So why did they close the original thread of this discussion of the plan for NEW MEETUP? Folks, the superficial look of NEW MEETUP is just that, superficial. There has been a fundimental change in philosophy, direction and focus about what Meetup is about. If people understand that they can make an informed decision. The OLD MEETUP is gone, NEW MEETUP is their vision for their future that doesn't include your leadership as a central roll. Understand that and decide if you want to play ball with them or if your vision for what you were doing prior to this past Thursday no longer works here.

But hey, Scott does give you credit for the "few dollars" you have paid in dues that have funded them towards becoming NEW MEETUP. Your tiny little groups of 50 - 1,000 people aren't what they are interested in now. They are catering to global interests with tens or thousands of members and "helpers" in every town that get perks for touting corporate agendas.

They know what they are doing. It was just really crap in how they did it. My guess is they needed your money to fund their plans and now that they have come to the next phase your roll is no longer needed.



<div style="font-size: 11px;padding-top:10px;text-align:center;width:560px">Watch <a href="http://www.livestream... title="live streaming video">live streaming video</a> from <a href="http://www.livestream... title="Watch meetuphq at livestream.com">meetuphq</a> at livestream.com</div>

I am SO upset about this! Years of my time and money setting up an organization only to have them change their plans.

Shame on you Meetup!

I am SO upset about this! Years of my time and money setting up an organization only to have them change their plans.

Shame on you Meetup!

Are you sure they changed their plans ... or just kept them quiet?

dissatisfied with quality of customer consideration?
write a public review on yelp
http://www.yelp.com/b...

This is no surprise. Scott and Greg have been treating people like their dissatisfaction doesn't matter. Their twitter accounts prove how little they care. Their ego's haven't been checked yet over this whole thing. Sponsors who have no groups to offer perks to will go where we go. We leave the sponsorship and perks leave, end of story.

They don't think I have the ability to go and use another site and plan to promote my group. Well, since suspending the promote function on their end, who is promoting my group anyway? Me. It will fall apart, they will be left picking up the pieces of a failed business model.

I am SO upset about this! Years of my time and money setting up an organization only to have them change their plans.

Shame on you Meetup!

Are you sure they changed their plans ... or just kept them quiet?

I think the original intention of Meetup was true. Somewhere along the line, probably late 2009- early 2010 someone corrupted Scott's intentions. The global mass mobilization is powerful. Very open for the corruptions of greed too. Scary as hell. Uses a lot of SS tactics on a much quicker and slicker scale, very much on a NEW WORLD ORDER for me, but it's brilliant.

They need to remove the former customer organizers from power so they can impliment the new philosophy.

The real money is in perks and corporate-made events. They are going to make SERIOUS money off this new direction. Every restaurant, bar, hotel, coffee show, complex and other venues are all going to compete and meetup will get massive kick backs directly driving people to businesses (this isn't passive advertising anymore).

No wonder they refuse to change back! Are they taking job applicants? What are the stock options like?

(Yes, I'm still very mad as an organizer but I can respect a diabolically brilliant plan when I see one!)

Yup, sure is brilliant. There is no wonder that companies are coming in droves to offer perks and major corporations are signing up for MEETUP EVERYWHERE.

As an organizer who paid for what I thought was a service I'm outraged. I'm angry for being used as a free employee to recruit people for them to implement the grand plan. I'm furious that I was lied to as to what I was paying for, and that they destroyed my intellectual and my member's intellectual property and put everything we worked for to a grinding hault.

But I give them kudos for their "diabolically brilliant plan". Not like they actually hide it, they just really didn't spend much effort on disseminating it to the groundling helpers aka supposed customers.

They don't think I have the ability to go and use another site and plan to promote my group. Well, since suspending the promote function on their end, who is promoting my group anyway? Me. It will fall apart, they will be left picking up the pieces of a failed business model.

I think they are counting on enough apathy from general members and enough of a critical mass that they think they can lose every organizer along the way in favour of self-organized groups. They may be right. It's clear they don't care about organizers and just see as as moderators for their groups. We are their road kill in this new business model (ironically, it's us that made meetup a success in the first place).

I agree. Strong leaders and organizers aren't part of the future plan. We are clunky and obsolete. They need us out of the way so more sedate "helpers" with little overall power can step in and be their pawns. We were the first set of pawns to do their will. Now the new move is "helpers". And the new rating system is how much these "helpers" help Meetup's new focus of funding - the corporate MEETUP EVERYWHERE sponsors.

Why the hell didn't I think of it first? I could be the one taking over the world.

What MUHQ New direction doesn't take into account is that, the general Membership doe not lead. I have been in the Social event arena for many years, not just MEETUP. I give all my members the ability to post events.. I get but a few initiator. One thing in common with the membership is that they don't want to lead. I have tried in my groups to encourage membership to create their own events , and yes, I do get a few people to do them. But only a few.

unfortunately, and this is rather condescending view of society, but they are sheep in the general sense and they do need,..and want to be led without taking responsibility. They want things dome for them.

Unfortunately.

This is where the new model fails

My vision of Scott and all the rest at MUHQ is of them with amused smirks on their faces, getting a kick out of reading all of these posts, probably amazed that we have nothing better to do. I can't think of another company that has been so deceitful to it's customers.. oh yeah, Goldman Sachs, Bernie Madoff.. yeah, I guess MU is right up there, too.