How to run a meetup: lessons from running a community for a year

A business conference and presentation. Photo credit: elen1 / 123RF Stock Photo.

Before we deep dive into a list of recommendations I urge you to reflect for a minute on why you want to run a meetup in the first place. There are many upsides like finding mentors, mentoring others, establishing connections, becoming famous, or even earning money. What motivates you?

This is relevant to figure out what kind of community/meetup you want to establish and will impact a lot of your decisions. Is it a group of five smart people who meet every week or rather a monthly gathering with 150 people? Don’t forget your location implies certain restrictions.

Figure out what kind of community you want to establish and why.

When we started out, I was interested in finding smart people to learn from. Nowadays, React Vienna is a thriving community where people start open source projects together, help each other with architectural challenges on a daily basis, and even help each other to find better jobs. Being a part of establishing this community has been one of the most gratifying things I have ever done.

Getting started

Subject

You probably know already what your subject is going to be. Keep in mind the more specific the overall topic is, the deeper you can immerse further into the subject matter. The more specific the overall topic the fewer people you most likely attract.

Team

I highly recommend not running it alone, but rather building a team of two to five people. It’s not only way more fun together, but also relaxing to know you have some backup in case you don’t have time. We started out with a team of two and grew to four.

Establish a communication/planning strategy. In our case, it’s a private channel in a Slack organization for the four organizers.

Basics

First, you need to define a program, settle for a date, and find a location. Co-working spaces often allow you to host meetups for free, but companies also sometimes offer free space for relevant meetups.

For the first couple of meetups, you can ask colleagues and friends interested in the topic to give a presentation. Regular meet-up attendees are a good source of new speakers afterward.

Meetup day

Conclusion