Organizing a Meetup group isn’t always an “if you build it, they will come” situation. My group, Bull City Beer Runners in Durham, NC, has been around for over seven years and has more than 1,300 members and lots of Durhamites still don’t know that we exist! Similar running clubs pop up on the same nights we have runs—it’s going to happen. You simply can’t make sure that everyone knows who you are.
But you can try.
One thing I love about Meetup is that you don’t have to promote your group within Meetup’s membership—Meetup suggests your group to people in your area with an account. You just have to make sure you consistently have events planned (complete with good descriptions) and respond to questions in a timely manner.
Create engagement where members gather
Most people will be joining your group to meet others. Sure, they’re interested in the activity your group has to offer, but the point is that they want other people to enjoy the activity with them; otherwise, they’d just do it solo. So when people make connections, encourage them!
Beer Runners who hit it off at an event will take the initiative and exchange phone numbers, but you can help move things along at a larger level by setting up a private Facebook group and a Facebook Messenger thread for folks to connect further by sharing local news and other related tidbits, creating invitations for unsanctioned (or non-Meetup) events, making plans in between events, and just chatting about their days. This has been incredibly valuable while we have a stay-at-home order. Members are posting pictures of their pets and extravagant lunch creations, sharing recommendations for shows to watch, and—most importantly—checking in on one another.
We also have a Facebook page (which is public) that establishes us as a group in the community and provides information about who we are. The call to action button says “Sign Up” and redirects to our Meetup page.
Represent your Meetup group’s brand
We also try to maintain a fun and informative Instagram presence. Our regular runs are included in our profile, and we post pictures of the group having a great time as often as possible (photos of the dogs that join us always perform well). It’s also a great way to inform people of changes to a run, like that it’s canceled because of inclement weather, or, I don’t know, a pandemic.
On both Instagram and Facebook, we tag the bars we go to and engage with local businesses, brands, and other groups (like other run clubs) as much as we can.
We also have a presence on Strava, which is a fitness-focused app and website that runners use to track their miles and find new routes. You can comment on your friends’ activity and photos, see how you compare in mileage and speed, and more.
The point is that your current and future members are already on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms related to their—and your—interests. So join them there.
Keeping connected while social distancing
Now that we’re all practicing social distancing, these tools to foster connection and communication are more important than ever. We’ve been having fun getting creative. For example:
- We replaced one of our regular runs with a virtual happy hour. We encourage everyone to go for a run on their own, grab a beer (from their fridge), and hop on the call. The event is posted on Meetup, using the new online event field for the Zoom link instead of an address of the location.
- We created a challenge where members were encouraged to beat their personal best record for running a mile. The member who shaved off the most time got beer delivered to their doorstep.
- One of our regular runs ends at a bar that serves burritos. That bar is now offering takeout, so my co-organizer and I coordinate a group order and deliver them to members.
- We’re doing a shelter-in-place scavenger hunt for new places to run. Each week, I post a clue for a local landmark and members have a week to go for a run and post a selfie in front of the landmark on Instagram, tagging us. At the end of each week, I post the answer to the previous week’s clue and upload the pictures to the corresponding Meetup event.
- We’re leveraging our Facebook and Instagram accounts to publicize what local businesses are doing, from reposting take-out menus of our favorite restaurants to sharing a live story while waiting in line for drive-through cases of beer.
Bull City Beer Runners was a strong, supportive community before COVID-19, and nothing’s changed about that. Sure, we’re all looking forward to hanging out in person again; but in the meantime, we’re finding ways to connect with each other and keep our community strong.
Last modified on June 23, 2021
