So, you want to run a meetup?

James Milner

jmilner@esriuk.com

@JamesLMilner

loxodrome.io

First things first, it's cool we could all hang out

A Bit About Dev Rel at

Esri UK

• Esri UK is a distributor

• Strong state side dev rel team

• It's pretty much just me

• GeoDev Meetups (meetup.com/geodev)

• Developer Floor at our Annual Conference

• GeoHackDay

• Student Hackathons

• Startup Programme

Things We Do

Let's discuss meetups in the broadest sense

Types of Meetups

• Platform specific -  e.g. Londroid
• Language specific - e.g. ShoreditchJS
• Interest specific - e.g. HTML5 Game Devs
• Open source tech- e.g. d3js London
• Proprietary tech - e.g. London Unity Usergroup
• Show and Tells - e.g London Hack && Tell

Motivations for Involvement

Interest

Community Building

Recruitment

Evangelism

Brand Awareness

Collaboration

Feedback

What Makes for a Great Meetup

• Organisation (x100)

• Interesting content 

• Community building

• Critical mass

• Timings

• Great food and drinks

• Inclusivity & Posi vibes

How are People Organising Meetups? 

For Sure, But Let's  Discuss Running One?

Approaches

1. Run your own first party meetup
2. Run a 'non partisian' meetup
3. Sponsor someone else's meetup

Meetup Engagement Trade Offs

• Amount of interest
• Amount of effort
• Efficacy
• Commercial vibes 

The "Sponsor Someone Else's Meetup" Approach

• Potentially derisked, interest is known
• Limited effort (attendance, swag)
• Impact can be variable 
• Commercial vibes marginally negated 

The "Tech Agnostic Meetup" Approach

• Attendees/interest likely to be higher 
• Effort can still be high
• Impact is variable
• Commercial vibes marginally negated 

The "First Party Tech Meetup" Approach

• Interest likely correlate to market share
• Majority of attendees are likely current users
• Effort is going to be high
• Impact potentially unknown, but direct
• Commercial vibes need to be managed 

I'm going to focus on this one

The first question you need to ask is

"is this a good idea? "

Running a first party meetup is a bold move

Things To Start Thinking About

• Engaging your current community
• Promoting the meetup
• A venue
• Food and drink
• Speakers
• Content

What Are Your Goals For Running a Meetup?

• Potentially:
  • Community building
  • Technology uptake
  • Brand awareness
  • Knowledge transfer
  • Building up your social contacts

How Will You Measure These?

• Number of attendees and speakers
• Number of returning attendees
• Social media buzz
• Feedback surveys
• Number of people requesting more info
• Tech signups 

How Will You Promote the Event?

Case Study: GeoDev

• Esri technology meetup
• It was in hiatus
• Rebranded Meetup page
• Setup Twitter account

Case Study: GeoDev

• Used to Support Other Events

  • Annual Conference Dev Floor
  • GeoHackDay
  • JavaScript Intro @ Maptime

Case Study: GeoDev

Growth and Drop Out Rates

• Meetup group: 54 People - 178 People (1 year)
• First meetup 15 attendees
• Average around 20 attendees
• Average dropout ~43% 
• Experimenting with Survey Monkey

James's Top 10

Meetup Tips

Have a Cheat Sheet

Don't be Scared to Haggle

Arrive Early

Your Attendees could be Future Speakers

Do a Write Up

Reuse the Same Venue 

When appropriate! This can save time and effort

Link Events Together

... But be Wary of Scale

Have Someone Greeting

This makes a massive difference! Have them provide name badges.

Setup a Feedback Survey

Thanks

@JamesLMilner

Tech Evangelist Meetup

http://www.meetup.com/Technical-Evangelism/