I am still a newbie in the Local Guide Community and I truly want to grow and connect with other Guides out there during this time of isolation and seclusion! I stated really getting into the program around the time that the COVID virus stated to increase all across the world. Because of this, I didn’t get the chance to explore the “Meet-Up” potions of the site and what it has to offer! I would life to host a my first VIRTUAL meet-up and meet some awesome new people!
If there are any other newbie Local Guided out there, say HEY and lets exchange some information!!
If there are any veteran Guides out there, please say HEY and give us newbies ANY suggestions, tips and ticks to help us all grow as a team!
I suggest searching the community for mentions of your region to find posts that have that name in the title, body of the post, or the location tag. Feel free to jump into those threads and connect with Local Guides in your area.
Hey @TyTakesOver ! Glad to see that you’re interested in hosting meet-ups (virtual or not)! There are tons of LGs already doing meet-ups and feel free to ask your questions!
Here are some tips from me:
Figure out what your meet-up is going to be about (more on this further below) as that will set the scene for everything else in your planning. For now, I suggest keeping it simple
Keep the group size small. Less people makes it easier to manage but at the same, it gives everyone a chance to speak and be heard.
Read all the links that was provided. Great tips there. For me, the important one is for everybody to be on super friendly terms with the mute button ie. always mute yourself when you’re not speaking. And it really helps to pick a room that is super quiet and use headphones to further remove any backgroud noises.
Keep it short. An hour is fairly typical: 10 people in a group means everybody gets about 6 minutes talk time. It sounds short (it somewhat is) but it’s usually enough.
As a host, be prepared to manage the group. Come up with some questions in advance to help keep the conversation going. Make some notes so that you don’t forget them. Be welcoming and friendly. Make sure that folks get a chance to speak and have their say. It sounds daunting but it’s no different to speaking to strangers at a party!
As for ideas for a virtual meet-up:
Target your local area and get to know LGs in your city/country. Talk about their experience on being an LG, how active are they, what do they like the most (reviews, photos, Q&A etc). And don’t forget to share your own.
Same as above but go global!
Focus on a topic of passion: sports, books, games, photography, cooking, pets etc.
Those are just some simple ideas to get you going. But do have a look at the Meet-up board and see what others are doing! Coincidentally, I’m doing a quiz although I’m not setting it up as a meet-up on Connect because I don’t have a fixed date/time and I have 10 sessions to do!