Meetup.com is a great way to meet people with similar interests. There are a lot of different groups such as hiking, camping, dancing, work, dating, networking, movie lovers, international foods and even groups to learn another language. The meetup.com website is pretty well managed and it always gets new features. Please remember that the site is not free to theMeetup.com group organizers. Meetup does not charge members a fee but many group organizers charge a fee for their group to pass on the costs of the Meetup.com organizers fee and other group costs that might be incurred.
Who is able to start a meetup.com group?
Anyone who wants to start a group can. You pay a monthly or annual fee to do so. If you are computer literate it is easy to set up and manage meetings. Meetup.com does charge a monthly fee for event organizers. Some of them will charge a small fee for their event but it isn’t aimed at making a profit. It’s only to reimburse them for their membership costs. The fees doesn’t only help with reimbursement but it controls the event a little bit as well. It actually helps a bit with safety and security because members won’t spend money just to cause trouble.
Email.
You can easily manage your mail from meetup. You do need to do this for your general meetup membership and for each group you belong to. The email settings are easily changed to your liking, for example you may choose to get an email when a new event is posted to your group. An event organizer would surely have more emails to worry about but it does offer you a pretty sweet service.
Other members.
Meetup.com is based on volunteers. So it’s basically the willing that organizes these events. Some members might get upset or find fault with every little detail. Others might be satisfied or ecstatic. It all depends on the members that are involved. The main problem is that groups do have members that sign up for events but they never show up. This has been dealt with by removing members who do it more than once. So you still protect the other members. There is also the issue that some members have no experience with meeting up in groups. Some of them tend to clam up and then they are all alone. It isn’t such a big deal but other members tend to get uncomfortable.
Always show your appreciation to your group members and event organizers. It takes a lot of work, determination and talent in order to turn a small group into a huge success. Don’t be rude or inconsiderate towards others. If you have suggestions, just ask your event organizer. Don’t just jump at them and force them to take notice.
Costs.
Remember that it does cost the event organizers in order to create a group. Many groups do charge a fee n order for their members to attend any events. Paying a small fee probably won’t kill you but it might make the events a bit better. Some organizers pay everything so that their members have a good time. For each additional members, the cost goes up. Sometimes the costs get too high and they have to ask their members to contribute a small fee but they still pay the most. Meetup.com should make it a bit clearer that it’s the event organizers that’s paying for everything.
What about security concerns?
There are a lot of ways to keep meetup groups and members secure. Security is a fundamental building block for all activities on the internet.
You are allowed to make your profile private to anyone who’s not registered on meetup.com There are various settings that will allow you to do so. Other groups will not be able to view your profile. Meetup.com groups try to be as safe as possible. In the end, it’s not just the event organizers that must be protected but the members as well.
If a group is set to private, you need the group owner’s approval before you are allowed to join. You can even state your own requirements and other factors such as a small questionnaire that users must answer so that you can evaluate all of the information. Some groups are so strict that you must answer 5 questions and send an identifiable picture before you are allowed the chance to join. Most of them only send the location of a meeting to members who RSVP.
The Verdict.
Meetup.com is actually a good site. The members are all good individuals. Troublemakers are usually dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Events are mostly free but those that require a small fee, do not cost you an arm or a leg. The events are quite entertaining and fun. Overall, this site is to use. Just watch out for some groups that don’t disclose the details of their events or information about themselves.
