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As someone who's now been running a data viz meetup for almost 5 years now, I can confirm that this article is full of good advice. It boils down to: 1. Consis

As someone who's now been running a data viz meetup for almost 5 years now, I can confirm that this article is full of good advice. It boils down to: 1. Consistently put on actually good events! 2. Be consistent about marketing the events to make it easy for people to find them!

mmkos 3y ago
I mean, since we're boiling things down.. I guess you could say 1. Make a good thing 2. Market it Which the OP does very well, and has done with this post on HN which will no doubt boost his meetup even more.
abnercoimbre 3y ago
Do you have recommendations for which places to market your event? I run Handmade Meetups [0], which are gatherings for low-level programmers usually at coffee shops. We put on good events reliably at the same date and time. However, aside from a mailing list and word of mouth we don't know how to advertise better to widen reach. [0] https://handmadecities.com/meetups https://handmadecities.com/meetups
- djbusby 3y ago
  The process here is to hype the event on multiple channels (Twitter, FB, IG, LI, etc) and measure which ones pop (eg: I track metrics across like 12 networks). Then lean in to the ones that have the engagement. Measure natural posts and compare to "boosted" as well.
  - macintux 3y ago
    This sounds suspiciously like real work. I can't bear to simply read social networks any longer, much less actively engage with them or track statistics.
    - datadrivenangel 3y ago
      It's a labor of love.
    - a123b456c 3y ago
      HN comments are a social network, my friend.
      - macintux 3y ago
        And sometimes barely tolerable, but usually fine.
      - chriswarbo 3y ago
        I find it useful to distinguish between social networks (based around people/accounts; e.g. Facebook, Twitter) versus forums (based around topics/posts; e.g. Reddit, myriad phpbb instances, etc.). HN is more of a forum than a social network.
- RMPR 3y ago
  I didn't know you guys had Sweden as the location. That's fantastic! Looking forward to attend one in-person. I will share this with my network.
  - abnercoimbre 3y ago
    Awesome! The host there is a friend and people consistently report having a lovely time. If you're into game dev, Freya Holmér [0] has been known to attend these sometimes. [0] https://www.youtube.com/@Acegikmo https://www.youtube.com/@Acegikmo
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  The Meetup website is the major source. I also promote the events in local slack channels and on linkedin and twitter. Over the years we've built a newsletter and web presence and all that, but for discovery meetup is still king, though eventbrite and other places are okay.
pininja 3y ago
I’d attend your data viz meetup if by some chance I’m nearby. Where can I learn more?
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  Data Viz DC is local to DC (with the occasional online event)[0] There are a lot of global meetup groups that are often affiliated with the Data Visualization Society or on meetup in your area. [0] -https://www.meetup.com/Data-Visualization-DC/ https://www.meetup.com/Data-Visualization-DC/

mmkos 3y ago

I mean, since we're boiling things down.. I guess you could say 1. Make a good thing 2. Market it Which the OP does very well, and has done with this post on HN which will no doubt boost his meetup even more.

abnercoimbre 3y ago

Do you have recommendations for which places to market your event? I run Handmade Meetups [0], which are gatherings for low-level programmers usually at coffee shops. We put on good events reliably at the same date and time. However, aside from a mailing list and word of mouth we don't know how to advertise better to widen reach. [0] https://handmadecities.com/meetups https://handmadecities.com/meetups

djbusby 3y ago
The process here is to hype the event on multiple channels (Twitter, FB, IG, LI, etc) and measure which ones pop (eg: I track metrics across like 12 networks). Then lean in to the ones that have the engagement. Measure natural posts and compare to "boosted" as well.
- macintux 3y ago
  This sounds suspiciously like real work. I can't bear to simply read social networks any longer, much less actively engage with them or track statistics.
  - datadrivenangel 3y ago
    It's a labor of love.
  - a123b456c 3y ago
    HN comments are a social network, my friend.
    - macintux 3y ago
      And sometimes barely tolerable, but usually fine.
    - chriswarbo 3y ago
      I find it useful to distinguish between social networks (based around people/accounts; e.g. Facebook, Twitter) versus forums (based around topics/posts; e.g. Reddit, myriad phpbb instances, etc.). HN is more of a forum than a social network.
RMPR 3y ago
I didn't know you guys had Sweden as the location. That's fantastic! Looking forward to attend one in-person. I will share this with my network.
- abnercoimbre 3y ago
  Awesome! The host there is a friend and people consistently report having a lovely time. If you're into game dev, Freya Holmér [0] has been known to attend these sometimes. [0] https://www.youtube.com/@Acegikmo https://www.youtube.com/@Acegikmo
datadrivenangel 3y ago
The Meetup website is the major source. I also promote the events in local slack channels and on linkedin and twitter. Over the years we've built a newsletter and web presence and all that, but for discovery meetup is still king, though eventbrite and other places are okay.

pininja 3y ago

I’d attend your data viz meetup if by some chance I’m nearby. Where can I learn more?

datadrivenangel 3y ago
Data Viz DC is local to DC (with the occasional online event)[0] There are a lot of global meetup groups that are often affiliated with the Data Visualization Society or on meetup in your area. [0] -https://www.meetup.com/Data-Visualization-DC/ https://www.meetup.com/Data-Visualization-DC/