Post all Florida meetups on meetup.com?

We, in Jacksonville, are already using meetup.com (thanks Kevin), and that seems to be have enhanced our attendance. We get at least in the range of 15 or more attendees every meetup. The other factor that has helped us is that we are keeping our meetups on a regular schedule - third Tuesday of every month - and at a fixed place - Modis/Adecco office (thanks Justin).

(And congratulations on your DrupalCon presentation. I know it's hard to top Mike Herchel ;-)

I would suggest that you start out with one account state-wide, and see what the response is. It would also cut down on the cost initially for the other groups that are smaller. Would be nice to see who all joins up for all of FL in one place? You could always split off in the future if it gets too much for people to handle. Denver does this but of course that's just one metro area compared to a whole state, and it's nice to be able to go to one place (group) and see what all is happening.

The other big plus I find in using Meetup is the fact that you can go back and see who attended. Most people have a pic posted on their Meetup account so it's easy to go back and refer to that person you just met the night before and put a name with a face. And also you can get an estimate of a count with the RSVP feature.

We should definitely do meetup.com!

I remember reading a block (from Level Ten, I believe) that talked about how much meetup.com helped them. I think it could only be beneficial. The only reason that we haven't yet done it in Gainesville is cost- so, having FLDC sponsor this would be great.

That all being said, we need to make sure that we create separate regional groups... we definitely don't want discussions in Miami being sent to folks in Tallahassee (unless they subscribe to the group). But.. from what I understand, this can all be done.

Awesome idea!

As a new group in Tallahassee we could certainly use this to build steam for us. However, when costs are involved and if I can help it, I never pay full price for anything ;). I've created an account with meetup and since then I get multiple offers for discounts of 50%. They also have a program for chapter organizers which gives discounts for 3 or more groups. But I imagine that they would have a bigger carrot to offer for a statewide, national or even worldwide group if the powers that be at D.O inquired. Look into "meetup everywhere" some information can be found here.

However, if a deal cant be worked out that is better than the 50% they are currently offering me, then my suggestion would be to have each meetup group organizer get their individual discount and pay for the year. They could then "apply" somehow for partial or full sponsorship/reimbursement from the Florida meetup fund depending on the individual groups' needs.

I really like meetup.com as I am already member of two other groups there. I think it's a great idea and would be willing to help with some of the cost

Wow - lots of great discussion here so far.

A couple of notes:

1. We don't need any help paying for the meetup.com accounts. Florida DrupalCamp has run a surplus and we need to spend the money on something.
2. I think that David's (dimmech, from his comment above) point about Meetup Chapters is interesting and something that we should definitely look into. Does anyone have any experience using this functionality in meetup.com?

It seems like this is not an "if we do it" but more of a "when and how do we do it". I'd love to hear some input from Tampa, Sarasota, and Miami as well...

Thanks,
-mike

Maybe dividing the state into regions i.e. Northeast, Northwest, Central, Southeast, and Southwest for the chapters? Like the Florida State Parks. http://www.floridastateparks.org/findapark/stateparksmap.cfm

seems like a great tool

I volunteer the awesome Mike Herchel.

I volunteer. If we need to hold an election, I am soliciting for donations to my campaign as of right now!

...well actually anyone BUT Herchel.

Well, Gainesville took the plunge. We're officially on Meetup.com

http://www.meetup.com/Gainesville-Drupal-Users-Group/

Everybody go ahead and join now so 1) it looks like we have a lot of people (traction) and 2) I can SPAM you! :)

Sandy,

Since you volunteered, let's get this ball rolling...

First thing for you to do it to track down all the meetup organizers from around the state and contact them and find out if they're already using meetup.com, and if so, if they'd like to participate in this effort (no worries if they don't).

Here's a quick rundown as I see it:

• Brevard - we're in
• Broward - Jay?
• Orlando - Ryan/Andrew/Hewie/Don?
• Gainesville - Awesomize your Herchel?
• Jacksonville - Kevin/Jitesh?
• Miami Beach - Ronald?
• Palm Beaches - Hector/John?
• Sarasota - Stephen/Joe?
• Tallahassee - David?
• Tampa Bay - Adam/Chris?
• Any others?

Then, once we know how many groups are interested in participating, you'll need to do some research on meetup.com about if it makes sense to do the "chapterize" thing or just create/pay-for a bunch of separate meetup groups.

Make sense? Anyone have anything else to add?

Thanks,
-mike

Orlando would like to join the effort. Let me know what you'd like us to do.

I guess it depends on how much of a surplus Mike is talking about, "Fortunately, Florida DrupalCamp has run a surplus the past few years and I can't think of a better way to spend it (or can I?)" and whether or not there is a better way to spend it. $1200 a year for 10 groups = $10 a month per group correct?

I think I'm squarely on the fence about the Florida community doing this meetup.com chapterizing thing for a few reasons:

1. It seems like it might just be simpler for each meetup location to handle it on their own, rather than trying to implement a top-down approach. Plus, I fear it will put unnecessary work on the main "chapterizer" organizer. Sandy - based on your research, you can probably speak about this better than I could.
2. Like Don said, we can't guarantee that the funds will always be there, and I don't think it's a good idea to build this cost into our camps.
3. I think most meetup locations wouldn't have a big problem finding a sponsor for their annual meetup.com account dues.

Thoughts?

-mike

What concerns me most regarding chapterizer / organizer workload is the fact that we aren't getting much of a response from the other communities now. I still don't know who would be in charge of meetings for Orlando, Sarasota or Tallahassee. I would need 100% commitment from all ten groups to chapterize and it's not there. Besides that, the funding is not guaranteed - another shared responsibility.

Again, I suggest we start with local orgs. Once we are all up and running individually, we can discuss the future possibility of chapterizing.

Sandy