It’s been a while since I’ve had this post bouncing around inside my head but I finally got some motivation and headspace to write it after almost 14 months break from this platform and social media in general outside of YouTube and some Instagram posts. So please be kind but feel free to be critical in the comments if you think I missed the mark or I managed to land my concept, I’ve had some early feedback that I land the bullet points but the paragraphs I added to try and add more context don’t land as well.
I want to start off with the admission that I was initially critical when I attended meetups and events early in my career. I always found some things could be done better but I felt organisers either didn’t have the time, energy or aspiration to do more. I will also admit after a few years of co-organising such events that I underestimated the sheer weight on an organiser’s shoulders both mentally and financially. Running a meetup should never be underestimated but the personal growth you can achieve from it can be career changing.
I saw a number of things in how others were running events and meetings that I felt were causing friction among the SEO community who attended or planned to attend their next meetup or event:
sponsors dominated the topics/discussions
MLM folks tried to recruit people into their ‘scams’
sales folks from software tools had free reign to promote
recruiters were too busy trying to poach or sell their services
venue locations were inflexible and not always suited to the events
free/open bars often turned a good event into a negative experience for attendees
not enough attention was focused on ensuring attendees were being respectful to other attendees and ‘offenders’ were not removed/banned asap
information that was shared was incorrect/outdated
speakers were treated like rockstars and decks presented weren’t always shared or photographs were discouraged
meetup members were often spammers who spent time dropping links into comments or direct messages to other members and these people weren’t banned/removed
not enough focus was on building a community by ensuring attendees felt comfortable mixing and connecting with others
What experience do I have in meetups?
For a more detailed background of why I started my own SEO meetups with some industry friends you can read this post on SER. With Andy and Joe we re-started the Brisbane based SEO meetups in December 2010 as a response to Sempo trying to grow it’s membership in Australia. We ran the first event on the 6th January 2011 at the Story Bridge Hotel. In 2011, I moved to Melbourne and started ‘Melbourne SEO’ with Chris, Mikey, Nik & Peter and soon Chris & Rick started Sydney SEO and quickly afterwards Woj & Luke started Adelaide SEO. At its peak we had 3500 members across Australia meeting every month usually on a Wednesday or Thursday. I did run a single European SEO event in Amsterdam in November 2013 with a handful of digital marketers but I didn’t have the energy to build up a new city at that point so now I just promote and attend others meetups.
What did we try and do better to change how we ran the SEO meetups?
When I gathered some other like minded folks in the search industry from my network but also from SEMPO we wanted to try something different and we weren’t afraid to fail. The other co-founders of SEO Meetups Australia had experienced similar pain points attending and running their own meetups over the years. But here’s what we did to improve an attendee’s experience in our founding principles:
Focused on search engines (SEO + PPC) not email/social as there were already plenty of other meetups dedicated to these
Encouraged members to connect and mix at events
Vetted all meetup.com members and blocked/removed thousands of fake/mlm/bot accounts
Limited the audience to marketers who were likely to attend
Required a detailed survey for new members that limited our membership growth but allowed us to better vet member suitability
Did not charge for the events and ran the events at a loss (mistake)
Co-founders vetted any potential speakers to ensure alignment with our values and to enrich the experience for our members
Quickly banned/blocked spammers & scammers from meetup.com
Revoked membership from members who broke social etiquette or made other attendees uncomfortable
What did I learn from running the meetups?
Don’t get me wrong the many hours and late nights were some of the most fun I’ve had in the industry over the years. So many heated debates so many wonderful insights and learnings shared and many strong friendships built but these are the big takeaways of why I did it all for so many years.
Running and attending the meetups made some amazing industry connections and great friends that I would not have likely found otherwise
Created a strong ‘glue’ for the local industry to meet more regularly and build trust across different agency staff
Running the meetups got expensive with the Meetup.com platform as costs continued to grow which discouraged others from doing something similar
Some attendees hated name tags but it made mixing and networking easier and while I’m great with faces I’m often terrible with names
Securing sponsors & swag was time consuming but attendees appreciated the support from the software tools
Sponsoring the food & drinks was often out of pocket for organisers and depending on the amounts of attendees $100-200 wasn’t unusual
Some attendees were ungrateful for the ‘free’ food & drink options and shared this in person and post event on the meetup.com event page they wouldn’t recommend going
Finding a suitable venue every month was stressful and often required last minute changes for various reasons such as weddings, work events and around Christmas it was near impossible to get any space
Virtual guests did work once in a while but it did put a lot of extra stress on the organisers and presenter but we did this a few times for international speakers
Recording and sharing the presentations took too much effort and very few people watched the replay later.
Being a few minutes late as an organiser often earnt a negative review and comment on the Meetup.com event page
Not talking to every individual did sometimes would also result in a negative review
We often spoke & organised the event to great personal stress which was too much at times so ensure you ask for help which is why don’t do it on your own
Running a meetup needs amazing co-founders to support you, share the load and substitute you for last minute schedule clashes or holidays or fill in for last minute speaker changes
Collaborating with other large events like SMX or Sydney SEO Conference ensured a far larger turnout at your events
Building a community and growing connections is something to be proud of when you look back. For example, Melbourne SEO continues as SEO Collective and has run 151 events with 2,129 active members once a month on a Tuesday evening across several cities. If you are based in Australia you should certainly check out their events.
How has the meetup space changed over the years?
Since moving to The Netherlands in 2013 I’ve helped organise the informal #SEOSteak that mostly started as a Twitter joke with some great local and international visitors and noticed some changes. I’ve also spoken to a few folks running meetups over the past few months and it seems there are a few common trends going on. I want to frame this that most meetups are run for free and often at a loss by organisers
venues often charge for meeting space
venues often want pre-payment for events depending on expected number of attendees
venues require a minimum spend amount from event no matter the size of the event
venues noise/crowds vary so can’t guarantee experience is consistent every time
different venues are needed for networking vs panel discussion vs presentations
venue locations don’t suit all attendees due to noise, distance or venue type
venues have more meetups trying to secure space for their events
meetups are too often bumped from venue space for other events
meetup attendance can’t be guaranteed and can vary significantly between events
some events require a minimum number of attendees to RSVP or they will cancel/postpone the event
more events are setting a cap on the number of attendees
sponsors are less generous and expect more results/branding from sponsorship
more events/meetups are charging to cover costs or just break even
What has changed in the meetup space over the years?
It’s not just covid that changed how meetups are attended and some of these things are out of control for organisers. Not all meetup attendees will share this feedback with organisers but often do with other attendees but maybe one reason that they never come to a future event which is difficult for organisers to know if they never mention it…. If you do attend a meetup or event please try and chat with the organiser first before burning them on the event review
meetup attendees have a lot more choice on events, meetups and conferences
meetup attendees can have unrealistic expectations of events food/drinks
meetup attendees can have unrealistic expectations of venue facilities/location
meetup attendees can have unrealistic expectations of presenters/panelists
corporate/businesses have expanded into this space with more support/resources
virtual meetups can be more flexible but attendance and engagement can be lower
meetup attendees have meeting fatigue post-covid and don’t want attend as they are exhausted
Often people might just want a smaller meetup event from time to time and may want to skip part of the event so share a rough itinerary ahead of time if possible
I’ve seen success when organisers vary the type of meetup between panels, networking and presentations
What SEO meetups should you check out?
I found some amazing meetup organisers over the years such as the following and yes many have been left off this list which are more events/conferences such as #BrightonSEO or are a paid event like Friends of Search
Internet Marketers of New York (IMNY)
What is the future of meetups?
Meetups are an amazing part of the digital marketing industry but it’s a lot harder and more competitive than it used to be with hundreds of competing events happening each month. Remember that there is a time and financial cost for organisers, speakers and attendees to attend an event and these days people are spoilt for choice. I’ve mainly focused on the SEO meetups as that is where I have the most experience but some of these ideas have come from other organisers and some are from ideas I’ve tried or wanted to try…
Relying on Meetup.com is flawed as it wants to charge both organisers and attendees for access to the platform
EventBrite doesn’t have the same network effects and community as Meetup.com but is more cost effective for events
Building an audience/platform outside Meetup.com/EventBrite is essential for sustainability and growth like SEOFomo are doing
Be open to running virtual events between in-person events to keep the community active and engaged
Ask for regular donations from members to support your events cost or meetup.com charges
Be transparent about the content topics & most suitable audiences
Charge a nominal amount for events to at least cover costs or break-even
Expect more boutique/invite-only meetups
Limit sponsors control of the event/speakers
Tip from GreenSEO avoid wasteful swag like plastic pens, usb sticks and tote bags
Never share email addresses of attendees with sponsors just take a photo of the winners business card if there is a prize draw
Don’t be afraid to run less events, don’t break yourself setting unrealistic expectations of weekly or monthly meetups.
What did I miss?
I’m curious if I missed any particular topic or if you disagree with some of my points highlighted above, I’d love your input and perspective.
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