Just Do It
No matter where you live, you can be sure that there are a lot of people interested in the same things you are. However, while a lot of those people would like to be a part of a meetup, they will never go out and start it. Be the leader. Start the group, and the rest will follow.
| — | James Simpson, GoldFire Studios |
A great way to get inspired is to check out ideas and suggestions from other Meetup Groups.
What works for your members will depend a bit on what sort of Meetup Group you run, but you’ll notice a lot of great Meetup ideas overlap and would be fantastic for any Meetup Group.
Here are some ideas for different kinds of Meetups:
Moms - go to the zoo; drop by your local library or firehouse; take the kids to a kid-friendly museum; meet at the park for a playdate; plan a Mom’s night out.
Tech - invite people to a hackathon; host a question & answer session; start a speaker series.
Social Networking - plan a scavenger hunt; take a day trip; host a theme party.
Business Networking - get people together for a brainstorming session; host a workshop; have a casual meet-and-greet.
Dining Out - bring takeout to a picnic; plan a restaurant crawl; cap RSVPs for a small group dinner; try a new restaurant or cuisine.
Volunteers - participate in a food drive; train for a walkathon; visit the elderly.
Writers - have members read and critique each others’ work together; host a group discussion; schedule a ‘write-in’.
Artists - sketch in the park; go to a local museum; organize a Group show; create a piece of collaborative art together.
Book Clubs - lead a discussion; invite a guest lecturer; share favorite passages.
Language & Culture - explore the food, music and culture of the people who speak your target language; play word games; practice conversation.
Running - have a grown up field day with sack race and relays; learn about first aid; take a road trip and run somewhere new.
Hiking - clean up a local trail; host an ‘urban hike’ in town; plan something challenging for advanced members only.
Fitness - plan a post holiday bootcamp to get back in shape; invite a guest speaker to talk about workout safety.
Games - schedule a tournament; create a themed game night; host an old-school LAN party.
Sports - challenge another Meetup to a pick-up game; watch the pros play; enjoy a meal together after the game.
Spirituality - check out a film screening; plan a retreat; study a sacred text. 
Remember, a good Meetup isn’t just about the activities you do together. It’s about the people you Meetup with.
Just pick a time, a date and a place. Then let your members know that this Meetup is to meet new people and brainstorm ideas for your next Meetup.
For more tips and advice, check out the latest tips on the Meetup HQ Blog.
[Repost from Tegan, Meetup HQ]
With many thanks for the sponsorship from the Meetup HQ, Andrea Murphy and Bernie Mitchell worked with Westminster Business Consultants for months to try and get ideas on how to make Meetup Barcamp No.1 for The London Meetup Organisers Group event work well; for it to be informing and engaging enough so that people can take something away from the event.
The whole idea was for the event to be a relaunch party for The London Meetup Organisers’ Group as they used to have monthly Meetups but had stopped for a few months. With Social Media Week London 2012 in February, we thought that Social Media would be a great theme for the next Meetup.
Many people struggle to keep up to date with the constant development of online marketing and Social Media. We thought that this would be a great topic for people to discuss and share their experiences of using Social Media to help with their Meetup groups.
One thing all the experts seemed to agree on was that engagement from members should always be encouraged. Most people were shocked to hear from Ehsan, Twitter expert, that as long as you are not crossing the 250 tweets an hour line, no one will see it as spamming. Here are a few more interesting facts that were bouncing around in the room:
As we type this now, Westminster Business Consultants is actively planning the next Meetup event for the London Meetup Organisers’ group, and we look forward to seeing new and old faces at the next Meetup!
The next London Meetup Organisers’ Group Meetup - Barcamp No. 2, will hopefully run just as well. Check out the Meetup page and give a suggestion as to what YOU want to happen for YOUR NEXT MEETUP on 14th April!
Social Media has become bigger and more serious than what had been expected. It has become a degree, a job and at the same time, a headache for many brands.
Making Social Media part of your brand DNA requires no money (at least initially), but time and commitment. There’s no shortage of technology out there to make a brand a success story in the world of Social Media; one just need to apply some degree of common sense and creativity in their approach. E.On, one of the energy suppliers, carried an interesting research about whether businesses have a dedicated Social Media staff and interestingly, 21% claimed that they don’t need one; while over 61% mentioned that they already have a dedicated staff for their company’s Social Media practice:
As it is evident above, Social Media is not a thing of future, it is a change to be embraced today. Social Media can add value to brands’ life cycle and prove effective if and only if, it is not used as a buzz word or approached as something in fashion. That’s why many businesses from different sectors have been looking for ways to incorporate Social Media in their everyday operations by either, creating a new job within their organisations or hiring an agency or a consultant to help with their Social Media mission.
The Junior Enterprise of the University of Westminster got this right, simply by being forward thinking and genuinely passionate about the new media and what it can do in business; in particular to events. They recently organised an event and invited number of a panel to discuss how Social Media can benefit the business of event organisers. During the all day event, which took place at the heart of London, the panel took LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, G+ and Blogging platforms seriously as the audience were asking some serious questions about the channels.
Here is just a snapshot of how engaging and productive was the day – the picture was taken by The Junior Enterprise of the University of Westminster:
As the audience were event organisers and promoters, they were keen to know how best Social Media should be used for promoting events; they were asking some top notch questions; they were eager to take their business to the next stage through the use of Social Media.
To demonstrate the power of Social Media, a unique case study was created about how Social Media and creative content can make a difference throughout the process of organising an event. The case study was based on true story, with the presence of the event organiser whom volunteered to share their challenge in how to make the best of Social Media. At the end, the event organiser became the client of 5 groups presenting them how they can maximise awareness and strengthen branding of their events through employment of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogging and G+.
It wasn’t an ordinary event day, it was an extraordinary day; it was a day of learning and sharing.
Working hard on brainstorming for the Social Media Week Meetup Party, Saturday 25th February 2012, 10:30-14:30.
Andrea, Bernie and Chun Wai have been working closely together to organise the next PARTY OF THE MONTH!
It will be a follow up party of Social Media Week London!
It’s time to regenerate the group, and what better place to start than after the hustle bustle of Social Media Week?! So now it’s time to sit back, enjoy and share what you have discovered!
The day will involve group discussions along with our expert panelists on different social media platforms that will help further improve YOUR Meetup group. It will even let others have the chance to hear about YOUR experiences of social media for your meetup group, e.g. Facebook, Twitter or blogging with Bernie, to help your meetup group in different ways; being it to help sustain group members, or update people on what’s going on!
Check out the **events page**, come along and RSVP!!!
Looking forward to seeing you at the party of the month!
![Goodies! =]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2fqgwyj6s1rni237o1_500.jpg)
