Comment by legerdemain

2 months ago

This suggestion is common to the point of banality, but it really does benefit hugely from having "a mailing list of several dozen friends and acquaintances" to bootstrap it.

I've been trying something very similar to the author's approach for three years now: a casual tech meetup. My results are way worse despite putting hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into the endeavor.

The people you attract might themselves have no local friends. That's why they're showing up to your meetup! But it also means that they won't help to expand it.

The people you attract might not be alcohol-drinkers. A lot of people who suggest organizing casual meetups usually have a pub in mind as the venue. Bringing 12-15 people to a restaurant takes a lot more planning. Getting 12-15 people to agree on a restaurant that meets their diet and budget needs is, well...

You might attract people who are much younger or much older than you. The average author of this kind of article is 36. Do they like the company of people who are within ±20 years of age from them? And do those people like each other's company?

Long story short, you might end up like me, having invested years of your life and a surprising amount of money, to make 3 casual acquaintances who you're sort-of-but-not-super-friendly with.

3 comments

legerdemain

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babyoil  2 months ago

Advice may not be what you are seeking, but a few things jumped out to me: Pouring thousands of dollars into a casual meetup, even over the years, tells me of it being less casual than what is described in the OP.

I have never had more success trying to cater to different diets, budgets, asking for opinions on restaurants. Organizing a club needs, at least at first, a near totalitarian approach. _You_ pick a nice place, hopefully decently affordable, assume e.g. that everyone will drink and if not the club soda or coke will have to do.

Eventually, the group self-optimizes for the sweet spot in things such as age gap between its members. The ones who don't like the types of places you pick, the tone of the meeting, demography, etc. will drop over time.

  • legerdemain  2 months ago

    A $10 pizza from Costco a hundred times is a thousand dollars. Coworking space fees for a couple of years is a sum of money. Meetup organizer fees add up.