[Recap] My first time hosting a Meetup in Amsterdam!

[MargotG]

Hi there!
I thought it would be nice to share with you a recap of my experience as a first-time host of a photo walk in Amsterdam! 
Here is the Open Toren Dag Meetup page if you are curious.

Preparation

Only 2 official Meetups took place in Amsterdam so far and I started to think... Why not organise one myself?
I wanted to plan something unusual to do, and saw that Open Toren Dag (Literally Open Tower Day in Dutch) was coming quite soon.

Therefore I decided to combine a photo-walk with visiting these monuments that are never open to the public! We should have great photo opportunities, and be able to explore the city in an unique way.

What to bring?

I was lucky enough to attend the Summit last year, and the sweet Google Maps team members gave us a little 'Meetup starter kit'!
So I packed my Local Guides backpack with Local Guides goodies, sounds logical? 😅
I also bring my analog 35mm film camera to snap some extra shots, but I must say that using a smartphone is quicker and lighter.

  

Where to start?

Not everyone is living in Amsterdam, I imagined that it would be convenient to set the starting point close to Centraal Station, which is the main train station of the city.
That is why I chose the Beurs van Berlage, a monumental former stock exchange building (with a tower of course!). 

How many attendants?

I chose not to set a limited amount of participants, and I am happy I did this.
27 people signed up, but in the end only 4 brave Local Guides shown up!

First contact

My advice: Don't be late!
I was almost 5 minutes late and my fellow participants couldn't find me which is not nice. 😢

The route

I must say we improvised a bit there, I had in mind to visit 2 towers and we managed to climb 3! I will let the pictures speak for now enjoy the view!

Beurs van Berlage stairs!  Beurs van Berlage  Zilveren Toren  Blue Amsterdam

Conclusion

I loved it! I am really thankful towards the LG community, your recommendations and testimonials pushed me to organise this first Meetup.

At the end of our photo walk, we all agreed on the fact that we need more similar gatherings in the area, and that is why I am already working on the next one!
Overall, it was a super fun experience that I advise you to recreate if you haven't yet!

UPDATE: Here is our Google Photos album!

[SanyaOdare]

Hey @MargotG, what a lovely meet-up you had. I like those few photos in your post.

Please upload more photos and share the link here on Connect. Kindly encourage others who attended your meet-up to upload their photos to same photo album as well.

Cheers!

[JeanRV]

Congratulation @MargotG, it is not easy to organize a meetup in a busy city in northern Europe. 

You motivate me to try again! Do you come sometime to Paris or Northern France? If yes, maybe we could try to organize a meetup with other attendees of LGsummit17

[HeyJoe]

@MargotG Hello, Greetings from Tanzania.

Congratulations on hosting a 1st meet up. Looking forward to see more meetups in Amsterdam recaps.

Regards,

Joe 

[MargotG]

Hi @SanyaOdare!
The Google Photos album is currently filling up and will be added to the article soon!

Thanks @JeanRV! It was actually pretty easy in the end, maybe because we were fewer than I expected.
I sometimes come to Paris or Strasbourg, I will let you know the next time I am passing by!

Hello @HeyJoe, greetings from 7000km away 👋.

[MargotG]

Hello @SanyaOdare!
Little update, the Google Photos album is out!

Once again thanks for your support, I am looking forward sharing the next Meetup recap with you all!

[TheDisabledEnabler]

Thanks for the album and the initiative!

I'd love to join one of these but stairs aren't my forte anymore.

Meetups with elevators? count me in! a boat meet-up is also an option?