This Meetup Live featured Eli Van Der Giessen, NetSquared’s Community Manager who manages a global volunteer network for the nonprofit technology sector through NetSquared’s Meetup Pro network. TechSoup‘s NetSquared program helps any person interested in technology connect with others who share the same passion. The NetSquared program has 70,000 members in 121 groups in 42 countries. Each year the program hosts 600+ events and trainings for 16,000+ nonprofit employees, board members, volunteers, and community leaders.
Eli shared views on the importance of community, explained how to engage volunteers to create and run local groups around the world, and discussed how he used Meetup Pro to reach a larger audience, which was followed by a Q&A session.
Main Takeaways:
- Becoming an organizer met all of my needs as someone new in town— it was a way to build a reputation in my community, a way to ask anyone a question or a favor. It was an easy way as a shy person to open up doors and my social circle.
- A secret of our growth is giving full leadership to each community, allowing organizers to feel a sense of ownership in their group.
- In finding ways to motivate and engage organizers, I start with a phone call to see what they want out of the experience (whether that’s building their business, socializing, making a difference in the world, etc.), then dig deep into understanding their motivations. We want to avoid burnout and aim towards having an ongoing community experience in the long-term.
- As an organizer, when you show up in town and don’t know anyone, Meetup is magic. It’s a marketing and acquisition engine. My group has thousands of members and I did no proactive marketing. That was all just Meetup doing its magic, and some word of mouth from attendees helps bring in people, too. Meetup made the process of gathering people and hosting events easy.
- If you’re part of a larger network, Meetup Pro is life-changing. It allows you to better communicate with groups around the world, and you get data that helps you better engage with groups in the network.
Top Q&A:
- How do you evaluate performance for groups across the world to make sure that they align with your values?
- It’s an ongoing process. We designed the NetSquared program to be in a hub and spoke model, where we provide guidance from the middle, but organizers have the autonomy to make decisions for their group. We have orientation calls with organizers where we discuss what they want to create, make sure we’re aligned, and then we send over loose guidelines. When you give people extended trust, it works. We haven’t had many issues with this.
- What advice would you give to someone interested in becoming an organizer?
- It’s advice I’d give anyone: if someone comes to me and is new in town, I’d recommend creating a Meetup group. There’s nothing better for your career development. Whatever your passion is, create a group around it. You can expand your network with others in your profession, learn more about the topic, and connect with your members’ and presenters’ networks.
- As an organizer, keep your event simple. In other words, create a minimum viable product. A successful Meetup group has a less-perfect event on a regular cadence—not two great events a year.
- Be super clear about your own motivations and what you want to get out of your group to avoid burnout. Design your Meetup group so it meets your needs. Be a little bit selfish about how you design events, so you’re learning something you care about too.
Last modified on March 12, 2021
