4 ms·

I run a club for a certain car. The thing is, people generally don't want to be responsible for organizing meetups. Many will happily attend but not host. My

I run a club for a certain car. The thing is, people generally don't want to be responsible for organizing meetups. Many will happily attend but not host. My guess is you need to find community leaders who can handle and own the responsibilities involved with hosting meets in their areas. At the end of the day I don't think a website is going to help convince people to take on that kind of role. It's more of a personality thing. With my club, we use Facebook events and generally just screenshot the details and further disperse them that way to discord, slack, instagram, etc. But none of that is enough alone for someone to host. Even when it's as simple as picking a meet location and time and sending out invites.

devoutsalsa 2y ago
Internations, a social platform for the expats & locals, actively encourages people to become event organizers. It makes sense to recruit people willing to host.
mritchie712 2y ago
also, many will signup to attend and bail last minute
- diggan 2y ago
  Very true. About Meetup.com specifically (a couple of years ago at least), attending rate was something like 15-20% of the people who RSVP'd.
  - datadrivenangel 2y ago
    I get about ~40-50% attendance rate from meetup, but we've been going for years so the regulars are pretty consistent.
  - calpaterson 2y ago
    Higher indeed. 40% no shows for a meetup I run (60-100 slots, meeting monthly)
- sneak 2y ago
  This is solved by charging $19 or so.
  - Etheryte 2y ago
    Well yes, but 100% attendance of zero people is still zero people.
  - wing-_-nuts 2y ago
    Great way to guarantee I won't attend your meetup
  - sfmz 2y ago
    If you distributed the $19 to the people who did actually show up... you would actually get people to show up... maybe there's some kind of business plan embedded in your comment.
    - stevage 2y ago
      That is a fascinating idea that I'm surprised I haven't heard before. I guess implicitly it sort of happens when the money is spent on food or drinks.
    - toyg 2y ago
      Double-digit is too high, you'd have people showing up just to get paid - which is not what you want. There might be a sweet spot around $3-5 for that model. Even better: charge $5 to book; attendants will be refunded the fee; any leftovers will be used for refreshments at future events.
- quuxplusone 2y ago
  True, but this is also an emergent behavior of the Meetup UI. It has no (clear) way to say "I'm interested, might attend, can't commit right now, please remind me day-of." So if you want that reminder — if you want it on your calendar — you have to RSVP as if you were really 100% coming. Meetup doesn't (clearly) offer any other option. I've RSVPed myself with this intent plenty of times. I'd use a "maybe, please remind me" button if it existed. Contrast Doodle.com, which offers a "yellow maybe" option intermediate between "green yes" and "red no."
sirobg 2y ago
Thanks for the perspective! I think I have a communication problem with meet.hn. People seem to assume it has been created to setup these kinds of large meetups. In fact, I created it for small or even 1-1 meetups in the first place. Meeting a single person or a small group of people seems much more interesting, easy and valuable to me. Of course I'm not assuming everyone thinks the same way, but don't you think there is an audience for that in the HN community?
- spike021 2y ago
  I'd consider the demographics of people who regularly visit HN. Not to put a slight on anyone but I think a good chunk of people on here probably don't enjoy in-person meetups. Again, IME it's not the size of the meetup but the responsibility. Even in my example, the average attendance is maybe 10-20 people. Sometimes as low as five people. And some areas only have 5 or fewer regularly.
  - datavirtue 2y ago
    We can't even get lead devs on camera.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- aftbit 2y ago
  Hmm if I wanted to meet up with one person from HN, I would just contact them using the details in their profile. If there were no contact details, I wouldn't meet with them. I don't quite see the value for 1:1 meetups I guess.
  - sirobg 2y ago
    How would you know this person is located in your area or in the area you might visit some time? I guess you would have to dig, right? Well, with meet.hn: 1. You don't have to dig 2. People are more willing to meet on average than a random person on the internet 3. You can also check other locations and other people super fast
andoando 2y ago
Community leaders I feel like leads to having meetups conform to one personality. Ideally, users need an actual reason to meet.
- linsomniac 2y ago
  I don't know about calling them community leaders; someone has to find a place to have the meeting and let people know about it. That can be done without the entire meeting conforming to their personality. But at the end of the day, someone has to do some legwork or it just ain't gonna happen.
- spike021 2y ago
  The community leaders in this scenario aren't leading the meeting. I guess it depends on the format of said meeting. In my case, they really just set the location and time, in addition to making sure nobody is causing trouble, littering, etc. Other than that, it's a free-for-all.
  - andoando 2y ago
    I think its more subtle. Whoever is organizing is setting the tone/nature of the meetings. For example, there is a chess club I wanted to participate in, but the organizer always picks some loud bar, which just isnt my idea of a chess club.
mikeruiz 2y ago
Can that role be automated? Some sort of community vote on a text proposal from the system, along with rsvp, reminders, etc? people may have more skin in the game if they voted on a time/place. Automate place and tine selection: under eight in the community? Beer hall with 4+ stars that don’t need reservations. 1:1? Coffee shop. Etc. send over some date time location tuples, hold a vote, maybe do a runoff, whatever. I know that if I got a flash meetup invite to a coffee shop along with instructions on how to meet people (to the left of the door at 10am sharp) I might actually make time. Worst case I drink coffee, which I was planning on doing anyway. Basically: take the initiative?
- spike021 2y ago
  You can but I think people like the human element that "someone" has put this whole thing together. At my events for that club, I don't lead anything at the event. I basically make sure people aren't causing any trouble or littering (none of this ever happens but it's just my assumed responsibility). But I'll notice people asking around to know who set things up. Usually they find me and thank me because they enjoyed meeting other people and learning from each other. Again, very human kind of thing I think.
  - maccard 2y ago
    That’s been my experience too. I have a friend who is very involved in a large (250+ people every week, same time same place) - she has a group of volunteers and a rota, who help and set everything up. Her job is mostly keeping those volunteers happy and dealing with the occasional troublemaker (usually in the form of someone forcing themselves into the volunteer role and trying to “make things better” without understanding why things are the way they are.
linsomniac 2y ago
In my experience (which is a lot), like 80% of having a successful gathering is: Picking a date, Finding a location, Letting people know, Keeping it consistent. I've been involved in organizing well over a thousand geek meetings, either as the primary organizer or on the "steering committee". You're probably right, most people don't want to be responsible for organizing it. But, at the end of the day, someone has to find a place and pick a date and let people know. You don't even have to go crazy with any of those, you could pick a coffee shop or restaurant, unless you get real popular.
- spike021 2y ago
  >But, at the end of the day, someone has to find a place and pick a date and let people know. You don't even have to go crazy with any of those, you could pick a coffee shop or restaurant, unless you get real popular. This is exactly what people don't want to do. Even when the meeting location or time haven't changed in two years. Believe me, I've had people ask about when the next meeting will be. I tell them I'm unavailable to set things up. I tell them they can feel free to go through the motions, just create the event in the calendar and really just make sure nobody makes a mess or anything during the event. It sounds simple but again, unless someone has the right personality and drive to be responsible for this...

devoutsalsa 2y ago

Internations, a social platform for the expats & locals, actively encourages people to become event organizers. It makes sense to recruit people willing to host.

mritchie712 2y ago

also, many will signup to attend and bail last minute

diggan 2y ago
Very true. About Meetup.com specifically (a couple of years ago at least), attending rate was something like 15-20% of the people who RSVP'd.
- datadrivenangel 2y ago
  I get about ~40-50% attendance rate from meetup, but we've been going for years so the regulars are pretty consistent.
- calpaterson 2y ago
  Higher indeed. 40% no shows for a meetup I run (60-100 slots, meeting monthly)
sneak 2y ago
This is solved by charging $19 or so.
- Etheryte 2y ago
  Well yes, but 100% attendance of zero people is still zero people.
- wing-_-nuts 2y ago
  Great way to guarantee I won't attend your meetup
- sfmz 2y ago
  If you distributed the $19 to the people who did actually show up... you would actually get people to show up... maybe there's some kind of business plan embedded in your comment.
  - stevage 2y ago
    That is a fascinating idea that I'm surprised I haven't heard before. I guess implicitly it sort of happens when the money is spent on food or drinks.
  - toyg 2y ago
    Double-digit is too high, you'd have people showing up just to get paid - which is not what you want. There might be a sweet spot around $3-5 for that model. Even better: charge $5 to book; attendants will be refunded the fee; any leftovers will be used for refreshments at future events.
quuxplusone 2y ago
True, but this is also an emergent behavior of the Meetup UI. It has no (clear) way to say "I'm interested, might attend, can't commit right now, please remind me day-of." So if you want that reminder — if you want it on your calendar — you have to RSVP as if you were really 100% coming. Meetup doesn't (clearly) offer any other option. I've RSVPed myself with this intent plenty of times. I'd use a "maybe, please remind me" button if it existed. Contrast Doodle.com, which offers a "yellow maybe" option intermediate between "green yes" and "red no."

sirobg 2y ago

Thanks for the perspective! I think I have a communication problem with meet.hn. People seem to assume it has been created to setup these kinds of large meetups. In fact, I created it for small or even 1-1 meetups in the first place. Meeting a single person or a small group of people seems much more interesting, easy and valuable to me. Of course I'm not assuming everyone thinks the same way, but don't you think there is an audience for that in the HN community?

spike021 2y ago
I'd consider the demographics of people who regularly visit HN. Not to put a slight on anyone but I think a good chunk of people on here probably don't enjoy in-person meetups. Again, IME it's not the size of the meetup but the responsibility. Even in my example, the average attendance is maybe 10-20 people. Sometimes as low as five people. And some areas only have 5 or fewer regularly.
- datavirtue 2y ago
  We can't even get lead devs on camera.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
aftbit 2y ago
Hmm if I wanted to meet up with one person from HN, I would just contact them using the details in their profile. If there were no contact details, I wouldn't meet with them. I don't quite see the value for 1:1 meetups I guess.
- sirobg 2y ago
  How would you know this person is located in your area or in the area you might visit some time? I guess you would have to dig, right? Well, with meet.hn: 1. You don't have to dig 2. People are more willing to meet on average than a random person on the internet 3. You can also check other locations and other people super fast

andoando 2y ago

Community leaders I feel like leads to having meetups conform to one personality. Ideally, users need an actual reason to meet.

linsomniac 2y ago
I don't know about calling them community leaders; someone has to find a place to have the meeting and let people know about it. That can be done without the entire meeting conforming to their personality. But at the end of the day, someone has to do some legwork or it just ain't gonna happen.
spike021 2y ago
The community leaders in this scenario aren't leading the meeting. I guess it depends on the format of said meeting. In my case, they really just set the location and time, in addition to making sure nobody is causing trouble, littering, etc. Other than that, it's a free-for-all.
- andoando 2y ago
  I think its more subtle. Whoever is organizing is setting the tone/nature of the meetings. For example, there is a chess club I wanted to participate in, but the organizer always picks some loud bar, which just isnt my idea of a chess club.

mikeruiz 2y ago

Can that role be automated? Some sort of community vote on a text proposal from the system, along with rsvp, reminders, etc? people may have more skin in the game if they voted on a time/place. Automate place and tine selection: under eight in the community? Beer hall with 4+ stars that don’t need reservations. 1:1? Coffee shop. Etc. send over some date time location tuples, hold a vote, maybe do a runoff, whatever. I know that if I got a flash meetup invite to a coffee shop along with instructions on how to meet people (to the left of the door at 10am sharp) I might actually make time. Worst case I drink coffee, which I was planning on doing anyway. Basically: take the initiative?

spike021 2y ago
You can but I think people like the human element that "someone" has put this whole thing together. At my events for that club, I don't lead anything at the event. I basically make sure people aren't causing any trouble or littering (none of this ever happens but it's just my assumed responsibility). But I'll notice people asking around to know who set things up. Usually they find me and thank me because they enjoyed meeting other people and learning from each other. Again, very human kind of thing I think.
- maccard 2y ago
  That’s been my experience too. I have a friend who is very involved in a large (250+ people every week, same time same place) - she has a group of volunteers and a rota, who help and set everything up. Her job is mostly keeping those volunteers happy and dealing with the occasional troublemaker (usually in the form of someone forcing themselves into the volunteer role and trying to “make things better” without understanding why things are the way they are.

linsomniac 2y ago

In my experience (which is a lot), like 80% of having a successful gathering is: Picking a date, Finding a location, Letting people know, Keeping it consistent. I've been involved in organizing well over a thousand geek meetings, either as the primary organizer or on the "steering committee". You're probably right, most people don't want to be responsible for organizing it. But, at the end of the day, someone has to find a place and pick a date and let people know. You don't even have to go crazy with any of those, you could pick a coffee shop or restaurant, unless you get real popular.

spike021 2y ago
>But, at the end of the day, someone has to find a place and pick a date and let people know. You don't even have to go crazy with any of those, you could pick a coffee shop or restaurant, unless you get real popular. This is exactly what people don't want to do. Even when the meeting location or time haven't changed in two years. Believe me, I've had people ask about when the next meeting will be. I tell them I'm unavailable to set things up. I tell them they can feel free to go through the motions, just create the event in the calendar and really just make sure nobody makes a mess or anything during the event. It sounds simple but again, unless someone has the right personality and drive to be responsible for this...