Weekly release: March 11, 2008

Ugh! I had a hard enough time getting members to rate and comment on meet-ups before! Now that they have to go through an extra step, my comment ratio has dropped 2/3. The star ratings are not very meaningful. The comments about the events are what helped us plan future events. Most members don't want to go back to the event page to "talk about the meetup". In my group, it's basically only the organizers who go back to the event page to find out what our members thought. It was so much easier to just add a comment when rating the meetup. Now members are commenting about the event in the venue comment box, which is not helpful when we hold different types of events in the same venue. And the worst part is that anyone can comment on a meet-up, whether or not they actually attended.

Yuck!

Michele

Definitely not happy with the change in ratings/comments. Comments are so meaningful to organizers and now members have to go through an extra step to leave a comment which, you guessed it, means they leave no comment at all! Since this change, we've held 5 events and no one has left a single comment (unheard of for our group). Please, please go back to the old way of allowing members to rate and comment on the same screen!

OK, given it some time, as this is not something that could be tested without actual member reaction being involved. Now assessed the results and it would seem that member comments and feedback have diminished.

Is this observed state in agreement with general Meetup feedback, as it would appear from comments made here recently? If so the impact of the change has been overall negative rather than positive.

Taking off the mandatory head count by members was a good idea. But taking it off completely for everyone means we are now forced to either: a, live with the cumbersome attendance register approach; or b, to scrap the whole idea of keeping track of attendance as too much extra work. I must say for me it has been the latter. I can't attend every event, so I don't know who attended in reality, and my AOs cannot be expected to do things that serve no purpose.

Len

Definitely not happy with the change in ratings/comments. Comments are so meaningful to organizers and now members have to go through an extra step to leave a comment which, you guessed it, means they leave no comment at all! Since this change, we've held 5 events and no one has left a single comment (unheard of for our group). Please, please go back to the old way of allowing members to rate and comment on the same screen!

I AGREE!!! First, we don't want to see our comments about a meetup mixed in with what everyone commented on before we even had the meetup. For example, whos bringing what food to our moms night out. Second, My moms COMMENTED ALL THE TIME!!!!! Now, NOT!!!! No comments to be found!!!! It was nice to have it right there under a moms name for all to see. Please tell me this is only a trial period??

I just returned from one of the most fun events we had only to find that I can't post a comment about the event when I rate it. Yes, I see that I can talk about the meetup on the event page but it makes people go to two places instead of doing it all in one place. I don't like this, and I have NEVER complained about updates before. Why change what was working just fine???

Like you Julie, I just had the same issue. We had a fantastic event last night, and now members cannot comment on the event itself in the survey area. Although members think they are commenting on the event, they don't realize that they are now commenting about the entire group experience and that it posts to the "Member Comments" page. This is not good.

Example of a comment that now appears on my "About Us"/General Comment area'

SO MUCH FUN!! This is one of my favorite events! Thanks to Andy for his hard work and to Jim for havin' the best strategy in town....multiple 20 pointers.....way to go TEAM 2!!!"

A potential member or member who didn't go to this particular event has no idea what this is about.

Please change the survey back to the way it was.

OK, given it some time, as this is not something that could be tested without actual member reaction being involved. Now assessed the results and it would seem that member comments and feedback have diminished.

Is this observed state in agreement with general Meetup feedback, as it would appear from comments made here recently? If so the impact of the change has been overall negative rather than positive.

Taking off the mandatory head count by members was a good idea. But taking it off completely for everyone means we are now forced to either: a, live with the cumbersome attendance register approach; or b, to scrap the whole idea of keeping track of attendance as too much extra work. I must say for me it has been the latter. I can't attend every event, so I don't know who attended in reality, and my AOs cannot be expected to do things that serve no purpose.

Len

Well, I didn't know I ever could leave comments before an event happened.... Meetup staff keeps going on this broken record about how now we can leave comments after an event, and I think to myself: What, was leaving comments about an event before it happened ever an option? That "What Did You Think of This Meetup" e-mail was always sent after a Meetup already happened...! I never received a "What Did You Think of This Meetup" beforehand.

It's just bone-headed logic. Bring back the old comments option. Please!

I'm sooo sad. We had a great event on Friday night and then yesterday, a huge group went to the zoo. How many comments do you think we got on the zoo? ONE! Prior to this change, most active members left comments. Now, only one of the AO's left a comment. I LOVE getting praises....I love the kind words that people leave....and now I'm left feeling empty. One of the greatest parts of being an organizer of a successful meetup group is the way that people go on and on about how much fun they are having. It's very rewarding for me to read these comments. Now....nothing. What does it take to fix the things that people ask for and to leave the stuff that is working fine alone? Arrrggg!

I'm sooo sad. We had a great event on Friday night and then yesterday, a huge group went to the zoo. How many comments do you think we got on the zoo? ONE! Prior to this change, most active members left comments. Now, only one of the AO's left a comment. I LOVE getting praises....I love the kind words that people leave....and now I'm left feeling empty. One of the greatest parts of being an organizer of a successful meetup group is the way that people go on and on about how much fun they are having. It's very rewarding for me to read these comments. Now....nothing. What does it take to fix the things that people ask for and to leave the stuff that is working fine alone? Arrrggg!

I need to comment further...One of our moms and her husband own a wine store. Well, last night we had our 2nd Moms Wine Night at her house and no one can COMMENT!!! We thought everyone would be gone by 9:30 or so...we were still there at midnight and didn't want to leave because we were having a BLAST together!!! Now no one can even comment on that. I agree with every word you wrote above!! I LOVE getting the feed back and seeing what my moms have to say and how HAPPY they are to be in our group. Also, I really take PRIDE in reading the wonderful words of our moms and if I can't make an event I feel even better knowing that I helped bring these women and their kiddies together and that they are so happy. Now there's no reason to run home after an event to rate it and look to see if anyone else has commented yet, and we all do it. Whatever, nothing will be about it I'm sure.

I need to add more...It's not just about ME and how I feel but it's about the other members of the group whether it's moms and their kids, dog lovers, etc. Last night we had a mom at our Wine meetup and it was only her SECOND meetup and the other moms have only known each other for no more than 3 months, that's when I started the group. Anyway, looking around the room, someone from the outside would have sworn we've been friends for YEARS even the mom whose SECOND meetup it was. Don't you think she would love to comment and feel happy reading what other moms had to say? A part of the comments I think also help our new members get a feel for everyone and inturn they may feel more welcome! Maybe I'm just babbling but it looks like others feel the same.

I agree with the others--comments are a vital part of feedback for organizers. I just had a great meetup today and was really disappointed to see that the only Talk about the Meetup comment I have is from someone who said they wish they could have been able to come! Having to go to that section to comment is just an extra step that my members just won't take. If you want people to do something, you have to make it simple and EASY!

Dottie