The Founding Moms’ Exchange: Mexico! - The Founding Moms’ Exchange: Mexico! Meetup Group
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The Founding Moms’ Exchange: Mexico! - The Founding Moms’ Exchange: Mexico! Meetup Group

Hike Lair of the Bear - Northwest Denver Moms
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Hike Lair of the Bear - Northwest Denver Moms

Mommy & Me SALSA - MDR Mom’s Group (2011/2012 babies)
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Mommy & Me SALSA - MDR Mom’s Group (2011/2012 babies)

Best of Mom & Dad Meetups | Summer 2012

            

This has been an amazing summer for Mom & Dad Meetups! We’ve put together a little best-of with tips, inspiration and some sunshine. 

If you want even more, peek at the most active Mom & Dad Meetups from around the world. 

And let us know what you’re up to! We’d love to feature your photos and advice on the Meetup HQ blog to share with other Organizers. 

Free kids soccer class - Plum Moms Club of Castle Rock
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Free kids soccer class - Plum Moms Club of Castle Rock

Parenting Meetups: 1K Club

Summer is in full swing! Time to kick back, put your feet up, and take a break. Right? Not for Parenting Meetups! This month 36 awesome Meetups crossed 1,000 cumulative RSVPs, and The San Diego Single Parents Meetup Group blew right past 1,000 members!

The San Diego Single Parents Meetup is an awesome example of a large group that manages to stay incredibly active. While lots of Meetups—especially Mom & Dad Meetups—prefer to keep their groups small and intimate, if you are looking to go big, here are some tips:

  • Have more than one upcoming Meetup scheduled at any one time
  • Schedule your Meetups for different days of the week, at different times

This will increase the likelihood of busy moms and dads finding a Meetup that works for them!


1,000 Members

1,000 RSVPs

If you’re the Organizer of a Parenting Meetup Group, be sure to schedule a Meetup! And if you’re looking to get involved with all the fun as a member, be sure to RSVP for a Mom & Dad Meetup near you.

Katie is our Community Team’s Parenting Meetup Expert.

Get the insider info on Mom & Dad Meetups here.

Pool Playdate - New Moms of NC Meetup Group
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Pool Playdate - New Moms of NC Meetup Group

Parenting Meetups: Best Practices

Parenting Meetups are some of the most active Meetups out there. We reached out to the Organizers behind some of our most vibrant Parenting communities to find out…

What does it takes to keep members engaged and involved?

Here’s what they had to say.

1. Get personal
Kristin, the Organizer behind the bustling North Jersey Moms Meetup Group explains that her Leadership Team makes a point to individually invite members to Meetups. “Showing appreciation goes a long way and I think that has made a difference for our numbers and beautiful feeling of community.  The members want to participate as we are friends and it’s a way to be with our friends, learning and trying something new.”

2. Offer variety
Christine, the Little Apple Mommies’ active Organizer believes that variety is the spice of Parenting Organizer life. “We offer LOTS of different playgroups for LOTS of different ages … We also often ask our members what they would like to do, and have planning meetings twice a year … which keeps everyone informed.”

Katie, from The Babies and Mommies of Doylestown agrees. “We add a wide variety of activities to the calendar, and we encourage our members to volunteer to host. Our Meetups take place on different days, different times, and with all types of themes to attract members (such as: specific age range playdates, working mom playdates at night, family Meetups, weekend Meetups, game nights, book clubs, Moms Night Out etc).” 

3. Be strategic
Another awesome Katie, from The South Charlotte Playgroup, swears by capping attendance, “even if the event can handle every member.” By capping attendance, Katie explains, “there’s an incentive to RSVP. What if all the spots fill? There’s also an incentive to attend…You can always increase the attendance cap! It’s all about supply and demand!”

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Thanks for the tips!

Katie is our superstar Parenting Meetup Specialist.

You can see the rest of Mom & Dad Meetup news here.

There’s a new mob running Jersey City.

A group of 636 mothers…have banded together to reform the public-school system, influence local politicians, and even get a nasty nurse fired at a pediatrician’s office.

Jersey City Moms Meetup - via NJ ‘mommy mafia’ becomes town’s new power brokers, NY Post

Interview: Katie, Organizer of The Babies and Mommies of Doylestown

When we took a look at the Parenting groups with the most RSVPs last week, we noticed a pretty undeniable trend: the vast majority of groups who made it into our top 10 boast powerful leadership teams.

Katie, the Organizer of The Babies and Mommies of Doylestown Meetup Group, helped shed some light on the situation.

Read on for all the insider info! Whether or not you organize a Parenting Meetup, and whether your Meetup is big or small, we’re sure you’ll find Katie’s answers as helpful as we did.

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