Finding the Right Venue
Organizer Center › Planning Your First Meetup › Finding the Right Venue
Location, location, location. Even Meetups need the right location! The perfect one provides atmosphere, supports your Meetup's activity/focus, and is a comfortable place for your members to get together. Selecting the right venue is important because it sets the stage for a super meeting!
How do you find that right venue?
- Think about your Meetup's focus
- Start by picking a part of town - and include it in your event description
- Check out what's in your neighborhood
- Ask your members for suggestions
- Get advice from fellow Organizers
- Contact businesses that revolve around your topic
- Contact or visit your venue in advance - make sure it's the right place for your meeting
Think about your Meetup's focus
- What's your Meetup's topic?
- What's your Meetup's purpose?
- What are your members like?
- What do you like to do when you all get together?
- Where would you all be comfortable and have a good time doing what your Meetup does?
Those are the very first questions you should ask yourself when considering where to hold your meeting.
If you have a Tennis Meetup, meeting at the local library on a Sunday afternoon probably won't be what your members had in mind. Likewise, if you run a Meditation Meetup, going to rock shows on a Friday night may not be particularly calming. Figure out what your Meetup is all about and then imagine where would be a great place to get together!
For example, Dana runs a Raw Food Meetup in San Diego. They like to meet in the park for their potluck events. Why? Because there's plenty of space, fresh air, and sunshine! What a nice place to share delicious raw food treats, swap recipes, and enjoy good company!
For The Raleigh Movie Fans Meetup Group, Heather arranges it so her cinephiles meet at a local cafe with a large TV screen for dinner or drinks and, of course, a movie.
Be sure to consider how big your group is, too. If you've got a lot of members and they all show up to your meetings, your space requirements are going to be different then a Meetup with a small member base.
If you have a large Meetup membership, try canvassing local colleges or universities. Jim Metzler of the Baltimore County Democrats held a meeting for 250 people at Towson University!
Rule of thumb: If you're planning your very first meeting, it's a good idea to hold it in an easy to find, well-lit, public location. Consider someplace comfortable like a local coffee shop. Use this first event to meet and greet in a casual environment, get to know one another, and share ideas for future events.
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Start by picking a part of town - and include it in your meeting description
Finding a venue for your meeting can be very difficult. At the same time, members are often reluctant to commit to attending an meeting if they don't know where the event will take place.
If you don't have the exact venue picked out yet, indicate in the meeting description what part of town you'll be meeting in - the neighborhood, or even the general area are good guides and useful information to members.
As an example: Imagine you live in Anytown, USA and that you joined the "Anytown USA's Nonfiction Writer's Meetup." Let's say the first event is next Thursday and you'd like to attend, but the organizer hasn't chosen a venue. In fact, the organizer hasn't indicated anything about the general location. You live in the northern part of Anytown and getting to the southern or western parts are actually quite complicated for you. Until you know what part of town the event will take place in, it's hard for you to commit to attending the meeting.
Now imagine if the event description said , "Our event venue is still TBD, but we'll find a spot in the northern part of town." This would be enough information for you to RSVP right away! And any organizer would agree - the more members who RSVP right away the better!
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Check out what's in your neighborhood
Nine times out of ten, you and your group will be meeting in your neighborhood, town, or city. So think of your area and what it has to offer in the way of meeting places.
The Washington DC Salsa Meetup Group attends "Salsa Night" at a local bar and grill for dinner, lessons, and what else? Dancing!
Local town halls, libraries, schools, colleges or universities, and places of worship often have extra space available. Contact them, see if they have space, and ask how one can go about using it.
Isabel is a member of her local Jewish Community Center and was able to reserve the court for her first DodgeBall Meetup.
If you run a Playgroup Meetup, research your area for indoor/outdoor recreation centers, parks, library, and even malls for storytimes, sponsored holiday treats, and specials events.
For her novice English speakers, Reece holds her ESL Meetup in a quiet space at the Boston Public Library.
If you find something in your area and you have the time, go check it out before your meeting. Introduce yourself to the owner and tell them about your plans. They'll like being informed about incoming groups of people, and they might even have some good advice for you, too!
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Ask your members for suggestions
You know your neighborhood/town/city, so do your members. In your search for the perfect meeting place, enlist their help. Use the tools on your Meetup site to ask members for suggestions.
Use the 'Email Group' function to send a message to everyone asking for advice. 2(+) heads are better than one. Start a discussion on your Message Board. If you get lots of great suggestions, create a poll. Then your members can vote on which swell venue they'd like to visit!
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Get advice from fellow Organizers
You know your area, your members know your area. Guess who else? Other local Meetup Organizers. And since they're Organizers, they know finding the right meeting place is important. They'll have insight about the ins and outs of utilizing community resources. Dropping them a line is another great way to enlist help and get good suggestions.
How do you find those other local Orgs? Easy!
- Log on to Meetup.com
- Click the "Meetups by City" tab
- That takes you to the list of Meetups in your area. Click on a few
- Click the "Contact me" link under the Org's photo and name to send them a message
- Introduce yourself as a fellow Org looking for some local venue suggestions. I'm sure they'll be happy to help!
You can also contact some of dedicated and helpful Orgs by visiting The Worldwide Organizer Meetup Message Board and The Organizers' Forum. Both are chock full of seasoned and savvy Organizers. Requesting some venue advice in those forums will definitely get you good leads.
You can also solicit advice by posting to the Worldwide Meetup Message Board for your Meetup's
topic. Since the people there share your passion for your topic, they're likely to have some nice
ideas:
- Go to your Meetup Group's page
- Click the "All XYZ Meetups worldwide" link above the name of your Meetup
- That takes you to the Worldwide topic page for your Meetup's topic. Click "Message Board"
- Post a message there asking for some venue ideas!
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Contact businesses that revolve around your topic
Businesses focused on your topic are great resources for information. Why? Cuz it's their business! Contacting them can lead to fantastic venue suggestions.
Run a Fishing Meetup? Call the local bait and tackle store. They'll know where you should be casting.
Run a Pug Meetup? Contact your local veterinarian's office, dog groomers, pet stores, and breeders. They'll know places that welcome dogs.
The Cleveland Boardgames Meetup holds their five-hour gaming marathons in the friendly and welcoming space of a local boardgame store. The relationship worked out so well, the store started sponsoring the group!
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Contact or visit your venue in advance - make sure it's the right place for your meeting
A place that sounds like a great venue may not always be a great venue for your meeting. A calm discussion about philosophy requires a different kind of venue than a playgroup, which also requires a different kind of venue than a bulldog Meetup!
When selecting a venue, remember that:
- the venue may have other events going on at the same time that you scheduled your meeting (a picnic, a book reading, an after-work mixer, etc)
- certain times can be busier and louder than others (3 in the afternoon on a Sunday versus a bustling 7pm on a Friday evening).
It's always best to call the venue in advance and ask if the day and time you want to meet will suit your particular Meetup, or visit the place on the time and day you want to meet and see it with your own eyes! If applicable, tell the venue how many people you are bringing and ask if they can reserve a section for your Meetup to make sure you have enough room.
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So that's the run down on how to find a perfect venue. When you're contacting people for location ideas, be sure to invite them to join your Meetup! You'll find great venues and maybe even get some new members in the process!
Organizer Center › Planning Your First Meetup › Finding the Right Venue
