Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy
It's amazing such a rush to judgement about Meetup.com and the various meetup groups there. It's no different than joining BMW CCA. Would you call everyone that joins CCA a bunch of weirdos and losers? Well, we can all probably be classed as weirdos by the non enthusiast community. As others have said there are weirdos in any general sampling of a given population.
I've been a member of various Meetup.com groups for quite a few years. Some of my interests are volleyball, Salsa dancing, and motorcycling. It's a way for me to see what events are happening around town. In the case of volleyball, it's nice to know when pick up games are being organized. In the case of the motorcycling groups, it's nice to know when group rides are happening and where they're going. I've met some really great people through Meetup.com and some that like any social event would not spend any extra energy to get to know.
Something many of you don't know is each Meetup group has an annual fee. So for someone to start one up, they have to throw down money. Granted Meetup also makes money off of advertising and sponsors, but the meetup group as to be started with someone throwing down some cash. Some organizers charge this back to members. Some don't. Some groups have "annual" fees. I'm a member of a motorcycle group where this is the case. You get a few months of free access to see if you like the group and then to continue you pay. I decided to pay as I really like the group. The organizer has social events at her place where she provides all the food. So that's part of where the dues go. And she's very active with community events such as feeding the homeless. These charity events are also group events. I talked to her about the fees once and she said it also weeds out those that are not positive contributors to the group. She and I have gotten to be very good friends and eventually she dropped the annual fee requirement for me which I'm sure she has done for other long time members.
|
I agree, and that was not my intent at all with starting this post. Was just curious the kind of experiences other members have had.
The fees groups charge makes sense in my uneducated opinion. Makes sure the people who sign up actually want to be there and are invested.