- Chat with other Umbraco meetup organizers on the Umbraco community Slack by joining the channel meetup-organisers.
Heather Floyd, organizer of the Umbraco New York Meetup group, shares six great tips that cover her experience about starting an Umbraco meetup group.
Tip 1: If possible, find a partner to host with. The co-organizers can bounce ideas off each other, decide on dates, and keep each other company at the meetup if they are the only ones to show up
Tip 2: Experiment with the venue/format. Your local culture is probably different, so you might want to try a variety of formats and locations for your event to find out what people prefer. If you’ve had some regulars, try asking them what they think would be most effective and fun.
Tip 3: Though we have found that having defined topics is helpful, don’t stress about the content delivery – it doesn’t have to be fancy. Initially, it will be the hosts doing the presentations, but then you can ask for volunteers to present about interesting things they are doing.
Tip 4: Pay attention to visits to your area by willing Umbracians and plan a meetup featuring them! You might at least be able to piggy-back on nearby scheduled Umbraco training by roping the instructor into a meetup visit.
Tip 5: Advertise. Whatever platform you use to manage your events, make sure there is a way to gather a list of attendees to contact about future meetups. Also, don’t underestimate the simple stuff: Twitter, Skrift, and Umbraco HQ.
Tip 6: Keep at it. Don’t get discouraged by low attendance, especially at first. Just keep scheduling the events at regular intervals.
Alan Mac Kenna, organizer of the Umbraco Ireland Meetup group, has put together some practical suggestions for running a first Umbraco meetup. They are all neatly organized in a trello board.
- Ravi Motha, Organizer of the London Meetup group - Keeping the Flame Alive
- Heather Floyd, Organizer of the Umbraco New York Meetup group - Tips for Starting and Running a Local Umbraco Meetup
- Alan Mac Kenna, Organizer of the Umbraco Ireland Meetup group - How to Start an Umbraco Meetup(with a little help from your friends
- Mike Allen, Organizer of the Umbraco Minneapolis Meetup group from - Five Tips for Starting an Umbraco Meetup