Hello Friends,
Let’s join me to re-live April 12, 2025 through this recap of your favourite meet-up series Ghumakkad Gossip on the topic Importance of Co-Host Part-2.
I am pleased to observe the Responses and Reactions of all the participants during the GG kick off meet-up first and subsequently followed in GG meet-up–02 through GG meet-up–06.
There were 24 participants across the globe including the Meet-up Moderator (MM), Guest Speaker and Connect Moderators during the sixth meet-up of GG series.
I am thankful to all of you who supported this idea and made this happen (MTH).
I have captured the gist of this meet-up under various heads. Please go through them and share your views.
Quick Introduction of the Attendees
The participants have introduced themselves by sharing their Name, City, LG level and the Connect id. They were requested to write down these details in the chat box.
Participants were also requested to join the virtual meet-up on time to pay respect to the Guest Speaker and the co-participants who have joined on or before time.
Overview of the Meet-up
The MM explained the objective behind starting this GG Meet-up series and how it got conceptualized.
Ghumakkad Gossip Meet-up series is created for all of us, by all of us and with all of us. This is to create more cohesive and collaborative platform to Share & Learn for everyone here. The MM also share some basic ground rules to make the meet-up effective for everyone.
He also explained, why the series is named as Ghumakkad Gossip? Ghumakkad is a Hindi word which in English means ‘Wanderer’ and Ghumakkad Gossip means ‘Talk with Wanderer’. Here, the emphasis is on Traveller and not on Tourist when we talk about Ghumakkad.
Introduction of Guest Speaker
This episode of GG series was dedicated to Importance of Co-Host in the Meet-up in Hybrid and in-person meet-up. And for this, our Guest was none other than the Guiding Star, a Mentor to many LGs, the Meet-up Champion – TravellerG (@TravellerG) himself who is also a great influencer of the concept of having Co-Host in the meet-up.
Gossip with Guest Speaker on the topic
Conversation with Guest speaker started with the understanding of Host and Co-Host concept in the meet-ups. He beautifully explained this concept as below:
Host: One who receives or entertains guests socially or as a business.
Co-Host: One who collaborates and supports a ‘Host’ for a meet-up (in our context).
Taking clue from the previous meet-up on Importance of Co-Host in the Meet-up Part-1, he further added that it is equally important to have Co-host in the Hybrid and in-person meet-ups.
TravellerG (TG) explained the various challenges Host faces for a meet-up. He further added that there is a different set of challenges, Hosts may face in case of Virtual/In-person/Hybrid meet-ups. In part 2 of Importance of Co-Host in the Meet-up session, the focus was on In-person/Hybrid meet-ups.
MM posed a discussion point on involvement and role of a Co-Host. To that TG explained the detailed Roles & Responsibilities of a Co-Host at three phases namely:
- Pre-Meet-up
- During the Meet-up and
- Post Meet-up
Below is the extract from his (TG) discussion points about Roles and Responsibilities of a Co-Host in Virtual Meet-up:
-
Pre Meet-up
o Joins for planning and preparing sessions to help the host.
o Collaborate with the host for
publishing the ‘Announcement Post’.
submitting the application (‘Host a meet-up’) for approval on Connect.
o A lot of success lies in promoting and reminding the attendees about the meetup.
Co-host/s can join the host in these responsibilities - surely avoid flooding of reminders.
o Also, assist the host in case of any unexpected situations like postponement of the meet-up, change of location, last-minute any other changes, etc. -
During Meet-up
o Manage the participants
Greet and Welcome attendees.
Circulate a paper (with a pen) so that the attendees can add their usernames.
o It is suggested to have Co-host from the local area so that the co-host can guide the LGs who are trying to locate the exact meet-up point can be guided better.
o Answer or keep a note of the points raised by the participants during the meet-up.
o Share the Photo Album Link with the attendees (while the meet-up runs) and request them to add the photos to the album.
o The co-host can also take photos of LGs and the location during the meeting.
o In case the host is slightly late, the co-host can take care of the attendees.
o The co-host can give the same paper to the new joiners/latecomers to add their Usernames.
o The introduction of LGs is important to keep their morale high - keep a time slot; the co-host can read their names from the Username List. -
Post Meet-up
o Assist the host in preparing the RECAP
Selecting the photos, screenshots, videos
Creating a Banner etc.
Attendees Insights
@Gurukrishnapriya shared her experience of being Co-host in one of the meet-ups organized by TG in Chennai and emphasized the importance of having Co-Host locally. As the Local Co-host is more familiar to the location of the meet-up, can guide the participants in a better way. She also said that ‘I had many opportunities to be the Co-Host and learnt many things’.
Connect Moderator @NareshDarji emphasized to do rigorous pre planning for the meet-up. Formation of Planning Committee helps running the meet-up seamlessly. He gave the example of Gujrat Mega meet-up. @RosyKohli further added that it was because of having Co-Host and the planning committee in place during the Surat Meet-up, the arrangement of stay and food was awesome.
@Erna_LaBeau was quite candid sharing her views on Co-Host. She shared as “So we need to try our husband try to make LG” so that he can play a role of Co-Host.
@KashifMisidia bhai shared his query and views on the importance of writing recaps. TG and MM affirmed that the Recap should be written in details so that if someone has missed to attend the meet-up can get the full insight of the meet-up and discussions through the recap. @Supriyadevkar added, ‘True recap inspired many’.
@AjitThite shared his experience about how he and Connect Moderator @TusharSuradkar used to implement Co-host concept in physical meet-ups. A lot of responsibilities were shared with the co-host like handling the camera and admission of participants etc.
Special Thanks
A warm welcome to our LG Sonam Wangdi (@SonamW) from New Delhi for attending this meet-up for the first time. Your participation and engagement throughout the meet-up was commendable. Hope to see you more on Connect platform. I wish you all the very best!
I would like to extend my special thanks to dear @PrasadVR, @Supriyadevkar, @AjitThite, @RosyKohli and @TravellerG for capturing beautiful candid moments which I couldn’t resist myself from sharing here.
Debriefing & wrap up
The MM summarized the overall discussion and thanked all participants for joining and making this meet-up a success. A BIG THANK YOU to our Guest Speaker Traveller G (@TravellerG) for sharing his precious time and knowledgebase with all of us.
All participants were eager to know the next topic, name of the next Guest Speaker and the date of next GG Meet-up. Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm. And, there is a BIG news for you as we have two episodes of Ghumakkad Gossip Meet-up series planned ahead. One more for this month and one for the next month.
• GG Meet-up 007
• GG Meet-up 008
Please block your calendar for the upcoming power packed meet-ups. See you around.
This is an opportunity for the Local Guides to Support and Shine, Share and Learn.
I express my sincere gratitude to all who have joined and expressed their interest throughout the session.
@AjitThite, @bhayani_naitik, @K.K.Sharma, @Erna_LaBeau, @Gurukrishnapriya, @jagatji, @KashifMisidia, @MathanVibranarayan, @NareshDarji, @NituSingh, @PrasadVR, @PrinceKumar, @DigitalRahulYa, @Raj_Tayade, @RosyKohli, @Sagarkanherkar, @SaylliWalve1, @SarathUpendran, @Shrut19, @SonamW, @Supriyadevkar, @Gvipin, @TravellerG
Please let me know if I have missed any name.
This photo is the testimony of togetherness for the reason we all have met up for.
Key Takeaways
- Identification of Co-Host is very important.
- For in-person meet-up, it is advisable to identify the Local Co-Host who has the fair knowledge of the regional aspects.
- Co-Host helps making meet-up more productive and comfortable for all attendees.
- Co-Host helps the host perform efficiently without any disturbances.
- Plan and prepare for the meet-up, well in advance.
- There should be full clarity of sharing of the ‘Roles and Responsibilities’ between the Host and Co-host/s, from planning till concluding the RECAP.
- Co-Host is the backbone of any meet-up.
Key Success Factor
- Meet-up promotion through various networking channels.
- 80% participants joined on or before time helped MM to start and end the Meet-up at the scheduled time. Thank you all. This also avoids waiting time to Admit the participant, if they join on time.
- Mock-up session/s before the final meet-up between MM and the Guest Speaker.
Feeling Words
A snippet of feeling words from Participants in the Meet-up Message Box.
Recaps of past episodes of GG Meet-up series in chronological order:
- Recap: [Virtual] India, January 17, Ghumakkad Gossip: Supporting Small Businesses
- Recap: [Virtual] India, February 08, Ghumakkad Gossip: Editing Roads For Beginners
- Recap: [Virtual] India, February 16, Ghumakkad Gossip: Importance of Co-Host in the Meet-up - Part 1
- Recap: [Virtual] India, March 16, Ghumakkad Gossip: Local Guides Community and Connect Overview
- Recap: [Virtual] India, March 29, Ghumakkad Gossip: Accessibility Awareness
- Recap: [Virtual] India, April 12, Ghumakkad Gossip: Importance of Co-Host in the Meet-up - Part 2 - [This Recap]
. Heartfelt appreciation from us! 