Meetups: Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

>> The Angular Community Meetup’s BIG announcement and why attending programming meetups is definitely worth your time <<

If you’ve ever wondered why attending a meetup for developers is worth your time, I can relate. Before attending my first meetup, and even for a while after, I wondered what the real value was and if I should even keep going. Couldn’t I just stay home and watch tutorials or read articles about the same topic but at my own pace? Don’t I network enough on Twitter and at work without needing to “meet” other people at an online event? Great questions, and I will answer them by the end of this article. But first, StOrY TiMe!!…

I first joined the Utah Angular Meetup in early 2020. Back then the group was meeting in person and had maybe 15 attendees each month. I wanted to put myself in places where I could learn and grow as a developer, but, if I’m being honest, I had no idea the true value of joining a professional meetup.

It wasn’t long after that when I met the new director, Erik Slack. He wanted help with organizing the events so together, we made some initial plans for growth, but all of that came to a very sudden halt once covid shut the world down. However, being the passionate programmer he is, Erik didn’t let this thwart his goals to build a supportive learning community. A short while later, he and I joined the Zoom movement and took the Utah Angular Meetup online.

As the months passed, our little group of maybe 15 turned into 40 and then 60 and then more. We were excited to see that our attendees weren’t from just Utah but were joining from all over the world. Our needs grew and our vision expanded.

And from all this, the Angular Community Meetup was born.

Fast forward another year and a half and it’s hard to believe how much we’ve changed in such a relatively short amount of time. Our numbers have continued to grow and after taking over as director in early 2022, I quickly brought on additional co-organizers to help with the sometimes overwhelming amount of work it takes to keep a meetup running. But something was still missing…

Our meetup was mainly only helping those who speak English. And as a former educator, I know that learning new topics is hard enough as it is without additional barriers like something as fundamental as language. And it was for this reason that I wanted to provide Angular learning opportunities for those outside English speaking communities alone. Enter the Angular Community Meetup’s new monthly 100% Spanish-speaking events.

Which brings us to today… Now with events in two languages and French events on the way, the Angular Community Meetup is amongst the strongest online offerings for Angular developers to gather, learn, network, & to be part of an engaging community.

But we don’t plan to stop here. We have BIG plans for 2023 and beyond, all starting with… drum roll please…

Merging the Angular Community Meetup with ng-conf, the largest conference for Angular developers across the globe 🙌. With ng-conf’s support, our flourishing Meetup will be able to achieve a whole new level of awesome!

Okay, well, great story time and cool announcement, but I still haven’t addressed my initial question: Why is attending a meetup for developers worth your time? Let’s break all the benefits down:

• Learning & Awareness: Yes you can read blog articles and watch tutorials on your own, but learning is at it’s best when you take advantage of a variety of content. You can still read your articles and watch your videos, but setting aside 90 minutes once a month to learn from a live presenter exposes you to not just new ways of thinking but also to new tools, libraries, & best practices to keep you on the absolute top of your skills.
• Networking: Not only do we have a great time meeting and chatting with attendees at various points in their careers and from all over the world, but at the beginning of most of our events, we also have open mic time for sharing job opportunities. We’ve had some amazing success stories of how job seekers and employers alike have found exactly what they’re looking for, sometimes in as little as 3 days! Come find out for yourself the power of our networking opportunities!
• Fun & Prizes: Despite what we may have become used to during covid with webinars and other online events, the Angular Community Meetup is NOT a typical sit and doze off event. We keep our events engaging, fun, and even offer awesome prizes from some pretty exciting companies and organizations. Prizes have included things like swag, free subscriptions, and Amazon gift cards, and we even throw in free tickets to ng-conf as conference season rolls around 🎉.
• Live Mentoring: In addition to our Spanish and English events offered on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, respectively, we’re also launching a free guided Angular workshop held via livestream once a week. Whether you’re new to Angular or wanting to brush up on your skills, these sessions are a great way to get hands-on experience from our very own co-organizer Jason Warner & myself as we walk you through building modern apps that you can add to your GitHub portfolio.
• Community: Between my time working at Thinkster.io, ng-conf, the Dev.Life Podcast, and my full time jobs, I can honestly say that there is nothing quite like being part of the Angular Community. Not only can I personally attest to having met some of my dearest friends, but I’ve found generous mentors, unparalleled support, a true sense of belonging, & opportunities I would never would have otherwise considered as possibilities before. You can take in as much or as little as you’d like, but with the Angular Community Meetup, you’ll find that programming can be so much more than just a 9–5 and stressful deadlines. We are by developers, for developers. We are YOUR Angular Community Meetup.

It only seems fitting here after we’ve had story time and going over how you’ll benefit and grow from attending the Angular Community Meetup that I share the words and wisdom of Mr. Lavar Burton:

Find our for yourself by joining us LIVE at our upcoming events. You can also check out our previous meetups on the ng-conf YouTube channel.