2151274219_b4690d63fe_bOne of the great things about joining a network of bloggers like Nuffnang is getting to meet other bloggers – to socialise, swap blogging stories and learn tips and tricks from each other. Over the past few months we’ve hosted meetups in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, because we’ve had a Nuffnang staffer (or a volunteer blogger!) in those cities to play host. But we’d also like to support meetups in other places too – so if you’d like to volunteer to host a meetup, please read on for some tips!

So you wanna host a meetup?

The main thing we need to make a blogger meetup happen is a volunteer who’ll do the local arrangements (ie, find a good venue and then host the meetup on the day. Without a local host, we just can’t run a successful meetup. Here’s a list of the things you’ll need to do:

Find a venue

  • Find a venue. Suggest a venue, day and time that you think will be convenient for people. You can use Twitter & your blog to ask other bloggers when & where might be convenient for them. It may be in the afternoon after school/work for most people. Confirm with Nuffnang that the venue, day and time work for us too.
  • Confirm the venue. Once you’ve chosen a venue, you’ll need to speak to the manager of the venue to let them know the day and time you’re organising a group to attend, and see if you need to make a booking to hold a space for your group. If you’re not comfortable doing this, let us know and we can speak to the venue for you. Basically this is to make sure that there are no unexpected surprises like finding out the venue is booked out for a private function the day of your meetup!

Invite bloggers

  • Once the details of the meetup are confirmed, you’ll need to spread the word to local bloggers – by blogging about it on your blog, emailing invitations to bloggers you know, and sharing the information on Facebook and Twitter. Don’t be afraid to ask people to help you spread the invitation far & wide – the whole point of meetups is to meet new people! Make sure you also send the invitation to us at Nuffnang so we can also post details on the Nuffnang blog, Twitter and Facebook page.

Collect RSVPs

  • When you invite people, ask them to RSVP with their name and the name of their blog. This helps us know how many people are planning on coming along, and it means we have their blog address so we can link back to them when we write up the event. So, make sure you keep an RSVP list.
  • If you can get 10 people along to your meetup, then Nuffnang can provide a small budget to buy some food & drinks on the day. So there’s an incentive to really promote the event and get a few people along. :)

On the day

  • On the day of the meetup, you’d need to play host- which means you need to get there on time, or preferably a little early. This way when people start arriving you can keep an eye out for anyone who is looking for the Nuffnang meetup but doesn’t know anyone. It’s really helpful if you can supply a photo of yourself for us to post on the invitation, so people know who to look out for when they arrive at the meetup!
  • When hosting, try to say hi to people when they arrive, and introduce them to other people if they don’t already know someone. If people come along who didn’t RSVP (maybe they’re a friend of someone who did), don’t forget to grab their name and blog address so we can link to them.
  • If you have a camera, please take a few photos of the meetup for the blog! Remember to ask people first, and don’t push them if they don’t want their photo taken – we want everyone to feel comfortable and have fun. :)
  • If you’ve managed to get 10 people to RSVP, you’ll have been given a budget to spend on food & drinks. You MUST keep your receipt from when you pay, so we can reimburse you for the costs! Without the receipt, we can’t pay you.

After the meetup

  • There are two jobs we need you to do. One is email us with a list of the names and blog addresses of everyone who came to the meetup. This way we can link back to all the guests from the Nuffnang blog (and it helps us get to know the bloggers who come along to our meetups!)
  • The other is create a short writeup about the meetup and send it in to us. We will include this on the Nuffnang blog or in our email newsletter to let other Nuffnangers know how your meetup went. Here’s an example of a writeup about a recent Nuffnang meetup: Sydney mum blogger meetup at Madame Fling Flongs.
  • If we gave you a food & drink budget, make sure you mail or fax the receipt to us so we can reimburse you your costs!

Phew! Ok, that’s the rundown on meetups. Any questions? :)

If you want any help to organise a meetup, please get in touch with your friendly community manager, Sarah!

Photo credit: Geek Bear Friends by Izzyplante. Used under Creative Commons license.