Organizer plans to step down tomorrow, will answer questions about organizing

I tried to send this e-mail to the group yesterday, but of the members I know, it only showed up in my own e-mail box. One member says she can't view the message board or see anything but upcoming meetups, and so I'm sending this information as an event. This is to give members time (now only a day) to ask me questions before I actually step down as organizer, which will trigger Meetup's restrictions of the group and notice of cancellation unless someone else agrees to organize. Good luck to all of our members!

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Hello everyone,

I plan to step down as organizer TOMORROW, and am giving members some notice so that everyone has the opportunity to consider whether they'd like to organize the group.

I'll be frank about one reason Meetup organizers are harder to find lately -- fees. The organizer must pay about $25 per month or $100 every six months, depending on the subscription selected. And Meetup fees seem to be destined to only go up, with test runs by Meetup in some markets/cities charging members $2 per RSVP, with the fees payable to Meetup, not offsetting the organizer's fees. That new fee didn't become permanent nationwide, but some see it as a sign of things to come.

As organizer, you can ask members to contribute to the group's fees, or if you're already organizing one or two Meetup groups, you may be able to simply add this group to your existing organizer subscription. Members who belong to another group with a budget may be able to cover Meetup fees from your group's budget. Or perhaps you can afford the group's fees from your own income.

Before I became organizer, this Meetup group was used to send event information for a Democratic group that met in the back room of the famous Ben's Chili Bowl restaurant in DC. I'm not sure why its organizer dropped the Meetup account, as I didn't see a message from him before doing so, but many groups have been switching to other platforms without fees over the years. I heard from a member that the group previously meeting at Ben's was still meeting at a different location near the Maryland border, but they were no longer using Meetup to announce meetings.

When Meetup sent an automated e-mail telling us that the group (with its hundreds of members) would disappear in 5 days if nobody stepped up to organize it, I made some phone calls and tried to get a Democratic group with a budget to take it over, but nobody became organizer as the deadline approached, and so I volunteered to preserve the group. I wasn't a full-time resident of DC at the time, however I had worked in DC and lived in northern Virginia a few times since 2007, and already organized the Hampton Roads Democratic Meetup groups. I thought it'd be fun to go to DC and northern Virginia occasionally even when not working there, to be at some of those events personally. Hampton Roads is only about 3 hours away from DC.

I hoped to find other co-organizers and expand from DC to both Washington, DC and suburban meetups for MD and VA, with each co-organizer sending election information to their residents. However the northern suburban Virginia meetups I organized didn't draw many members, and I wasn't able to find co-organizers in the time I had available for this group.

Meanwhile, software was changing. The Message board was no longer on the opening page. Even Gmail changed, automatically placing some Meetup e-mails out of sight, under the "Social" tab.

This and other issues have made it harder to organize Meetup groups, and I no longer have time to work on helping this group become active again after the pandemic is over. Justifying its fees has become more of an issue, also.

I'll look for any messages before I step down, and try to answer your questions. Then watch for Meetup's announcement that the organizer has stepped down, and good luck to the next organizer!

Thanks to everyone,
Pam
(The original message was shortened due to Meetup's restrictions on event announcements.)