Rough Notes for Planning the Meetup (Part 1)

Over a year ago, I did a blog mini-series on planning a Meetup group. In the next two posts, I just wanted to publish some rough notes to support that.

If you read the full mini-series, then you may find some of what follows to be overlapping and/or duplicate information. I had this saved in my “drafts” folder and in an effort to get more organized, I’m trying to clear those out by straight deletion or publication if I think some of the information might be new/different.

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Last time I described the Meetup I tried to organize and detailed its rejection. I can think of a few ways to proceed.

If I organize another Meetup group then I could charge a reasonable annual fee plus a fee per meeting. “Stiff,” not “reasonable,” may be a better description of $300 because I have never seen a Meetup charge $300 to join. Most groups don’t charge an annual fee at all and if they do, something like $10 seems more common. With regard to the meetings, $10 – $15 is about the maximum although I have seen some meetings packaged as educational programs that charge more.

Another possibility would be to charge the $300 annual fee while changing the group description. Previously, I said “the fee will be $300 for 12 group sessions.” I can see how that sounds like I am trying to market a service or product, which is why Meetup rejected it last time. Instead, I could still try $300 as the group fee and really emphasize the actionable material and potential value this group will provide in the group description. For example:

     > Learning to trade has allowed me to feed myself for the last 10+ years,
     > which is worth more than any educational content I have ever purchased.

I could state that while people of all levels are welcome, I seek commitment and emphasize a focus on accountability. Members can be held accountable for coming to sessions. Members can also be held accountable for participation although this may deter potential members who don’t feel confident in their knowledge and/or are scared to present for others. A softer requirement would be holding members accountable for making the effort to learn (operational definition?).

With all this focus on accountability, I probably don’t need to explicitly justify the annual fee. For people who trade, accountability is really important and very few roads lead there. I like this idea.

Especially in lieu of a stiff annual fee, I could require a qualifying interview to make the group more marketable. People are sometimes more motivated by a perceived barrier to entry—particularly if clearing the barrier results in an ego boost, which would be the case for more experienced traders. This would also raise the perceived competency level of the group. The downside would be losing potential members who know they are beginners and not yet ready.

Interviewing would also help me because I want people who will put in time and honor a commitment to the group.

I will conclude next time.