A Brief History of Framer Sessions NYC
Insights, content, and pro-tips for hosting your very own Framer meetups.
It’s been just over a year and a half since starting Framer Sessions NYC, out of ustwo. Given the pace at which Framer has iterated, it feels like a good time to reflect.
How it started
Having Framer in my back pocket was a huge asset whilst doing freelance product design from late 2014 to mid-2015. Constant high-fidelity prototypes (and prototyping as a mindset/iterative design tool) really resonated with teams and clients.
I met Koen and Jorn (founders of Framer) shortly after joining ustwo. A month or so later I had Framer NYC set up and ready to go for November 5th, 2015. A relevant throwback:
Two resources that helped start me off were Setting up a technical meet-up, a framer case-study and the format from Framer Seattle from around that time. Things were adapted once we had a few Sessions under our belt, but the general approaches have more or less stuck.
Lessons learnt
Some anecdotal yet useful things I’ve learnt along the way.
You need help
Running the meetup is about 3–4x amount of the work that I anticipated. Take any help you can get. That includes basic logistics and set up help, as well as facilitators to run skill-level sessions.
People flake
This is especially true in NYC. I think the average turn-out for our meetups is somewhere between 30–50%. Also — if it rains that day, cut your food & drinks order by half.
Get a sponsor
Food and drink for 20+ people gets expensive. Even just getting a space can be hard. Try to get a sponsor, or get your workplace to help out (like I did). It’s great for them too — if they know how to make the most of it (i.e. recruiting).
Over-prepare
Assume people will have trouble getting into the building, finding the space, showing their work, following along, etc.
Aside from clear signage, you’ll need a strong yet flexible agenda. Without one, the meetup becomes an introductory course with a pretense of “I can leave this thing knowing Framer”…with inevitable disappointment.
Accommodate different skill-levels
Otherwise you’ll end up with a gulf: beginners and intermediates all falling back to extreme basics (with the expectation that they’ll learn everything in this meetup), and advanced and intermediates doing something extremely complex that is likely to scare some people off.
Don’t limit your crowd
Framer is cool. There are some seriously creative use cases, and people behind those. Get out of just the tech and design circles — spread the word far and wide. Although meetup photos don’t reflect it too well, I’ve been pretty happy at how diverse our meetups are becoming.
Our current approach
Many of the above points are around format and delivery. Below is how we try and address that in meetups now. Our approach is far from perfect, but is the most successful so far.
1. Mingling (10–15 min)
Allow people to get to know each other. This happens organically sometimes, and not at all at other times. If you have some, your food and drink should be out in full force.
2. Intros (5–10 min)
Reiterate food, drinks, bathrooms, etc. Point out who are helpers, and who are special guests. Give people a heads up so they can prepare for the imminent Show and tell.
3. Show and tell (20–25 min)
Demo something that you have done with new Framer features (which there almost always are). Encourage others to come up and show their work, too.
Have any special guests in town? Have them demo something. This is something we’re still figuring out, but right now I’d say to do this after people do their individual demos.
4. Skill-level breakouts (> 30 min)
Beginners
Have prepared a Framer 101 tutorial, followed by the step-by-step building of something simple yet real. Most learners of Framer are kinesthetic; meaning the practice of making something (relatable, if possible) jives better than being demonstrated at.
Goal: If you can get newbies to leave feeling confident that Framer is approachable, that’s huge. Bonus points if they leave with a foundation of Framer skills.
Intermediate & advanced
Break out into groups for discussion and problem solving of individual prototypes. This tends to be hard, since there is always a spectrum of differing skill levels. Ideally you will have moderators to spot divergent skill levels and conversations, and physically separate (and therefore foster) each of them.
5. After the meetup
Share a notes list on your group page with anything mentioned throughout the meetup. Allow others to add notes which might have been missed. Did you take any good photos? It doesn’t hurt to share those too, especially when spruiking the next Framer Sessions.
Going forward
I started Framer NYC solo, with some generous logistics and event setup with the likes of ustwobies such as Simon Lindsay, and new friends such as Josh Dobson. Since then, Noah Levin and Jared Palmer have joined to help run these things going forward.
I’ve broadened my focus to other design tools such as Origami, where you may or may not hear my voice on the tutorial videos. I have a feeling these meetups will broaden over time, too.
Resources
- Framer NYC Facebook group
- Framer’s Meetups page
- Framer’s Groups page
Again, refer to Setting up a technical meet-up, a framer case-study for a more comprehensive checklist.
The most successful (collaborative, diverse, consistent turn-outs), consistent Framer meetup I’ve seen is Framer Seattle, run by Stephen Crowley and Jordan Dobson. There is probably a thriving Framer meetup close to you, too. Or talk to Framer about getting swag and support to host your own meetup.
Originally posted at dannywhite.is/framer-sessions. The same content, with expanded footnotes on some areas.
