I have organized more than 300 events in the Cincinnati MeetUp group “I Want To Do That, Just Not Alone“. Some I thought would be HUGE and only 4 people showed up. Some I thought would be dead and more than 40 people came. I haven’t figured out how to tell what will be popular.
Don’t take low attendance personally. Success is measured in people having a good time and wanting to come back. There are things you can do to create better events.
Start out small
Start out posting events that will be fine if only two or three other people show up. As you become known and make friends, more people will come to hang out with you. Think of it like building a reputation. Once word gets around, your events will grow.
Add a photo to every event
Remember most people are viewing events on their phones and many do not read event descriptions. Photos are eye catching and should give members an idea of what the event is about
Timing is Everything
When you create an event and when you schedule it are both important. Events get the best attendance when they are created two to three weeks in advance. This allows people to plan ahead.
Events scheduled during the week typically have very low turnout. Events scheduled on weekend evenings typically have the most people attend.
Consistency is key
For many events, having them regularly is the key. You may only have 2 or 3 people for your first event but if you organize that event every Friday or the last weekend of every month, people know that it is coming and plan for it.
Include a way for people to contact you off MeetUp
Messaging on MeetUP is horrible.
Did you know that if you “archive” a conversation you are blocking that person and they can never message you again?
At busy events like concerts, internet reception can be poor making it hard to use the app. In bright sun it can be hard to see the app and read messages. Comments on the event page are slow to update and important messages easily get buried by new ones.
Sharing a phone number in your event description makes it easy for members to text/call you with questions. If you are trying to help a member find the group you can respond by text with photos of the group or landmarks to help them find you.
A phone number also helps new members feel more comfortable about attending. I regularly receive calls where the member admits they just wanted to talk to me because they were nervous or have anxiety about meeting new people. Having a phone conversation helps with that.
If you aren’t comfortable sharing your number Google Voice is a free app that give you a secondary number and is completely free.
https://voice.google.com/
Take Attendance
I know attendance doesn’t matter to many organizers or at many events. Taking attendance still helps everyone. I often check attendance to see who has a lot of absences or “no shows”. If I see someone with poor attendance I send them a message asking “I saw you are having a hard time, I want you to come to one of my events. What can I do to help?”
It also helps other organizers that have events where space is limited. If Joe Smith is having a dinner at an exclusive new restaurant and can only get a reservation for 6 people, he doesn’t want to allow people to sign up if they constantly no show.
Here is a link explaining how to take attendance on the MeetUp Organizer App
https://www.meetup.com/blog/new-to-meetup-the-event-check-in-feature-for-organizers/