What does community mean to you?

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CEO Scott Heiferman said when the lightbulb over his head went on about creating Meetup.com, he never thought of it as a grass-roots building tool. In fact, when he got the idea, Heiferman was standing in line for Lord of the Rings and noticed all these people dressed up as elves and such. How do you bring all these people together to talk about their interests, whether it be elves, or sewing or pug dogs, he thought. Ba da bing! The concept and tool are simple: You go to the site, find your interest, and see who’s meeting about it in your area. After that, you show up and make friends. Little did he know that his Meetup concept would become a major organizing tool in the Howard Dean campaign, bringing supporters together in coffeehouses and other public places, to talk strategy. Today, all kinds of groups are using Meetup to build grass-roots interest for their issues across the country. A third of meet-ups today are political in nature, with the majority about other interests. “When we started this, we weren’t even thinking politics,” Heiferman said to an audience of assn professionals at the National Press Club in Washington. The panel discussion was cosponsored by the American Society of Assn Executives and the Greater Washington SAE, with opening remarks by former Sen. Bill Bradley. Heiferman was touting Meetup.com as a useful tool for assns, noting that 1.25-million people participate in 1,000 meet-ups each week. “Assns can get new money, new members and visibility” through using the Meetup tool, Heiferman said. He said that groups that meet through Meetup to discuss an assn’s issues, in time might come to “consider themselves a chapter of something bigger.” Jonathan Garthwaite, editor of Townhall.com, of the Heritage Foundation, used the service for the first time in Dec. At first skeptical, he said that soon dissipated with the success of Heritage’s meet-ups, the last involving groups in 120 cities. Garthwaite said Meetup fills a void because their budget “does not allow for field directors at the state level.” “Our goal using Meetup is to connect and activate supporters, and encourage vibrant discussion of policy,” he said. Garthwaite supplies “hosts” of meet-ups with a suggested agenda, but meet-ups have a life of their own. They can be casual to very formal, and often stray from or do not even have an agenda. GWSAE CEO Susan Sarfati, CAE, said the Meetup technology can be used in assns, noting that assn meetings tend to be structural while meet-ups are more loose and draw a crowd with diverse thinking. “There is a lot of opportunity, especially as nontraditional thinkers join assns,” Sarfati said. GWSAE has yet to suggest a meet-up, she said. Diversity in the crowd is guaranteed. Heiferman made a very “hard decision that meet-ups are open to anyone.” In other words, assns cannot organize a meet-up through Meetup exclusively for members. One audience member raised a concern that meet-ups could attract those who might be disruptive or have strong differing opinions to what would be discussed. Garthwaite responded that people in Meetup.com register for what they are interested in, and will attend those meetings. I agree with this statement its about doing what you find interesting!