Meetup Hosts Planning For Jan 28 Event: Questions & Answers

Abadesi
59 replies
Hi hosts! Here's a place to share questions and answers. There are hundreds of us all around the world, some more experienced in hosting events than others. Let's learn from each other. You can view an onboarding video conference I recorded with some meetup hosts around the world here and next steps doc which outlines what you should be doing here

Replies

Eithiriel DeMeré
Hi all! I'd love to connect with others who are interested in hosting in Boulder, Colorado.
Uno Susanto
Hey everyone! I'm a first time host and would love to connect with other hosts in Los Angeles!
Raffaele Asquer
@unosusanto nice to meet you, same here. have you found other hosts in LA? I'd like to start working on this but I need some guidance from some experienced host... feel free to message me to coordinate
Uno Susanto
@raffasquer hi! I have not found other hosts yet but am jumping on a call with Abadesi soon so will probably know more then. I'll send you a message so we can chat more
Jessica Gottlieb
@raffasquer @abadesi @unosusanto I've hosted many events for startups here in LA. None via producthunt but too many to count.
Abadesi
@raffasquer @unosusanto cool our team are organising the Jan event in LA but would love support hosting future 2020 meetups in the city cc @jessicagottlieb
Deep
Hey everyone! I'm a first time host and would love to connect with other hosts in Gujarat,India!
Amrin
I would love to connect with anybody from Sacramento/Roseville Area.
A Taheer (Modishspy)
Hey everyone! I'm an experienced host. I'd love to connect with anyone in Atlanta, GA looking to host.
Product Hunt Atlanta
@modishspy Hello. We've been hosting in Atlanta, GA as well. We are looking for good co-hosts to work with in the area. We usually host events at Atlanta Tech Village. Let's discuss. :)
Larry Mickie
Hi all! I'd love to connect with others who are interested in co-hosting in Charlotte, NC. I've hosted meetups and events before and it'd be great to put together a great meetup here.
Benjamin White
@larrymickie Hi Larry. I'm hosting in tbd location in RDU area, so not far away.
Edison Espinosa
South Florida let's connect. I want to possibly have one in Miami and another one in Fort Myers (this area needs this type of stuff)
Rhona Aylward
Hi everyone, I'm a first time host too and would love to connect with other people hosting in Wellington, New Zealand and anywhere else in NZ.
Benjamin White
Is there some place where there's a high-level strategic statement of what success means for the January event?
Angad Singh
Hey everyone! I'd like to connect with other hosts in Delhi, India.
Rahul Aswani
Hi Everyone, this would be the first time I would be hosting a meetup in Singapore. Looking to learn from all of you who have hosted a PH meetup anywhere before and connect with others who have signed up for Singapore.
mihir
Looking forward for hosting meetup in surat, india.
Dinesh Pirla
Hi @abadesi , I would like to know what support do we get from Product Hunt team to host this meetup.
Myriam Shemtov
@abadesi same question, specially regarding a way to contact everyone
Abadesi
@dineshpirla we've got a new event mgmt site where you can set up your event page, and manage attendees! I'm onboarding hosts this week, find a time to join or wait to see the onboarding video! https://calendly.com/abadesi-pro... Will share another update via email this week
Dinesh Pirla
@abadesi Thanks for the response.Looks like your calendar is full. If possible could you open up few more slots for the month of December as we need to start the preparations early. Also could you please share the link for the event management site. I found this link not sure if this is the right one https://www.producthunt.com/events . Kindly let us know. Cheers
Abadesi
@dineshpirla hi Dinesh - I updated the discussion info to include links to an onboarding session I recorded and a helpful next steps doc. The event site will go live today meetups.producthunt.com. Which city are you based in? Be sure to connect with other hosts in your city! I can link you up
Francesco 🍫
Would love to connect with other hosts in Milan :)
Kunal Bhatia
Hi everyone! Kunal here from SF and Boston. I’ve been hosting the Product Hunt Boston (@ProductHuntBOS) meetups for the last few years and just started an account for the SF one (@ProductHuntSF). I noticed many of you are first time hosts. I was there just a few years ago too. What questions can I help answer to get you started with your Meetup planning?
Kamiar Kordari
@producthuntbos @producthuntsf @kunalslab Hi Kunal, I am interested in hosting in the south bay area >> Mountain View << What advice do you have for best practices to connect with other makers? Are there resources that can help with that? What steps did you follow to organize your first event?
Dinesh Pirla
@kunalslab Hi Kunal thanks for offering your expertise as most of us want to know few basic things about the meetup.How do we go about it.Do we have to arrange the venue , sponsors ,agenda , talks and so on or will all these be set by the PH team and we are supposed to follow. Also what kind of support do we get from the PH team. These are few things on my mind right now as there is a lot to be done. Thanks once again
Kunal Bhatia
@producthuntbos @producthuntsf @kamiarkordari sorry for the super slow response here, Kamiar. The best advice I can give for connecting with other makers + hosting your first event is to get to know people at a deeper level through the existing communities that you find interesting in your area. For example, I got to know the entrepreneurial circles first through TiE Boston, then other companies in YC Startup School in Boston. When it came time to hosting my first Meetup, I knew so many founders, and our format lended itself well to having built that network–it became easier to recruit people we knew for demos + drinks events. Find out what's lacking in your area, serve an existing need, and you'll end up creating an experience that people love.
Kunal Bhatia
@dineshpirla sorry for the terribly slow response here, Dinesh. Yes, generally a lot of the event planning is left to the local meetup organizers. We partnered with HubSpot for the first three events to get our venue. We had an idea that we wanted the format to be demos + drinks, and that we wanted to help early stage startups solve their current biggest challenges. You should think hard about what your local audience wants and would love + build around that. The PH team supports by helping you connect with others in your area and promoting cool things you do on social. They also send you kitty swag sometimes to give to your attendees. It's all very organic and that's the beauty of it all. You have a lot of freedom to create something unique with the PH community.
Dinesh Pirla
@kunalslab Thanks a lot for the reply Kunal. No need to apologize for the delay in responding. I did speak to @abadesi and she had a detailed webinar on how to go about organising this.That was very helpful. I liked your idea of demos +drinks.I was thinking on similar lines of helping the local startups and other product guys. I have been talking to a few coworking spaces to sponsor the venue as well. I liked the freedom that PH team offers us in letting us set the agenda and all. Appreciate your help once again Kunal. Will reach out to you if I need any other help. Cheers!
Luqman Zainal Abidin
Hi all! I’m looking forward to host one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!
Renato Capasso
Hi, Renato here from Sydney :). Has anyone hosted a Product hunt event before? Any main tips?
Brendan Weinstein
@renatocapasso I suggest reaching out to Kunal...hes run some succesful PH Boston meetups for a few years now @kunalslab
Ali Zewail
Hey All, First-time host here! So, what's a typical meetup agenda? How can we make it useful and relevant for everyone?
Ahmed El-Kady
@abadesi Hello I didn't got the point of "Get access to yourstack beta and be a product evangelist for yourstack at your event - you will receive an email intro to Ryan for this" ? can you elaborate more what you mean ?
Abadesi
@akady Hi Ahmed! We are launching yourstack on Jan 28 and ahead of that Ryan will be giving meetup hosts access to the private beta so you can start using the product and talk about it with people at your meetup who sign up but were not in the beta. Does that make sense?
Ahmed El-Kady
@abadesi is it working now ? I tried before but asked me for user name and password.
Abadesi
@akady we'll be posting guidelines and an event code of conduct soon - feel free to ask other hosts what format they are taking with their events. You should be able to visit meetups.producthunt.com and create a username