they stay busy year-round; as their description notes, "We welcome you to the winter months here is South Florida. That means an average temperature of about 75 on a daily basis. We love to be outdoors in the winter and will be planning some great events."
We reached out to Big Dave for some words of wisdom about his organizing success.
How did you get started doing this huge variety of outdoor activities?
In the beginning I started with planning events to places that I had always wanted to visit. South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach) has so much to offer year around. After about a year we started to collaborate with other small groups to create alliances and increase our numbers to events. It was during this time I met another organizer from Sporting Out. They offered many outdoor sports and activities. We collaborated on about 50-60 outdoor events during the spring/summer season.
How did your Meetup Group come about?
In 2006, there were only 2-3 really large groups that were offering a variety of events. I joined a group formally known as 'South Florida Travel and Adventure' which is now known as The Bison Club. It was in that group that I went from a member to an assistant Organizer. At the time I lived in Miami and we wanted to expand the same type of group mentality and events that The Bison Club was offering so I started my group. So I am a spin off Organizer from this group. We were very fortunate to have started this group when there were very few groups in the area.
Were you surprised to find yourself leading a whole group of strangers, or did it come naturally?
Was it an easy start or did you run into some bumps?
There was a learning curve but I had a great mentor that would steer me back in the right direction in the beginning. Jim Frazer and I would talk on the phone every Monday about the events and where we were heading. He always talked about appealing to the masses as one of the keys to success. The bumps now are funny to talk about. My first 10 events included me and one other person, Tomas. He loved our little adventures. Tomas is still in the group. After we hit 100 people Meetup became real for me. Even today, it is quite humbling to plan an event and have 3 people show up. The bumps don't go away. You just get better at handling them.
What site feature has helped your group the most?
My favorite site feature is the Organizer training tree (host, Event Organizer, Assistant Organizer). When this was introduced, my group exploded with a way to create a system to assist new Organizers develop their own circle of influence/entourage. I know that I can only attract a certain amount and type of people on my own. But the secret in our group is the vast array of Assistant Organizers that have their own ideas and sense of influence. With that program I am able to start them as event hosts and over time give them the direction and mentorship that Jim gave me while building their numbers per event. By the time they become Assistant Organizers, they have a following of 100 people.
What do you wish you'd known about organizing from the very beginning?
That it's not all fun and games. There will be times where you will have to have a strong talk with a group member because of their behavior. There will be times where feelings get hurt from misunderstandings and you have to approach the issues with sensitivity and understanding. People will RSVP and not show. Our motto is half your yeses and none of your maybes. It keeps my expectations and ego in check. Btw, keep your ego in check. It serves no purpose when one complains about who isn't there instead of focusing on who is there.
Does your group include any of your friends/family from outside of Meetup, or is it all people you met through the site?
99% of the people in my group were strangers when I met them. I grew up in this town. I went to grade school, high school and college down here. My best friends all came from Meetup. I have brought family members to events in my group but they don't frequent Meetup events on their town.
Can you share your favorite story/stories about your group/members?
Some of the funniest stories seem to have happened in my first few events when we least expect it. My first event was at the Karma Car Wash. I didn't know there was construction going on so only me and Tomas showed up. We ended up eating next door at the Dogma Dogstand and talking about the future. There was another event that I planned for everyone to show at 9pm. It wasn't until we walked up to the venue and Tomas sneaked thru the gate that we found out the event started at midnight. The group that showed were troopers though. They stuck with me and we ended getting in for free when we told our story.
Our group has events that run in series. For example, I think it was 2007 when Meetup modified the site to run multiple events and we wanted to play with that so we created an event called The dumbest Meetup ever. We posted an event to go to a Chevron station, put air in your tires, get a slurpie and get your car washed. We had 10 people show up because they were curious. We have had 5 other "dumbest Meetups ever". We had a event on April Fools Day called the Dilly Dally Rally. We had 40 people show up for that. We had a scavenger hunt with Sporting Out and a few other groups in a local mall with over 100 different scenarios and you would get double points if you involved strangers. We had groups making human pyramids in the middle of the mall and riding in Target shopping carts being pushed by employees. The crazier the events, the more they would talk about it.
Bart, my first Assistant Organizer plans these crazy glow-in-the-dark lasar light bowling events. We get around 60-70 people at those and we are always dancing and bowling. I can't say enough about Bart. In 2008 he single-handedly took over Broward County to solidify our spot as Tri-County Adventures. Originally we were called Miami-Dade Travel and Adventure. We promoted ourselves as an adventure group not a dating or singles group. We found that women and men appreciated that approach and there was less pressure to meet new people.
There are so many stories now that people talk about. The summertime is the time where our group really shines. We have an end of the summer party at a park called Peanut Island in West Palm Beach. The first year we did it we had 35 people. This last summer we had over 200 people. I owe it all to the tireless efforts of Assistant Organizers like Bart that go the extra mile to make sure our events run very smoothly.
Where do you see your Meetup Group going next year?
That is a very good question. For the last 3 years we have consistently offered 300+ events a year. We have developed a system of events that are only available during certain seasons of the year. I think now that we have consistently attracted 300-500 people a year, we can move in the direction of community involvement and sponsoring local events and causes. It is a slippery slope to ask members to participate in community when some are just looking to get out of the house. I also think I have an inherent responsibility to open the horizons of our group as Meetup intended us to. I see so many groups across the country that do that on a regular basis so why not us and why not now. We will still plan popular events and throw in that curve ball of what the hell did he just plan event. But in the long run we need to start giving back to the community as best we can.
And some final words...
The key to our long term success has been giving value to our members. I stumbled upon a system that has worked like a charm in our group. We believe that once a member reaches their 10th event, they are immersed in the Meetup way as we see it. By the 5th Meetup people will remember your name and by the 10th, you are family. Many of our Assistant Organizers came from this system. We promote this at every icebreaker and ask them to spread the word. Our group has grown organically, by word of mouth.
The only other thing that promotes our success in events is that we only do events in a series of three or a series of five and then we shelve it for the next season. It creates anticipation of that event, like beach night in the summer.
Meetup is the greatest tool to bring strangers together for a common cause. I am constantly humbled when I see people become best friends in Meetup because of an event that they attended. I am still friends with my mentor. I have been in Meetup since 2006.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about Tri-County. We appreciate all that Meetup does for us and hope to continue this for years to come.
Thank you so much to Big Dave, his Leadership Team, and all of the Tri-County Adventures members, from all of us at Meetup! You've all built a fantastic community together.
