3 Reasons for you to organize a Meetup
How organizing a meetup changed my life.
Back in June 2013, when I was 13 (the advantage of being born on 2000 is that you always know how old you were at a certain date), I attended my first “Meetup”, or a tech-entrepreneurship event. It was a small event downtown Jerusalem, hosted by the “Startup Hub” [RIP]
Exactly two years later, June 2015: After being in Max Voloshin’s event for teenagers, I decided to follow his lead. I felt that was a need for events like that — as a 13-year-old at an all-adult event, I knew how uncomfortable is it to be the only one under 20 in a tech event, so I organized my own meetup, also for teenagers.
My first event was held in PICO, a lovely co-working space in Talpiyot, Jerusalem, and about 30 people showed up — which at the time seemed like a lot.
Besides the haircut change, the (I hope) better taste in clothes and the Chrome kippah, you might notice also that back then, I was excited to learn and super interested in the lecture (a typical “attendee”) — while at my event, I was the host and director of the show (an “event organizer”). The difference is huge. At June 6th, 2015, I upgraded myself from just an “attendee” to a whole new level.
Organizing an event changed my life in many different ways. Here are three reasons for you to organize your own meetup:
1. satisfaction.
The last 24 hours before the event were pretty stressful. Running around sending people directions, and links, and dealing with speakers who cancel and lecture order, and then realizing the directions I gave earlier were wrong so I had to change them — while another speaker cancels and the photographer can’t come so I have to find a different photographer within 5 hours, and we forgot to order the pizza, and didn’t buy the snacks yet. Yeah, it wasn’t easy.
But… It was all worth the feeling that came around 10 PM. After everyone left, and we cleaned up, I suddenly felt satisfaction. Such strong satisfaction and pride, that I wanted to do it all over again 100 times more. I’ve never felt like that, and that feeling is the main reason why I keep doing it.
2. Networking.
Look, there’s no point hiding it, organizing an event is, most of all, promoting you and your agenda. When I mentioned going to a whole new level, I didn’t only mean for me — I meant for everyone. From now on, every place you go, you won’t be just another member of the community, you’ll be an active part of it, and therefore people would want to meet you. Networking would become much easier, since now you’ll have a new tagline that says “I’m doing something for this community”.
No more “Reuven Karasik, I’m [yet another] Web Developer”, say welcome to “Reuven Karasik, I organize meetups for teenagers in Jerusalem the head of the youth entrepreneurship community of MadeInJLM”. Longer, but way more impressive.
3. Connections.
Another part of it is the fact that while you organize a meetup you make connections. It’s inevitable, but it’s awesome. For example, let’s say you’d like to connect with a top entrepreneur in your city. Just sending her/him an email and introducing yourself is kind of lame, but asking them to speak at your next event is something different — it shows respect, and there you have a meaningful connection with that person.
I’m not saying that in order to connect with someone you’ll invite them to speak; it’s, of course, the other way around: you’ll connect with them in order to invite them to speak. But the next time you’ll want to ask them something, they’ll remember you.
And there you have it, the top 3 things that I got from organizing a meetup, and are the main things that keep me going.
I strongly encourage you to find a field in your city/community that you feel could use more meetups and events about and take that challenge.
You will help not only yourself but also the entire city/community.
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If you’d like to hear more about my first event, check out this excellent article by Devorah Gordon:
