Meetup.com allows users to find and join local groups based on their interests. To use it, a user creates a profile and can then browse groups in their area. To create a group, there is a monthly fee which allows scheduling meetings with details like date, location, and registration. The document discusses how the author's technical writing group uses Meetup.com to attract new members from outside their existing chapter membership, bringing in additional people to their events and opportunities to recruit them to formally join the chapter.

1. #stc15, #stc15leaders Timothy Esposito tmesposit@gmail.com
Meetup.com
What Is It?
Meetup.com is a network of local groups. You can create a group for any interest you can think of:
backpacking, sewing, bicycling, gaming, coding practices, etc.
Setting Up Meetup
Create a Profile
Everyone has their own profile, listing their own interests. If there are groups in your geographic area
that have overlapping interests, you will be alerted.
Include a photo of yourself and write a little bio as an introduction.
Member accounts are free!
Create a Meetup Group
Meetup groups are NOT free. There is a $10/month fee for the basic plan, which limits the group to 50
people. $15/month gives you unlimited membership numbers. (Prices subject to change.)
Some groups have a fee for members to join, to cover these costs.
Configure the Group
A Meetup group can be customized to have a unique look and feel. Add graphics from your chapter and
a color scheme to your liking. Our chapter leaders all have accounts with Meetup.com and are part of
the group. You can assign titles to members of your group.
Topics
Each Meetup group has a selection of keywords associated with it to identify the interests of the group.
These are known as topics. Topics our chapter uses include:
 Information Technology
 Mobile Technology
 Writing
 Writing Workshops
 Documentation
 eLearning
 Technology Professionals
 Writers Group
 Technical Writing
 Instructional Design
 Technical Communicators
 API Documentation
 DITA Documentation
 Web-based Training

2. #stc15, #stc15leaders Timothy Esposito tmesposit@gmail.com
Using Meetup.com
Use Meetup.com to schedule your meetings. You can provide a topic, a date and time, a host, a location,
details about the event, and even charge people directly through Meetup.com.
My practice is to use Eventbrite to handle official registrations. Payments handled there, not in
Meetup.com. However, if you have no such registration system, then Meetup.com can handle that for
you.
After members register for an event, you can automatically send them questions. I use this functionality
to remind them to go register on Eventbrite to really commit.
Once people have registered on Meetup.com, you can send emails to them through the site, alerting
them to updates to your event.
Effectiveness of Meetup.com
The Philadelphia Metro Chapter has 37 members in their Meetup group, as opposed to about 100
members in the chapter.
Meetup.com has attracted new members from outside the chapter.
Joining our Meetup group is free so there is no obligation for people to join the chapter or attend
events.
New people join the group all the time. Some make it to our meetings, so we try to recruit them to the
chapter.
Networking with other Meetup groups is possible. Our chapter has twice been approached with
partnership offers for co-sponsoring events.