2022
Meetups are one of the most exciting aspects of being a local guide. You get to meet other people that have the same passion as yourself - people that don’t give you that weird, not-understanding what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about / why-on-earth-would-you-be-doing-that look that you no doubt have seen from relatives or colleagues when trying to explain what local guides is all about.
In this post I want to share some tips from my own experience hosting meetups, like the 2nd European Meetup (in the beautiful city of Ghent, Belgium, earlier this year). I will not go into details on how to submit a Meetup on the Connect portal, as there is already an excellent post by Adrian Lunsong describing that. I have used the info in it for every single Meetup I have submitted so far, and had all of them approved more or less instantly (the only times I had to wait was when I submitted a Meetup during the weekend: the team approving the Meetup submissions is not working during the weekend; those then got approved on Monday morning). So: if you plan to submit a Meetup, please consult Adrian’s post.
Tip #1: Attend other Meetups
Learn from others. The best way to get to know the practical circumstances regarding Meetups is simply to attend one or a few. This will not be possible everywhere in the world, as your motivation to host a Meetup could be the fact that there never seems to be a Meetup in your area. In that case, you can get some idea of what goes on during Meetups by reading Recap posts in the Meetup section of Connect. Or you can always join a Virtual Meetup if one is scheduled. Anyway: getting some experience is always good – which brings me to the second tip.
Tip #2: Host other Meetups
Don’t expect to have an instant hit the first time you host a Meetup. A lot of 1st Meetups have just a handful of participants, or even just one – you. Don’t let this discourage you. Even if it’s just you, hold the Meetup as planned, take some pictures and write an inspiring recap post on Connect. For all you know, this recap might make other people think: “I definitely need to attend the next Meetup hosted by this local guide”. In the recap post you can also mention that you plan to set up more Meetups and encourage the readers to reach out to you in a private message if they would like to be alerted if a new date is set.
Tip #3: Select a good date
Coming up with definitions is always hard if subjective terms such as good are involved, and the outcome is invariably it depends. That also applies here. But a few rules of thumb can be used.
- Make sure there is enough time for people to plan their participation. The instructions on Connect state that you should submit the Meetup proposal at least 2 weeks in advance, but I guess this is really due to the practical organization for the Google team (to allow them enough time to consider all applications). I prefer to submit well in advance, as that gives you more time to promote the event (see below), and as that increases the chance that possible participants won’t have anything else on their planning yet for that date. Once the Meetup date is in their planning, they might even decline other invitations as they “already have something planned that day”.
- Most Meetups are held in the weekend, during daytime. As that indeed makes most sense (this is when people usually have time for events like Meetups), alternative timings can also be considered. A few examples: a Meetup that focuses on photography in low light conditions can obviously be held in the evening; a Meetup meant to share tips & tricks while enjoying a drink can perfectly be organized on a Wednesday or so.
- Check for bank holidays: even the people that have tons of hobbies that keep them from attending any Meetup during the weekend or on weekday evenings, might have some openings in their planning on bank holidays. Why not offer them a nice Meetup to fill that awkward blank?
Tip #4: Consider travel time
Related to the date selection: think about the travel time it takes for people to get there. If you plan a Meetup in a densely populated area (which typically has plenty of transportation options), any kind of day and any time of day can be fine. But if getting to the Meetup will require a travel time of 2 or 3 hours one-way to attend a 1- or 2-hour Meetup… how many local guides will be inclined to show up? If, however, you mention a reason to visit the city/area for an entire day, they might be convinced to spend the entire day there and attend the Meetup as part of their planned activities.
The European Meetup I mentioned earlier is an extreme example illustrating tip #3 and tip #4: although it was only scheduled to take place in June, I had announced it already in January, as this is the time that a lot of people plan their trips for summer. It was a 4-day event (including a bank holiday on a Monday, so it was a long weekend anyway), but because of the early announcements, people were able to just fit this in with their summer travel plans.
Tip #5: Select a good meeting point
The travel time will also depend on the meeting point. Make sure it is easily accessible by both public and private means of transportation. Having both a railway station and a car park in the immediate vicinity are a must. Don’t forget to include Google Maps links to those in the Meetup info – which brings us to the next tip.
Tip #6: Edit the Connect Post
When your Meetup proposal gets accepted, a post is automatically created on Connect – in the Meetup section of course. It uses the text and image you have used for submitting the event and shows you as the author of the post. It also includes the RSVP link that leads the local guides who are interested to the page where they can sign up. Sounds very convenient, right? Well, in reality there is one HUGE problem: the post on Connect barely has any layout. The text is more or less posted as 1 single block of text, possibly making people think you are not a seasoned Meetup host (it never hurts if people get that impression, even if it’s your first meetup😉) and/or have limited skills in writing Connect posts (as it says you are the author).
So, when you receive the confirmation mail stating that your Meetup was approved, head over to Connect and edit the post to make it look a bit better. Editing this post will not cause any changes on the RSVP page, so you can keep editing the Connect post as the Meetup day approaches, to add e.g. specific details. You can also change the picture for this post with a version that has dimensions better fitting Connect.
Tip #7: Use social media to promote
All the tips we’ve mentioned up to now are related to the preparation and the moment your Meetup gets approved. The most difficult part, however, is what needs to be done in the time between the approval and the Meetup: actively try to convince other people to attend the Meetup. I’m purposely stating other people and not other local guides as Meetups are actually also a great opportunity for non-local guides to learn about the local guides program.
Don’t rely on Google only to draw any attention to the Meetup. As I mentioned before, a post on Connect will be created automatically, but on the Connect homepage this will be shown for 1 hour or so, until 3 or 4 other Meetup posts have a newer comment, thereby pushing your Meetup post into oblivion (until a new comment is added to it). The overview of all Meetups will of course also contain your Meetup, but that section is notoriously hard to navigate and search (especially if your Meetup is not taking place in a big city).
So, to increase the chances of people signing up for the Meetup you will have to spread the info as widely as possible, and social media are a great help there. You can e.g. join Facebook groups for local guides or groups collecting ‘What’s happening in [your city/area]?’. Post about it a couple of times, e.g. when some new details can be added or to announce that x number of participants have already signed up. And also post it on your personal timeline to draw the interest of the non-local guides you are connected to.
Tip #8: Find Local Guides to target
Unleash your inner Sherlock Holmes. As there is no way provided by Google to easily find and/or reach out to other local guides near you, some creativity is needed when it comes to finding people who might be interested in attending your Meetup. Here are the methods I have used so far to increase the number of people that sign up and to increase the chance that sign-ups actually attend:
- Some of the local guides groups on Facebook have info about the location of the members. You can then reach out to most of them with a Facebook message
- On Connect you can search for posts that mention your country/city or are written in your language. Make sure to also check the comments added to those posts, as they often contain replies from local guides that would be excellent targets. You can reach out to them using a private message on Connect (this will trigger an email to be sent, so it can also work for local guides that are not really active on Connect but commented in the past).
- Use (image) search with the Google Maps profile info to get in touch with local guides that have signed up. On the RSVP page you can see which local guides have signed up, and you can access their Google Maps profile, but not their Connect profile. The name of their profile or even their profile picture, however, can be used to Google them and possibly find ways to get in touch.
- Go to points of interest near the Meetup area, and check the reviews. You will typically find reviews from local people saying things like “I come here every week” or “my favorite…”. With a bit of luck their name on Maps is the same as their name on Connect, or their real name - enabling you to find them on social media. If not, use the Google photo search option described above.
Tip #9: Just do it
If after all this, you still feel uncertain, this last tip should be reassuring: if you’ve never hosted a Meetup, don’t worry too much. Just pick a date and do it. The first step is always the hardest, but without taking it, all the rest is impossible. Let’s guide!
