Recording: Expert Advice on Reviving Your Meetup Group

If you’re at a loss for how to breathe new life into your community, we are here to help.

By Emily Trieste

Reviewed by Mary Garcia

Have you hit the pause button on community building? During the height of the pandemic, some Meetup group organizers took a break from hosting events. Other organizers have changed jobs, locations, or other circumstances causing them to take a break from their groups. If you’re at a loss for how to breathe new life into your community, we are here to help. In this Meetup Live event recording, we’re talking about bringing your group back after a break.

Watch leaders from Google and WordPress, Aniedi Udo-Obong, Isotta Peira, and Julia Golomb, to hear how to drive more activity within your community, even if it’s been a while. Learn about the most successful events to host when you’re coming back from a hiatus and get a feel for the tools you can use to contact your members when you’re ready to get back out there.

Main Takeaways:

The community reactivation initiatives and projects WordPress and Google rolled out in 2022:
- [Isotta] WordPress launched the Meetup reactivation project in July 2022 to reach out and support groups that haven’t hosted online or in-person events since at least November 2021. So far, the WordPress community has reactivated almost a third of the dormant Meetup groups with the help of 40 supporters.
- [Aniedi] When Google kicked off its reinvigoration efforts, we organized and hosted a series of community dinners with members of our team. We traveled to different cities to meet directly with our organizers in a relaxed setting. We wanted to connect with as many organizers as possible to show up without the pressure & responsibility of organizing a technical event.
Tactics to motivate and encourage organizers to resume hosting events regularly:
- [Julia] The Meetup Organizer Handbook is a valuable resource for organizers. We repeatedly hear that one of the greatest barriers to reactivation is finding a meeting venue. WordPress offers venue support funds because we don’t want the lack of Meetup venues to be a barrier to reactivation. We also offer suggestions for organizers to find free or inexpensive venues – for example, asking members for venue ideas, or approaching local co-working spaces – and we provide an email template for organizers to request donated venue space.
- [Aniedi] Start small, and moderate your expectations. You shouldn’t expect to hit pre-pandemic levels with your first or next event. Reach out to a small group of confirmed attendees or co-organizers and have a pre-event conversation to make a connection and feel engaged.
How to stay connected with members to drive more participation:
- [Isotta] Keep it interactive. Invite members to actively participate in the event planning. Ask them to suggest themes and activities, and encourage members to share their stories and experiences. Make them feel like a valued member of the group.
- [Aniedi] Partner with other local groups & organizations to co-host events. Members are often organizers of other events & groups, so use that to your advantage to keep your members excited.
Best practices to keep community members engaged:
- [Julia] Get the next 3+ events on the calendar before kicking off your events. Try a variety of event formats and meeting times/locations. Multiple co-organizers can help with this, as different organizers have different interests and availability.
- [Isotta] Alternate learning events and social events. Ask the members about their interests and organize events that match them.
- [Aniedi] Having a predictable cadence of events, like every fourth Thursday of the month or the first Saturday in March, etc.

Top Q&A Questions and Resources:

How could I get involved in supporting other organizers so their groups don’t shut down?
- [Marie-Lou (Meetup)] We’ve released a number of updates throughout 2022 to make it easier for Meetup users to step up and save groups that lost their organizers. For example:
  - The Meetup app now offers more step-up features like prompts to step up to a group, highlight groups to nominated members, and show leaderless groups on the homepage.
    - Platform: Meetup app (iOS & Android)
  - We’ve increased the amount of time a group will stay open to 30 days after the Organizer steps down. This will give members more time to step up and become the leader of an existing Meetup group.
    - Platform: Desktop/Mobile Web, iOS, Android
  - When an organizer steps down from a group, you will see a banner that allows you to step up as the new organizer right from the homepage. This will give you a chance to keep the group going.
    - Platform: Desktop/Mobile Web
- [Isotta (WordPress)] Try to reach out to the organizers via message on Meetup, or posting in the discussion section. Organizers usually appreciate help and support from the group, but sometimes don’t ask for help because they feel that it’s their responsibility and don’t want to burden the members.
Do you have tips on finding a venue to hold group meetings?
- [Marie-Lou (Meetup)] Check out our blog Finding the Right Venue for You for tips about what makes a good venue and how you can find it.
- [Isotta (WordPress)] Looking for local sponsors is another option as well. You could find businesses related to your group’s themes and topics that might want to support you by paying for the venue. You would be able to add them to the sponsor section in your group on Meetup and add their logo and link.
- [Julia (WordPress)] We have these tips to help our organizers find a venue for their events.
Can someone create a WordPress meetup chapter where none exists?
- [Isotta (WordPress)] The WordPress Community Team is always looking for new local leaders. You can learn more about how you can start a new WordPress group here. There is a dedicated page for new WordPress Meetup groups. Here is the Meetup organizer application page. If you’re unsure if there is already an active group in your city or town, you can check it out here.