The Little Meetup That Could

Presented at Great Wide Open Conference in Atlanta, GA 2016

What does it take to start a community? How many members does a meetup make? Is pizza really the best food to serve? How do you handle organizer burn-out? Recruiters? Sponsors? Venues?! Before starting a meetup, most people know to ask a few questions. But there are some questions that should be asked that are less obvious.

Since January of 2013, Rails Girls Atlanta has held monthly meetups; our numbers have been as small as 4 attendees–including the speaker and organizers–and as great as 40+. In that time, we’ve grown to have a steady number of regulars and have seen attendees progress from total beginner to full time developer time and time again.

We’ll give a history of our little meetup that could, and share some lessons, failures, and successes we’ve encountered along the way in hopes of helping other existing or new meetup groups find their footing…faster.

Transcript

1. The Little Meetup
   That Could
   A Rails Girls Atlanta Scrapbook
   Kylie Stradley & Pamela Vickers
   @RailsGirlsATL
   Great Wide Open 2016
   

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2. View Slide

3. But before there can be a leadership board…
   

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4. there has to be a meetup.
   

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5. And before there can be a meetup…
   

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6. there has to be a need.
   

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7. View Slide

8. Rails Girls Workshops
   • Founded by Linda
   Liukas & Karri Saarinen
   • November 2010 in
   Helsinki, Finland
   

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9. View Slide

10. View Slide

11. 1st Atlanta Workshop
    •December 2012
    

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12. View Slide

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15. -Everyone
    what now?
    

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16. ¯\_()_/¯
    -Us
    

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17. Workshop round 2
    •May 2013
    

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18. what now?
    -Everyone
    

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19. Come to our monthly meetup!
    -Us
    

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20. • Paid Meetup.com account
    • !
    • Confirmed venue
    • Tweeted
    January 2013
    (1st Meetup)
    

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21. • Assigned “homework”
    • Scheduled a speaker
    January 2013
    (1st Meetup)
    

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22. View Slide

23. January 2013
    (1st Meetup)
    • ~20 people came
    • People said nice things
    • Used Google Hangouts for
    out-of-town workshop
    attendees
    

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26. Short Lessons
    • Set expectations early
    

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28. Short Lessons
    • Set expectations early
    • Order vegetarian options
    

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29. Long(er) Lessons
    • Not every talk is for every attendee.
    

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30. 1 month later
    

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31. February 2013 Bug Fix
    • !+"#$ %
    

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32. February 2013
    • Handpicked Project Euler problems
    

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33. • Handpicked Project Euler problems
    • Lower attendance despite higher RSVP count than
    first meetup
    February 2013
    

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34. & First Recruiter &
    

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35. Short Lessons
    • RSVP count != Attendance count (ordering food is
    hard)
    • Recruiters will find any technology meetup (but
    that’s not always bad)
    

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36. Long(er) Lessons
    • Not every talk is for every attendee.
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    

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37. • Not every talk is for every attendee.
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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38. 1 month later
    

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39. March 2013 Bug Fix
    

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40. &Our Treasurer’s 1st RGATL &
    

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41. • Not every talk is for every attendee.
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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42. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are
    some talks better than others for our
    meetup?
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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43. 2 months later
    

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44. May 2013 ✨New feature✨
    • Rolled out ToDo List project assignment
    • Slowly introducing Rails into the monthly
    assignments
    

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45. 1 month later
    

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46. June 2013 ✨New feature✨
    • Offered milestone 1 of the Todo List as public
    Github repo
    

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47. & RGATL’s half birthday &
    

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48. & Kylie’s 1st RGATL &
    

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49. 2 months later
    

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50. August 2013
    • Continued working through
    and reviewing ToDo List
    milestones
    • Bootstrap talk from
    ATLRUG’s Patrick van Stee
    to prepare for front-end
    focused milestone
    

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51. & Our Event Facilitator’s 1st RGATL &
    

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52. & Our Event Facilitator’s 1st RGATL &
    

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53. 2 months later
    

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54. October 2013
    • Jordan Killpack gave
    talk on building silly
    apps to prep for 

    our November 

    “Silly Hacks Only”
    aka “Wackity Hack”
    event
    

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55. & 1st Absentee Organizer &
    Community Facilitated Meetup&
    

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56. 1 month later
    

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57. November 2013 ✨New Feature✨
    • Regularly scheduled
    meetup was too close
    to Thanksgiving
    • Saturday afternoon
    hack event
    

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58. View Slide

59. The good news:
    

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60. View Slide

61. The less good news:
    

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62. Not a lot of people came to enjoy our
    coffee, snacks, and prizes. (
    

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63. Short Lessons
    • Set expectations for events, especially when hoping
    beginners will come to a hack event
    

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64. 1 month later
    

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65. December 2013 ✨New Feature✨
    • Talk given by one of our regularly attending
    members
    

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66. & First year of RGATL &
    

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67. & Smallest Attendance of the Year &
    

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68. &
    First time handling the “but I saw
    that you had other male members, so
    I figured it was fine for me to come”
    situation.
    &
    

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69. View Slide

70. • You’re going to have awkward encounters when
    you organize community focused groups
    • Set clear expectations for who should attend your
    meetup
    Short Lessons
    

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71. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
    talks better than others for our meetup?
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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72. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
    talks better than others for our meetup? Recycle
    good talks.
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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73. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
    talks better than others for our meetup? Recycle
    good talks.
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers. Holidays make it even harder to
    predict.
    • Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
    Long(er) Lessons
    

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74. View Slide

75. 1st Year Retrospective
    • Worked on projects and
    assignments as a group
    • Built membership base
    • Saw core members begin
    contributing in small ways
    

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76. Release Notes
    • Improved food ordering
    • Improved expectation setting for all events
    • Improved meetup content
    

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77. Release Notes
    • Improved food ordering
    • Order vegetarian options
    • There’s no formula for predicting attendance
    numbers
    

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78. Release Notes
    • Improved expectation setting for all events
    • Who should come
    • What they should bring
    • What they will learn
    

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79. Release Notes
    • Improved meetup content
    • Not every talk is for every attendee
    • Recycle good talks
    

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80. Release Notes
    • Improved food ordering
    • Improved expectation setting for all events
    • Improved meetup content
    

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81. View Slide

82. 1 month later
    

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83. January 2014
    

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84. Hothlanta 2014
    January 2014
    

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85. Let’s try this again
    

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86. 1 month later
    

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87. February 2014 Bug Fixes
    • Made meetup location private for non-members
    • Added some leading questions for new members:
    “Are you a lady? If not: who are you here with?”
    

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88. February 2014
    (With special guests from Atlanta chapters of
    PyLadies, WomenWhoCode, and Systers)
    

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89. Short Lessons
    • Joint community events are fun
    • No experience required content == higher
    attendance and engagement
    

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90. Long(er) Lessons
    • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
    community connections.
    

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91. 1 month later
    

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92. March 2014
    

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93. & Our Membership Outreach
    Coordinator’s 1st RGATL &
    

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94. Long(er) Lessons
    • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
    community connections.
    

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95. Long(er) Lessons
    • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
    community connections.
    • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
    speakers.
    

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96. And now for something completely
    different
    

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97. April 2014 ✨New Feature✨
    

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98. Later that month
    

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99. April 2014
    • ⚡ Lightning talks from four members ⚡
    

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100. & Our Sponsorship Coordinator’s 1st RGATL &
     

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101. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers.
     

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102. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less
     intimidating for 1st time speakers.
     

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103. 1 month later
     

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104. May 2014
     • ⚡ Lightning talks ⚡
     

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105. again.
     

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106. 1 month later
     

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107. June 2014
     • ⚡ Lightning talks ⚡
     

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108. again?!
     

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109. View Slide

110. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
     for 1st time speakers.
     

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111. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
     for 1st time speakers.
     • Recognize organizer fatigue.
     

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112. 1 month later
     

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113. July 2014
     • Attempted to revive project based meetup
     • Goals: make open source contributions more
     accessible, work on project as a group, renew
     excitement around shared progress
     

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114. July 2014
     • Attempted to revive project based meetup
     • Goals: make open source contributions more
     accessible, work on project as a group, renew
     excitement around shared progress
     • Results: blank stares, intimidated members, no
     movement on any of the goals
     

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115. & Our Meetup Facilitator’s 1st RGATL &
     

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116. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
     for 1st time speakers.
     • Recognize organizer fatigue.
     

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117. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
     1st time speakers.
     • Recognize organizer fatigue.
     • Shape content around community’s immediate
     needs.
     

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118. Over the next several months
     

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119. Early Fall(ish) 2014
     • Several great talks
     • Hit-or-miss on engagement
     

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120. Short Lessons
     • Just because a talk is great doesn’t mean it is great
     for our meetup
     

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121. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
     1st time speakers.
     • Recognize organizer fatigue.
     • Shape content around community’s immediate
     needs.
     

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122. Long(er) Lessons
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
     community connections.
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
     1st time speakers.
     • Recognize organizer fatigue.
     • Shape content around community’s immediate
     needs.
     

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123. At the end of the year
     

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124. View Slide

125. 2nd Year Retrospective
     • Talk based format
     • Became an established
     Atlanta meetup
     • More core members, and
     more core member
     involvement
     

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126. Release Notes
     • Improved expectation setting for events
     • Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
     landscape with supplementary social meetup
     • Increased speaking opportunities for members
     • Improved talk selection based on our community’s
     needs

     

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127. Release Notes
     • Improved expectation setting for events
     • No experience required content == higher
     attendance and engagement
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds
     stronger community connections
     

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128. Release Notes
     • Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
     landscape with supplementary social meetup
     • Joint community events are fun
     • Time set aside for just conversation builds
     stronger community connections
     

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129. Release Notes
     • Increased speaking opportunities for members
     • Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
     speakers
     • ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for 1st
     time speakers
     

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130. Release Notes
     • Improved talk selection based on our community’s
     needs
     • Just because a talk is great doesn’t mean it’s great for
     our meetup
     • Recognize organizer fatigue. Otherwise, content can
     suffer
     • Shape content around community’s immediate needs

     

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131. Release Notes
     • Improved expectation setting for events
     • Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
     landscape with supplementary social meetup
     • Increased speaking opportunities for members
     • Improved talk selection based on our community’s
     needs

     

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132. View Slide

133. 1 month later
     

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134. January 2015
     • New Year, New Environments!
     • Got everyone set up to do actual Ruby on Rails
     development in anticipation of working through a
     curriculum as a group
     

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135. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering.
     

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136. 1 month later
     

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137. February 2015
     

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138. Hothlanta 2015
     February 2015
     

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139. 1 month later
     

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140. March 2015
     • Community member presented on Ruby tool
     • Worked through RailsBridge curriculum
     

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141. View Slide

142. View Slide

143. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering.
     

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144. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you
     have expectations about what you’ll be
     helping with.
     

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145. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you
     have expectations about what you’ll be
     helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and
     opportunities to get help.
     

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146. 1 month later
     

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147. April 2015
     

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148. April 2015
     

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149. April 2015
     • Held our first RailsBridge workshop with many of
     the coaches coming from our own Rails Girls
     community.
     • Held a meetup to keep working on the workshop
     materials
     

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150. Short Lessons
     • Stuff happens (like a power outage resulting in no
     lunch ***)
     

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151. 1 month later
     

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152. May 2015
     • Held a meetup to keep working on the workshop
     materials
     • Ticket Giveaway for Github’s CodeConf in
     Nashville (several members attended)
     

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153. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
     expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and
     opportunities to get help.
     

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154. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
     expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and
     opportunities to get help.
     

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155. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
     expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to
     get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is
     intimidating; going to a conference alone for the first
     time is more intimidating.
     

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156. 1 month later
     

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157. June 2015
     • Presentation: “Git Workflow: Little Red Riding
     Hood and the Big Bad Ogre”
     • Workshop: “Git-it Git & GitHub”
     

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158. June 2015
     

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159. June 2015
     

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160. Short Lessons
     • It is possible to have too much of a good thing
     

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161. 1 month later
     

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162. July 2015
     • One of our most popular presentations “A Day in
     the Life of a Full Time Developer”
     

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163. July 2015
     

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164. & Communication Coordinator’s 1st RGATL &
     

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165. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
     expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to
     get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is
     intimidating; going to a conference alone for the first
     time is more intimidating.
     

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166. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated
     the opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering.
     Volunteering is easier when you have expectations about what
     you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going
     to a conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always
     technology focused.
     

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167. 1 month later
     

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168. August 2015 Bug Fix
     

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169. August 2015 Bug Fix
     

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170. August 2015
     • Try out “new” study group/team ongoing project
     format
     • Provided opportunity for members to sign up as
     participants or coaches
     

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171. August 2015
     

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172. August 2015
     

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173. 2 months later
     

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174. October 2015
     • Andy Lindeman presented “Intro to Automated
     Testing with RSpec” (requested topic)
     

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175. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated
     the opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering.
     Volunteering is easier when you have expectations about what
     you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going
     to a conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always
     technology focused.
     

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176. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
     opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is
     easier when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping
     with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
     conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
     focused.
     • Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.
     

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177. 2 months later
     

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178. December 2015
     

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179. Short Lessons
     • We still don’t know how to host a hackathons
     

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180. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
     opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is
     easier when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping
     with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
     conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
     focused.
     • Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.
     

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181. Long(er) Lessons
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
     opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is easier
     when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
     • Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
     • Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
     conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
     focused.
     • Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.
     • Sometimes, Rails Girls just want to have fun
     

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182. View Slide

183. 3rd Year Retrospective
     • Structured-learning-with-
     occasional-talks based
     format
     • Hosted a RailsBridge
     workshop
     • Put plans in motion to share
     organization responsibilities
     

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184. Release Notes
     • Improved volunteering opportunities for members
     • Provided space for members to request content
     • Improved food ordering
     • Added opportunities for community members to
     organize and lead
     

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185. Release Notes
     • Improved volunteering opportunities for members
     • Members who aren’t served directly by our content
     appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
     volunteering
     • Volunteering is easier when you have expectations
     about what you’ll be helping with
     • Beginners like structured learning and
     opportunities to get help
     

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186. Release Notes
     • Provided space for members to request content
     • The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t
     always technology focused
     • Make it easy for your community to tell you what
     they need
     

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187. Release Notes
     • Improved food ordering
     

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188. Release Notes
     • Improved volunteering opportunities for members
     • Provided space for members to request content
     • Improved food ordering
     • Added opportunities for community members to
     organize and lead
     

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189. Release Notes
     • Improved volunteering opportunities for members
     • Provided space for members to request content
     • Improved food ordering
     • Added opportunities for community members to
     organize and lead
     

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190. View Slide

191. Chae, Treasurer
     

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192. Megan, Communication Coordinator
     

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193. Britni, Event Facilitator
     

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194. Mallory, Membership Outreach Coordinator
     

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195. Kristin, Meetup Facilitator
     

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196. Anika, Sponsorship Coordinator
     

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197. Kylie, Co-Director
     

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198. View Slide

199. WIP
     • Board terms and responsibility handoff
     • Sponsorship
     • Attaining
     • Maintaining
     • Processing and accessing funds
     • ✨https://opencollective.com/railsgirlsatl✨

     

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200. WIP
     • Setting up formalized conference buddy system
     when we’re given tickets (thanks GWO for all the
     tickets!)
     • Hackathons: how even
     

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201. View Slide

202. + hello@railsgirlsatl.com
     , @RailsGirlsATL
     - opencollective.com/railsgirlsatl
     ,ZMJF4USBEMFZ

     LZMJF!SBJMTHJSMTBUMDPN

     4PGUXBSF&OHJOFFS
     .BJM$IJNQ

     !LZGBTU
     1BNFMB7JDLFST

     QBNFMB!SBJMTHJSMTBUMDPN

     4PGUXBSF&OHJOFFSJOH.BOBHFS

     .BJM$IJNQ

     !QXOFMB
     ⡓ ⡘
     

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203. View Slide