Questions & answers

Meetup helps people find others who share their interest or cause, and form lasting, influential, local community groups that regularly meet face-to-face.

We believe that the world will be a better place when everyone has access to a people-powered local Meetup Group.

Meetup Groups help people:

• find others
• get involved locally
• learn, teach, and share things
• make friends and have fun
• rise up, stand up, unite, and make a difference
• be a part of something bigger, both locally and globally

A Meetup Group is a community of people who have organized around a particular topic or interest locally.  Meetup Groups are run by Meetup Organizers, who may host Meetups for five or six local dog owners or for hundreds or even thousands of activists, hobbyists or networking professionals.

A Meetup Organizer is the person who starts the Meetup Group.  They schedule Meetups, manage activity on the website, and keep Members informed.

You can see who organizes any given Meetup Group by visiting the Meetup Group's home page. On the left hand side you'll see the Meetup Organizer's name and photo in a box labeled Organized by.  To contact a Meetup Group Organizer, click Email Me beneath the box.

If you'd like to join a Meetup Group, create a Meetup Account first.  To create a Meetup Account register here.  You'll need to verify your email address.  Then you can log onto the site and participate.

Already have a Meetup Account?  Login here.  Then click on the Find a Meetup button at the top of the page.  Type a topic or interest into the search box for local results, check out trending topics for fun, or scroll down to browse by category.  When you find a Meetup Group you'd like to join, go to the home page and click on the Join Us button. 

If you found a great topic but there no Meetup Groups in your neighborhood yet, you'll see a prompt to sign up for free alerts.  Alerts will notify you when a new Meetup Group starts.

Meetups are face to face meetings.  Meetups are scheduled by the Organizer or Assistant Organizer of a Meetup Group.  You can RSVP for a Meetup on the Meetup Group's calendar, so long as you're a member.

Meetup does not charge members to create an account, join a Meetup Group, or attend Meetups.  Organizers pay a subscription fee to host a Meetup Group on the site.

Organizers occasionally charge fees or membership dues.  Meetup HQ is not involved in the setting, collection, distribution, or management of these funds -- they're strictly a financial arrangement between the Organizer and their members.  Contact your Organizer directly for more information on group fees.

Click Find a Meetup at the top of the page.  Type a topic or interest into the search box for instant local results, or browse popular topics. 

When you find a Meetup Group you'd like to join, go to the home page and click on the Join Us button.  If there aren't any Meetup Groups in your topic yet, you'll see a prompt to sign up for free alerts.  Alerts will notify you when a new Meetup Group starts up.

An Alert List is a place where members can sign up to receive notifications for when new Meetup Groups start up in a particular topic or interest.  To sign up for alerts, go to your account page.  From there, type a topic or interest into the search box.  You can use the green plus sign to add the interest to your profile, or the red minus sign to remove it.  When you add topics or interests to your profile, you'll receive email notifications when new Meetup Groups start up in your area.

Meetup is a public website.  However, the content of selected Meetup Groups is set to private, which means that most activity published within the Meetup Group context, including member profiles, will also be private.  Contact your Meetup Group Organizer for more information about these settings.

Members can also hide content from appearing on public parts of the site through their profile and account settings, including their Meetup Group membership information, photos and interests.