2016 Utah Meetup Survey Results

A few months ago all the organizers of the Utah County chapter of AngularJS Utah decided to get together, like we regularly do, to discuss our meetup. We’ve always been very focused on serving our section of the community to the best of our ability. While discussing some possible directions we could take the meetup, the idea was raised that we really just needed to get some answers from our community, otherwise we were just guessing.

However, we realized that the questions we wanted answers were not really unique to us. They applied to all Utah JavaScript meetups (and in fact probably farther than that). So instead of keeping the survey and its results to ourselves, we reached out to the organizers of a number of Utah’s JavaScript meetups. We encouraged them to share it with their members and promised that we’d share the data with them (which we have). After all, why should only we benefit from this treasure trove of data?

Well the survey is now closed and as such I think it is appropriate to share the results of our survey with the community at large.

tl;dr

Having relevant topics is the most important thing a meetup can do and after that having a convenient location and time.

The survey

How many meetup events did you attend in 2015?

Here we see that most respondents have been to 1–3 events over the past year. The assumption I’m making here is that this represents a portion of the community that we managed to spark an interest in but ultimately failed in serving properly. Granted you can’t please everyone, and personal situations vary widely, but we’d hope more of that group would attend at least one per quarter. Also of note, 10% of our respondents didn’t even attend a meetup in 2015 but still felt it was important to provide us with feedback. Thank you for your responses!

Which meetups did you attend in 2015?

The largest share of responses came from our own meetup, which isn’t surprising as the whole survey originated from us. However, even though we have the largest percent in this somewhat skewed sampling, it is worth noting that nearly half of the responses came from people who did not attend our meetup. Following behind us is ReactJS Utah, UtahJS SLC, AngularJS Utah SLC, Utah JS Orem and ProvoJS.

Also of note is that 63% of responses indicated that they attended two or more different meetups.

Have you attended any meetups in a county that you do not live in during 2015?

The majority of respondents have done inter-county travel to attend a meetup. This debunks a theory I had that people tend to only attend meetups in the county they live. While proximity is surely important, it isn’t a deal breaker for just over half of our responses.

Have you attended any meetups in a county that you do not work in during 2015?

Very similar results here, the only difference is that we’re asking about where you work, not where you live.

In which county do you work?

Again, demonstrating the skewed sample, a majority of our responses came from Utah County. Undoubtedly, Utah County has a lot of tech companies, but I don’t believe the workforce is quite that lopsided.

How do you describe your day job?

Unsurprisingly, Full Stack and Front End Developers make up most of the responses.

In which ways do you use JavaScript?

Again, no shock here that nearly everyone is using JavaScript for Browser development. Although it is worth pointing out that just over half of our responses also use it for server side development via Node.js.

What level would you describe yourself in JavaScript proficiency?

Over half of the responses indicate a response between 7 and 10, out of a scale of ten. This challenges the preconceived notion that only beginners attend meetups.

How long have you been writing JavaScript code?

59.1% of responses indicate that they have been using JavaScript for over 2 years with just over 30% with over 5 years of experience. Again, this challenges the notion that only beginners attend meetups.

What JavaScript libraries/frameworks do you use in your work/side projects?

Node.js is very popular here, probably because (I would assume) it is the backend of choice for most Front End Engineers. AngularJS, Vanilla JS and React round out the most popular choices. I would also credit React’s server side render support in Node.js as helping Node.js’s numbers.

What JavaScript libraries/frameworks would you like to learn about?

React showing that it is certainly one of the hot new things that people are excited about, over 75% of responses are interested in learning more about it. Also very popular is Node.js. AngularJS still holds interest, but perhaps the most interesting thing is that people want to improve their Vanilla JS, even though most responses indicate a 7 or better in proficiency. The most likely explanation being, that just because you know something really well, doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn.

When learning a new technology how do you like to learn?

While video tutorials definitely stand out here, the responses are pretty varied and it seems people like learning lots of different ways, meetups being one of those.

What is the primary reason you would attend a meetup?

The very clear main reason people attend a meetup is to learn about something they are interested in. This helps debunk the idea that you have to have a prominent member of the community speak to generate interest. A distant second goes to Networking/Socializing as the primary reason to attend a meetup.

What is important to you that a meetup have?

Again, clearly having relevant topics is extremely important when running a meetup. Other important factors are Networking/Socializing, Convenient Location and Convenient Time.

What are reasons that you would not want to attend a meetup?

Once more, reiterating the importance of relevant topics at a meetup as “No topics I’m interested in” takes the clear top spot with 82% of the responses. Also of import are Inconvenient Time, Inconvenient Location and Poorly Organized.

Are you more likely to attend a General JS meetup or a framework specific one (React/Angular/Node.js/etc)?

This was a question, as a meetup which focuses on a specific framework, was one that we were very interested in the results of. The results tell me that largely, it doesn’t matter what sort of meetup you run, either way you will be pulling on roughly 3/4 of our responses.

Have you ever submitted a talk to a meetup?

Have you ever spoken at a meetup?

These two question roughly tell us that if you submit a talk to a meetup, you will most likely be given a chance to speak. A quick note, meetups love to get first time speakers! Especially if you’re thinking of submitting to a conference, try giving it a local meetup first, you’ll likely be accepted and it isn’t quite as intimidating.

Would you like to speak at a meetup?

Curiously, nearly 2/3 of our responses would like to speak but only about 1/3 have submitted talks. I am wishing we would have asked a follow up question here, “For those of you who want to speak but have not submitted, why haven’t you submitted?”. From that we could look at what we can do to help welcome new speakers. I’m guessing that it is because of a combination of two things: 1) fear/impostor syndrome 2) unsure what topic to pick.

Have you volunteered at a meetup?

Would you like to volunteer at a meetup?

These two questions again highlight that there is an interest in contributing to the meetup beyond just attending. As organizers I would like to us step up and create more opportunities to get involved.

Have you found new opportunities through a meetup?

Have you found someone to fill an opportunity through a meetup?

Have you come to a meetup with the intent of seeking new opportunities?

Have you come to a meetup with the intent of seeking someone to fill an opportunity?

These questions highlight the other main function of a meetup, which is networking. While no organizers desire to make their meetup a meat market of talent for recruiters to pick at, most meetups recognize that there is a legitimate need here that can be met. For example, at our meetup we allow for “soft recruiting” which means you can plug your company to a general audience if you are a) speaking or b) sponsoring but not directly to individuals unless invited by that individual. I would also like to point out that “opportunity” is ambiguous on purpose as an opportunity does not necessarily represent a change in employment.

All that said, given that 54.6% percent are seeking new opportunities and 38.9% found them, I’d say that the meetups are fulfilling there secondary purpose here well.

What days of the week would you attend a meetup?

No surprise here, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the most requested days.

What is the best time for a meetup?

It seems the best time to start is between 6pm and 7pm.

How long should a meetup be?

The consensus seems to be somewhere between and hour and an hour and a half.

Conclusions

Meetups should focus on topics that their members want to hear (React, Node.js, AngularJS and Vanilla JS are top picks). They also need to find a convenient location for most of their target audience. Meetups should meet Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, start between 6pm and 7pm and last between an hour and an hour and a half. Meetups should seek new ways to get attendees involved in their meetups both as volunteers and as speakers. Meetups do not necessarily need to focus on beginners but shouldn’t exclude them either. We can certainly do more to give people a reason to attend more often.

Obviously these are broad generalizations, I’m not suggesting LunchJS change to a Wednesday evening. But as far as our meetup goes those are the main takeaways.

Thank you to all who promoted this survey and all of you who submitted responses. Now, lets get to work and make our meetups even better!