Twinkle, twinkle meta-meetup
Weeknotes #2*
It was the Sheffield second meta-meetup last week. Thanks to Google Digital Garage for the space and Sheffield Digital for organising. About 15 people chatted about meetups across the city. This is a mix of my notes and random reflections.
Do we share enough from the meetups?
I’ve started to share my personal reflections after events I attend or host — rather than reporting what’s said. Am I being slightly selfish only doing that? Should any slides and key learnings always be fully shared afterwards? Or can tweets quickly push messages out and is that enough? Other people mentioned using a Trello board, detailed blog, edited video or Twitter moments.
Are we supporting each other enough?
Meetups could do more to advertise and support each other. We could have standard information about relevant events and make sure everyone knows where to find out more. Locally to me, Sheffield Digital is a good place to start.
There were extra shout outs for other events and new attendees at Agile Sheffield last week as a result of the meta-meetup. I’m off to a few ‘new to me’ meetup groups and there’s potential for joint events next year. I’m also aware that some meetups want to focus on their own audience and topics only. And that’s all good too.
What about a meetup code of conduct?
We had an interesting discussion about a code of conduct — including what it should contain and how to launch one. Whilst no-one said a code was a bad idea I was surprised by comments indicating some people hadn’t considered the purpose of one or why one can be useful.
If you’ve not felt you’ve experienced harassment or discrimination, you can forget that other people do — including at ‘cool digital events with trendy people’. (I’m aware the use of cool and trendy makes me precisely the opposite). A code of conduct won’t always stop poor behaviour but should provide people with a clear and supported route to raise any concerns.
Are we inclusive enough?
There’s loads of ways to advertise meetups. Meetup, Eventbrite, word of mouth, Tickets for Good, Twitter, Sheffield Digital — try them all or something else? Or do those channels only reach people who are already engaged? How should we engage with the large student population in Sheffield?
Events can take place in the evening, weekdays, weekends, in a pub, cafe or workplace. You may offer beer and pizza or wine and cupcakes. Your venue may be in a well-lit, busy street and fully accessible. Or do you use a back-street pub with creaking stairs to your event? I’ve chosen slight extremes but you get the idea.
I offer to look out for people who haven’t attended Agile Sheffield before. That offer has been taken up and appears appreciated.
This week’s Agile Sheffield had about 60 people and 16 women raised their hands. You could say that’s not bad. Meetups needs to get a better balance — and not just across gender.
And finally
Chris Dymond introduced the use of the Occupy movement hand signals at the meetup and it worked well. Take a look at the video if only to understand why the ‘twinkle, twinkle…’
*This may not be the right kind of ‘weeknotes’ but my reflections from one event took up all my words. I’ll try harder to include a range next week as I’ve a few other things to share. It’s been a good few days.
