How Do You Set Up A Webflow Meetup?

I don’t know the answer to this question. But I’ve had a crack at it and so this article might help you think through it.

‍

In September 2022, a few Webflowers and I organised a 25 person Webflow meetup where we met at Pizza Pilgrims in London.

‍

A few days ago, almost 100 Webflowers met for the second London Webflow meetup at a co-working space in Shoreditch.

‍

Since then, a few people have messaged me asking how to set up their own Webflow meetup so I thought I would jot down some thoughts about how to organise a meetup here.

‍

In this article, I’ll address:

1. What is the point of a meetup?
2. Why should you consider organising a meetup?
3. Steps to potentially take to organise your first meetup
4. How to gather feedback
5. How to do a second event
6. What I would do differently looking back at the most recent event

‍

DISCLAIMER: I’m no events organiser. I haven’t organised my own birthday for years. I have strong chaotic energy which is not ideal for organising a lot of people to meet in one place. I messed up a LOT of details in the most recent event (which I’ll dig in to towards the end of this article).

‍

This is just to try and help anyone who maybe wants to organise a meetup but is struggling to know where to start.

‍

Feel free to dm or email me about any of this - I’m an open book (cringe phrase but you know what I mean).

‍

What is a meetup?

In my limited idea of social events, a meetup is at least two likeminded people meeting up because of common interests. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.

‍

I think we can get swept up by the idea of having thousands of people in a large room decorated by sparkling lights, vip guest area, an ice luge, a chocolate fountain and drinks on tap but I think it’s worth recognising that just the very act of bringing likeminded people together is a meetup.

‍

What Is The Point Of An In Person Meetup?

1) Connection

We all need to feel connected to one another to feel part of a tribe. I’m no psychologist but there’s something about giving someone a hug, talking to them face to face, letting a conversation flow freely, being able to read body language etc that in person just feels different.

‍

2) Mental Health

We’re all working using the same tools, facing the same problems, managing working from home and family time etc, and it's hard! So it’s great to connect with others that are likeminded and understand how we feel.

‍

3) Collaboration

Since the first meetup, collaborations between freelancers have happened, friendships formed and coworking spaces have got webflowers meeting up.

‍

Where To Do Your First In Person Meetup?

I recommend something as simple as:

1. Meeting in a café
2. Pizza & Drinks in a restaurant
3. Going to a bar that has something fun to do in there (darts, bowling, pool etc)

‍

Venues like the Vinegar Yard would be an excellent place for a first meetup I would say - it has food, drink and is an open area allowing space for chatting and moving around!

I recommend organising something lower key like this as a first meetup

‍

Why Should You Consider Organising A Meetup?

If you want it to happen, make it happen!

• I have found that often, people say things like ‘We should really do a x,’ or ‘Wouldn’t it be great if x happened?’ but rather than taking action, they leave it as a floating idea rather than making concrete steps to make this happen. So why not be the person that actually makes the meetup happen? If you want it to happen in your local community, go for it!

‍

‘If you want it to be done, then go. And if not, then send.’ Julius Caesar 🤴

‍

Bringing people together is satisfying

• I found that bringing people together is immensely fun and really fulfilling. It sounds odd but it feels very purposeful seeing a roomful of people that normally only meet online all together in a room.

‍

Make opportunities for collaboration is powerful

• If you are the person making opportunities for collaboration for other people, you also receive huge amounts of opportunities. Since organising the two meetups, people have approached me wanting to set up events together, wanting to collaborate on web design projects and more. I would hasten to add that I’m not implying this should be the reason to do a meetup but it is fun to have interesting opportunities come off the back of organising the event.

‍

Steps to organising your 1st meetup

So you’re sold on the idea of organising a meetup. But how the hell do you go about organising one?

Here are some steps:

1) Get Social

Reach out to webflowers in your network. DM people you find who are from the same location as you, introduce yourself and ask if they may be interested in meeting. Getting social may be on social media, in your co-working space or emailing people you find by google search.

‍

2) Work out different possible dates to meet and pick a date to meet

I actually did a twitter poll to gauge interest for meeting up on different months and off the back of that, I messaged everyone who commented to tell them the date.

‍

3) Invite everyone to a slack to meet before the event

Get everyone to meet in Slack

‍

Tell everyone that you will communicate on Slack and by email

‍

4) Keep people engaged and aware of when the event is by posting regularly about it on social media + slack

I recommend dm’ming people in the days before the event just to say you’re trying to finalise numbers and are they still keen on coming? That way, you have got a good idea of numbers.

‍

During the event and once everyone is in a room, your job is done! Getting people together is the hard part but the Webflowers I have met are easy going and keen to chat to each other.

‍

Nb. People who are keen to help will come to the fore during an event. There are people naturally more inclined to help out and those are the people that are invaluable if you organise another event to lean on for advice, support or research.

‍

How To Gather Feedback

After the event, I recommend getting a feedback form. Questions included were:

Full Name

How would you rate the night?

How likely would you recommend the event to a friend? (0 no way am I recommending this vs 10 YESSSS)

Why did you decide to attend the event?

Which elements of the event did you like the most?

What, if anything, did you dislike about this event?

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience?

This way, you get a good sense of how to improve for next time!

‍

What I Would Do Differently Looking Back On The Most Recent Event

The most recent event was a lot larger than the first meetup and a lot of elements I didn't think through properly:

‍

1) Relied solely on sponsorship for the event

This was a problem because not all sponsors who said they were keen to sponsor did sponsor. I ended up short of money as a result. If you are doing a larger event, it's worth noting that costs rack up.

‍

2) After party event space

The event space was rented until 10pm. I didn't have a clear destination for people to go afterwards though so some of the group got split going to different bars!

‍

3) Underestimated drinks and pizza

Not only did I underorder drinks but also pizza too. I also didn't order enough different types of pizza to accomodate for different dietary requirements. Next time, I'll overorder (probably be just right) and also be more considerate of different requirements.