Mastering the art of meetups 🤓 Joe Robinson, Designers + Geeks
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EPISODE AT A GLANCE:
GUEST: Joe Robinson
COMMUNITY: Designers + Geeks
HOSTS: Bailey Richardson & Maggie Zhang
“I'm fairly introverted which I find a lot of people are surprised by given the number of events that I've run over the years. I don't actually like attending events where I don't have a fairly structured role to play. I think to some extent being the organizer of the event gave me a role and a job and responsibilities. It just helped me as an introvert feel more comfortable.” - Joe Robinson
Show Notes
By day, Joe Robinson is the Co-Founder of Hummingbird, a new service focused on fighting financial crime. But today we’re talking to him about his side project, a community he sparked called Designers + Geeks.
Joe started Designers + Geeks for people who, like him, love design, art, and technology. For the past decade, they’ve been featuring monthly speakers on niche topics—designing for all human senses, designing for dyslexia, designing for accessibility, designing for stigma—bringing people together in cities like San Francisco and New York.
This was not Joe’s first time around the block with community building. He founded Live Music SF and led Silicon Valley NewTech, a sister event to New York Tech and the first ever series on Meetup. Joe calls himself an introvert, which is surprising given he has hosted hundreds of meetups in his life. But Joe shares how being a leader in this situation has given him a structured role to play has made him more comfortable in this setting.
In our conversation with Joe, we discuss how his introversion has helped him create meetups that are a comfortable experience for all.
Meetup organizer’s FAQs answered.
If you are trying to figure out how to structure your next event or meetup, Joe offers insights on some of frequently asked questions from organizers.
Paid vs. Unpaid
When people pay for a ticket, Joe believes they are often more motivated to show up, participate, and bring value. In turn, they get more value from being part of that event because they have made an investment.
Joe shares, “I found that running free events, our turnout rates were often something like 20 to 30%, whereas for the events where we charged for tickets, it's closer to 80 or 90%.” If you're creating a great experience, people may just pay for it. The price need not set people back significantly, but be just enough that motivates people to show up and take the event more seriously. (Designers + Geeks charges $20 and has implemented a no-questions asked refund policy so people will have flexibility.)
Designers + Geeks celebrating their 5th birthday!
Recurring vs. One-off
Two people attended the first started Designer + Geeks. Just two. But Joe didn’t get discouraged. He knew about the power of momentum. Consistency was Joe’s secret sauce to attract more people. By hosting recurring events around the same time, people would come to expect them and spread the word over time.
Structured vs. Unstructured
Joe’s events run like clockwork. The doors open right on time, and repeat attendees can expect the talk and the networking to start at the same time each session..Showing up on time, running a tight schedule, and having a specific agenda that people get used to sets expectations and gives people clarity on how and when they show up. “It's not a lot of structure, but it's often enough structure to help people feel a little bit more comfortable with what they're going to get out of the experience and how to interact with it,” Joe says.
Designers + Geeks event at LinkedIn office in 2017.
Thursday vs. Any other day of the week
Designers + Geeks events have traditionally been held on Thursdays from 7 to 9 PM.“I chose it because you're competing a little bit, but not a whole lot,” Joe told us. In many of the cities that Designers + Geeks holds events, this is the prime time for sports leagues, live entertainment, other meetups or people to go out to for dinner and drinks with friends. People have to choose to attend over other things, so when they show up they’ve made a commitment and want to be present.
👋🏻Say hi to Joe & learn more about Designers + Geeks
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