This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
I’ve been wanting to make a blog for a while on Meetup.com, a great website and resource for finding and joining networking groups.
I knew about Meetup back in 2006 when the very first Vancouver Film Industry meetup group existed and I went with a few colleagues from the Vancouver Short Film Festival (back when it was the student film fest) to check it out. There were some nice people there and I remember getting into a great debate with a screenwriter about thoughts on the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Soon after, the meetup group dissipated and I didn’t think of Meetup at all again until years later.
Since I started my business I’ve come across a few networking events that have been hosted by various Meetup groups. Upon visiting the website years later, I was surprised to see how much the website had grown. There are meetup groups being organized worldwide, and the website is much better to navigate and organize events.
I went to my first meetup on June 22nd, where I was able to hear famous Vancouver blogger and e-marketer John Chow talk about the secrets of how he makes $40,000 a month off of his blog. The Vancouver Business, Marketing, & Entrepreneur Meetup group hosted this event, and is organized by Ronald Lee, owner and attraction coach for Man Meets Woman. This group’s events are well-organized with a cover charge of $10. In the first hour, names are drawn out of a hat for the chance to talk for 3-4 minutes about their business. Networking breaks and prizes are also offered.
The day after, I went to the “Summer Meetup of all Meetups” at Ceili’s Irish Pub in downtown Vancouver, where there were an amazing eight meetup groups combined. 700 people RSVP’d and I could tell that there were at least 250 people in the venue at once at a time.
The Meetup groups present included:
- The Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup Group
- Third Tuesday Meetup: Social Media Enthusiasts
- Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup
- Real Estate Technology Meetup Young Professionals Meetup
- WordPress Meetup
- Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup
Being a part of three of these meetups, I figured that it was absolutely mandatory for me to go to meet people and kill a few birds with one stone. There was also a live Twitter feed which I was able to demonstrate to some people I had met (shoutouts to Jesai and James) who were not familiar with Twitter.
Shoutouts to the people I was able to meet who are also on Twitter: @netchick @monicahamburg @hummingbird604 @atomicpoet @hshomestaging @fantasy_art @marketing_girl @rhinomarketing @thenetworkhub
Apologies to those I may have missed!
Although the Summer Meetup was a once-a-year thing and can be difficult to target the people you really want to talk to, it is a great event for talking with all different kinds of meetup members and professionals in different fields. I am really excited about going to other meetups in the Fall for the other groups I am an [inactive] member of.
A few other interesting meetup groups I am a part of that aren’t directly in my industry include the Vancouver’s Hottest Beauty & Wellness Parties Group organized by Juicy (Communications) Events, and the Vancouver Fashion Industry Meetup group.
Last Sunday the 28th I was able to go to my first Vancouver Filmmaker Meetup event which was a showcase of photography and short film by local artists, and even artists that made films outside of the country. The event was organized by Sterling and Julia of Romantic Child Studios and their space in Gastown is an incredible place to work and hold these types of events in.
Other interesting groups I am a member of include Vancouver Entrepreneur Seminars and Networking, which presents seminars on useful business topics, and the aforementioned Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup Group, which is lead by The Network Hub’s Minna Van.
It doesn’t really matter which meetups you are a part of – they can be purely personal, or purely business – but the important thing is to be active in the group. The name implies the “meeting” of people and using a common passion to connect people together. Find your favourite meetup groups today and start meeting others in your community!
