The Official Meetup HQ Blog

Guest Blogger: Making Meetupers Feel Welcome At Meetup Events

Aurora is the absolutely fantastic Organizer of both The Montreal Friends Meetup Group and The Montreal Photographers Meetup Group. She offered to share some tips with all of us on how Organizers can help make people feel welcome and comfortable at Meetups.

Check out her lovely tips and tricks below! --Meetup HQ

Don’t you hate that feeling of walking into a room at a party, knowing no one and not knowing how to approach people?

Wouldn’t it be great if someone came up to you and made you feel like part of the group instantly?

That feeling is the reason why making Meetupers feel welcome when they attend your Meetup Group’s events is so important.

Feeling welcome at your Meetup will make them want to come back for more events!

Here are some great techniques to make new (and regular) members feel welcome, whether you’re hosting a Meetup for two…or 100 people!

Before your Meetup Event

• Print out your RSVP list with member photos, so that you can recognize everyone and take attendance.
• Research your RSVP list before the event.
  Go through the list of people attending and read the profiles of the new members who will be attending your event. Write down one word about them on your RSVP list to use as an ice-breaker when you greet them at the event. For example, “Bolivia”, when you see that the newcomer is a newcomer from Bolivia.
• Prepare a Meetup sign or signs to bring with you.
  This is particularly crucial if you are meeting in a public and crowded place, where you can’t make a reservation. Many Meetupers have told me that they never found the Meetup Group at an event because they didn’t spot any Meetup signs.
  If you don’t want to wave a sign around, wear a Meetup pin or tag or even a Meetup shirt! Something that will help your members recognize you.

  At the Meetup Event

• Set up your Meetup signs at the Meetup Event location. Make sure they are angled for the best exposure for people walking in.
• Greet each person when they arrive, and welcome them to the Group.
• Break the ice and start a conversation.
  Use the research you did from their Meetup profile, if they are new, to learn more about them.
  “So how long have you lived in town?” “I read in your profile that you like to blog. What’s your blog about?”
  If they are a regular member, ask them about one of their interests, or simply ask them what they’ve been up to since you last saw them.
• Show the Meetup member available spots where they can sit or join in.
• Introduce the Meetup member to the people around them.
  “Do you know everyone here? Hey everyone, this is Olivia. Olivia meet John, John this is Olivia...”
  You’ll find when you start to introduce the new arrival, people will naturally start to introduce themselves as well.
• Get the new arrival involved in the conversation.
  After you introduce the Meetup member, comment on the conversation the people were having and bring the new person into the conversation.
  “Oh hey Gabriel, everyone was just talking about the last movie they saw. What was the last one you saw?”
• Once you see that the new arrival is now part of the Group and talking to people, go around the room and check up on how everyone is doing.
  Interject comments and ask questions as you wander around your Group.
• Keep an eye on the group during the Meetup Event to make sure everything is running smoothly.
  Take a look around to see if everyone is joining in on the conversation. Check up on the shyer people to see how they’re doing.
• At the end of the night, say good-bye to each person individually.
  Just as a greeting is important, a personal good-bye can also make a difference.
  The person will feel recognized and part of the group and want to come back!
  Thank each person for attending.

After The Meetup Event

• Set an example by filling out the Meetup survey.
  Give your review of the event, what you thought of the venue, and comment on the conversation during the evening. Mention names of people who made the event memorable. And thank your members for attending and making your event a success!

Suggestion for large-sized Meetup Events (100 +people)

• Designate Meetup Greeters to help greet Meetupers on their arrival and make them feel welcome!

Read a great article about ice-breakers to get your Meetup members mingling and having fun here.

And remember….have fun hosting your Meetup event!

Aurora is the Organizer of The Montreal Friends Meetup Group &
The Montreal Photographers Meetup Group.

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Snazzy & Informative Meetup Homepages -- Keep Interest Alive!

Meredith LeVind has an amazing Meetup Group homepage. She offered to share some tips with everyone on how she makes it more fun, compelling and interesting for her membership. Check out her wonderful guest blogger post below! -- Meetup HQ

Want your site to be a great advertisement for your Meetup Group?

Here are some excellent ways to define your Meetup's mission statement, showcase your activities and set expectations for new members:

*Make your homepage stand out!  Change up your banner, Meetup Group photo or description monthly to feature holidays, fun themes or upcoming activities.

*Fill your homepage with information that not only explains what your Meetup Group's about, but also that demonstrates what's happening within your Meetup Group. Use pictures and logos in the sponsor box to advertise upcoming events, a question of the week, polls...or feature a weekly newsletter. Fun features on your homepage will catch the attention of potential members, and help keep your current members active and informed.

Making your homepage as informative as possible attracts the kinds of members you want, and helps you set expectations as Organizer. It also demonstrates how much you care about your Meetup Group!

Weekly newsletters promote your activities, encourage members to RSVP, and will bring members back to the site more often.

Come and visit my 20s/30s Gals Meet New Pals Meetup in Raleigh anytime...and feel free to contact me directly if I can offer you more advice on how to make your homepage more Snazzy and Informative too!

Meredith is Organizer of the 20s/30s Gals Meetup New Pals Meetup.

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Put Your Meetup on the Map!

by Scott

Hello Meetup Organizers!

Millions of people come to Meetup every month. Help them find you by adding the right Topics to your Meetup.

Now Organizers can add whatever Topics fit their Meetup best.

We'll help with Suggested Topics used by similar Meetup Groups. And if you don't see the Topic you want, start it!

In the past few weeks, Organizers have added thousands of brand new Topics, including Outdoors and Women Entrepreneurs. Other popular Topics these days are Volunteerism, Frugal Living, and Oprah.

Adding the right Topics helps you:

Get ideal members - People are searching! Tell the world what your Meetup is all about and who it's for.

Discover other Meetups like yours - There's a map of all Meetup Groups using that Topic. To see it, just click the Topic on your Meetup's home page.

Connect with other Organizers - Explore what other Meetups are doing! Get ideas, share advice, share your stories. Just reach out to other Organizers who share your Topics!

How do you add Topics?

Managing your Meetup's 'Topics' is one of the options under your 'Group Settings'. Your Meetup can have up to seven Topics.

We're excited to see the great things you do!

P.S. - Here's another idea: know other Organizers? Band together by creating a Topic you all add!

Scott is Chief Organizer and Co-Founder of Meetup.

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Check out Erica's Corner on MeetupTV on Thursday August 6th!

by Erica

Are you interested in learning some tips for using Meetup? Then you're invited to join me for a live broadcast of Erica's Corner on MeetupTV!

This Thursday at 2pm EST, I'll be discussing how to use the new 'Schedule a Meetup' page, and we'll discuss some ideas for planning a Can't Miss Meetup.  

We'll be joined by Jesse, who is both a Product Manager here at HQ and the Organizer of a pretty great Meetup Group himself.

Interested? You can tune in here:

http://www.livestream.com/meetuptv

You'll be able to ask your own questions and share ideas with other Organizers and members in the live chat!  

If you aren't able to join us live, you can still check out all of the action afterwards.

To view old episodes of Erica's Corner, go to http://www.livestream.com/meetuptv and click on 'Menu.'

Then choose ' Browse On Demand Library' to see older episodes.

We'll be doing this periodically, so if you'd like the keep tabs on what we're planning and when, join the Erica's Corner Meetup Group to view the calendar of upcoming episodes.

I look forward to having all of you join me!

Erica is on Meetup's Community Support team.

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Marcia, Marcia, Marcia the Spambot...

by Tegan

Most folks on Meetup are totally real, super awesome people. But every now and again, a spammer sneaks into the mix. Which is what happened this weekend.

Eek! What happened?

In the early morning hours, a big bad spammer calling herself 'Marcia' created a ton of Meetup accounts with throw-away email addresses. Then the spam Marcias joined a whole bunch of Meetup Groups and sent some spammy messages through the Meetup Groups' mailing lists. Maybe you got one.

What didn't happen:

The spammers didn't hack into our databases, or anything like that. "Marcia" just sent a whole lot of email.

What's Meetup doing about it?

Meetup has blocked all of the offending 'Marcia' spam accounts, and we've blocked any further registrations from the throw-away email provider's domain.

We're currently sussing out the source of the spam. As of right this minute, we think we've got almost all of it contained. If you catch any more, let us know. We want to make sure we get this totally taken care of.

We're also in the process of rolling out real-time checks against public spam databases for common member to member communication channels, along with heuristic detection to spot spammers at the point of registration. (Woo hoo! That's fancy tech speak for 'We're on it.')

Spam is totally annoying, and we hate it. That's why we've got checks and limits on the communications tools Meetup members use to contact each other. And we'll keep doing everything we can to keep spammers off of the Meetup site and out of your inboxes.

So in the meantime, what can Meetup members and Organizers do?

There's no sure-fire 100% fail-proof way to make sure a spammer never sneaks into a Meetup Group, but here are a couple of things that you can do to deter these sorts of auto-spammers:

Organizers: require some sort of approval before a member can join your Meetup.

You can require new members to tell you more about themselves before they can join your Meetup Group, or you can set it so that all members have to be approved before they can join.

Set your mailing-list messages so that they need Organizer approval to go through, or turn the mailing list off.

Organizers, you can do this under 'Optional Features' in 'Group Settings'.

Adjust your Membership and Communications settings.

Anyone can choose to accept greetings and email contact only from Organizers or just from people who are in the same Meetup Groups you are.

Just log in, go to 'Account', and click on 'Membership and Communications."

If you get anything suspicious or have any questions, let us know at abuse@meetup.com.

We'll be happy to check it out, and take out any big bad spammers you come across.

Tegan is on the Community Support team at Meetup.

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Not sure you could Organize a Meetup?

by Erica

Do you want to Organize a Meetup but you don't think you have what it takes?

Tammi, the Organizer of Vinous Envy and ForkScrew wasn't so sure she could do it, either. But she decided to just go for it, and guess what?

Her Meetup Groups started taking off!  Now Tammi's Meetups have hundreds of members, many of which have become close new friends.

When Tammi lost her job, her Meetup's members were there for her as a great source of inspiration and support in her job search. They even helped her make this video in a competition for a cool new social media job. She certainly has some great Web 2.0 experience in her role as a Meetup Organizer.

If you have a great idea for a Meetup, get out there and get started! Your members and the team here at Meetup HQ will support you every step of the way.  Who knows where it will take you!

We wish you the best of luck, Tammi!

Erica is a Meetup Support Specialist.

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Putting New Meetup Maps to the Test

by Andres

People say you know you've built something good if its "so easy your grandma can do it". I'm not a grandma, but I've been called a "young fogey". So, I'll subject myself to the test...

We just launched Meetup Maps that anyone can embed into their own site (like a youtube video). I picked a few fast growing Meetup topics (Glenn Beck, Moms & Hikers) to embed on to this here blog post. Are here are the results....

GLENN BECK MEETUPS AROUND THE WORLD HIKING MEETUPS AROUND THE WORLD STAY AT HOME MOMS MEETUPS AROUND THE WORLD
Not bad for an old man. It was actually easier than I thought. Here's what I did....

1. I went to the map page for the topic (i.e. http://glennbeck.meetup.com) to find the map I wanted to embed.
2. Then I found the link under the map without a hitch. (Go me!).
3. Then pasted that link into this here blog post. (After I figured out how to get the blog into html mode).

That's it. So, if I can do it....

Andres is Meetup's VP of Strategy.

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A Web Address of Your Meetup Group's Own

by Adam

Check it out! Now Meetup Group Organizers can choose the web address for their Meetup Groups.

When picking an address, you've got two options:

1) Customize your Meetup.com address
2) Register a Domain of your own, and set it up to redirect to your Meetup Group's home page.

Customizing Your Meetup.com Address

Customizing your Meetup address is really easy.

As an Organizer, all you need to do is login to your account, go to your Meetup Group's home page, and click 'Group Settings' in the left column.

The web address is one of the options under 'Basic Info'. Just fill in what you'd like, and hit 'Submit'. (The Meetup site will tell you if it's already taken.) The address will look like this:

http://www.meetup.com/YourMeetupGroupName

Using Your Own Domain

If you'd like to use your own web address instead, you can register your own domain and link it up to your Meetup Group now, too.

Basically, a group set up with a custom domain will appear as http://www.YourMeetupGroupName.com/, while actually being on the Meetup.com website.

Getting your own domain up and running requires a little more setup, but there are some great instructions here. We've got step-by-step instructions for how to set up a domain with a bunch of different registrars (that's fancy tech speak for places that register and keep track of web addresses).

Want to see what a customized domain looks like when it's all set up? Check out the New York Classical Music Meetup Group at nyclassicalmusic.org.

If you click around on the NY Classical Music Meetup Group's home, you'll notice that all the group's pages look like they're on their very own site. So for example, the Calendar for the NY Classical Music Meetup Group is at nyclassicalmusic.org/calendar and their 'About Us' pages are at nyclassicalmusic.org/about.

Either way, choosing a custom address makes it just a little easier for current (and future!) members to find your group.

We're really excited.

Adam is a Meetup Support Specialist.

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Money Management for Meetup Organizers!

by Tegan

It seems like everyone right now is focusing on finding ways to keep better track of what's going on with their money.  We know that running a Meetup Group is challenging enough already, so we put together a new 'Money' Management feature for Organizers! (Clicking on the image will take you to a full-size version.)

Now you can record expenses, track membership dues or donations, and keep track of payments you've received for any particular event or from your Meetup Group's Sponsors.  You can even filter the data by type or date, and export it in a bunch of different formats (for fancy folks who like spreadsheets.)

There's a handy guide to the ins-and-outs of all the things you can do with the 'Money' feature here if anyone wants a really nitty gritty run down.

But the basic idea is this: real world Meetup Groups sometimes need some real world cash.

And since we're all about helping people create and grow real community Meetups that are going to be there for folks when people need them, we needed to help make it as easy as possible for Organizers to keep up with their dough.

Now, if only working out my personal finances were so easy.

Tegan is on the Community Support team at Meetup.

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Nervous to go to your first Meetup?

by Erica

First you RSVP 'Yes' and then you head out the door to make some new friends who share your interests. 

You start imagining what it will be like and your palms get sweaty. You realize you are about to walk into a room of strangers. 

What if you don't have anything to say?  What if you don't like anybody? What if nobody likes you!? 

Your heart starts racing, you have trouble breathing and before you know it you are back at home, in your pajamas with a bowl of ice cream.

If you relate at all, you definitely aren't alone.   There are more than 10,000 people here that belong to Shyness & Social Anxiety Meetup Groups. Those who are mildly shy to those who suffer from severe panic disorders are all welcome.  Together these members discuss different ways of overcoming social phobias and get together in comfortable, safe atmospheres.

At the Boston Social Anxiety Meetup a member commented:

 "I really appreciate this Meetup Group as a community where I feel comfortable challenging myself and trying new things, and I have enjoyed getting to know the group members. I hope others will find the courage to take advantage of the opportunities this group offers."  

Sometimes it just takes a little extra support from someone who understands what you are going through.  Members of this Meetup have even started banding together in order to attend other Meetups.  Watch out Boston!

Congrats to anyone who has ever overcome the fear of attending a Meetup for the first time.  If you are among those who haven't yet, take a deep breath and remember you aren't alone.  It might just be easier than you think!  Have a story to share?  Tell us in the comments!

Erica is a Meetup Support Specialist.

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