Thank you Ilkka for a great post.

This is an answer also to the earlier “Contact Sharing” post (I was hoping to get some more reactions but looks like the topic is exhausted).
Also, thank you Stefano for a detailed answer to my questions, and I subscribe to the words in both Stefano and Ilkka’s replies.
Looks like organising meetups can not become a “structured” process, but always good to get advise and tips.

Cheers,
Nicolae



On 26 Mar 2015, at 09:34, Ilkka Tengvall <ilkka.tengvall@cybercom.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> just to throw in my experiences from OpenStack Finland Meetup. First I
> was answering to "Contact Sharing" topic, but this got a bit lengthy, so
> I open a new topic... :)
>
> I believe we've found a good balance between the sponsorship and
> community event. My wish was to build up a group of professionals, who
> enjoy the event both by having interesting presentations and good
> atmosphere to do networking. For that, we went for both: Sponsorship and
> non-sponsor speakers. Not all get to travel to international events.
>
> I believe the event must be such that I would go there out of generic
> interest, and want to go there next time myself too. So few things:
>
> 1. If it's evening event, people don't want to be starving:
> - when I'm hungry after work, I typically go home to eat.
>   I likely don't bother leaving home anymore to any events.
> - We offer snacks for the participants, so it's nice to come and stay
>
> 2. Finnish people don't go talking to strangers, break the barrier:
> - Have some beers to loosen up the tongs, we Finns love beer :)
> - Have interesting demo or presentation to have bases for discussion
>
> 3. I want to meet and network, leave time for networking in the event
> - While technical presentations are interesting to technical people,
>   don't push your schedule. Too much is boring.
> - Make sure there is some time to discuss and network after or
>   in-between the presentations. Perhaps even 1/3 prez, 2/3 free
>   networking and discussions. 1/2 free time in minimum.
> - This is something we keep still iterating, what is the good balance?
>   So far we've tried different things, and likely will do so.
>
> 4. I need the money for such event. I'm willing to hear *a bit* of
>   marketing in exchange. All pros understand that (..there is no
>   free beer ;)).
> - It's not hard to gather money for hot topics. If your event is good,
>   the sponsors like to look good with you. It's easy marketing for them
> - Make sure the sponsor understands that no-one is coming to event just
>   to get marketing stuff, the sponsor better have some interesting
>   content, or the sponsorship turns against them.
> - Having variety of vendors present keeps the event neutral, everyone
>   wins
>
> With those principles we've managed to create pretty good meetup group
> here in Finland. Over 100/~290 (growing) members present in each meetup,
> that's quite much in a small country. We've made friends between pros in
> different companies, and it's nice to exchange thoughts and experiences
> about OpenStack within the active community.
>
> Welcome all to the next meetup in September, we're going even bigger
> co-located with OpenMind, Mindtrek, and DevOps meetup in Tampere! Our
> events are in English, don't be afraid :)
>
> BR,
>
> Ilkka Tengvall
> Cybercom Finland
> OpenStack Finland meetup team
> http://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Finland-User-Group/
>
>
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