Meetup-guide

Would you like to organize a community meetup but don’t know how to get started and what’s important? No worries. We’ve got you covered! Here are some tips and tricks for organizing a stellar community meetup.

Quick checklist to hosting a meetup

1. Start by reserving a table at a bar or space at a venue.
2. List your event and mention if you’re looking for help on the LibrePlanet wiki.
3. Study this guide for tips and tricks.
4. Let us know what we can do to support you at campaigns@fsf.org.
5. Have fun at the meetup with other free software supporters!
6. Send the FSF some photos and/or a quick report of the event – we’d love to know how it went!

Program ideas

Several people asked us to provide some concrete ideas to help plan a meetup, so here are some program ideas from simple to fancy. Note that these are just ideas. In the end, the agenda is entirely up to you. Remember: the meetup can be very simple. It’s not important to have an elaborate program. All that counts is that you and the attendees have a chance to meet up with like-minded people and have a great time with each other.

Simple and casual

Feel free to keep it simple. For example, you can just announce that you’ll be at pub X on date Y at time Z, and look forward to meeting people there. You and the other attendees can swap stories on how you came to free software, what steps of the freedom ladder you or people you know are struggling with, or how you tell your friends and family about free software.

Activity-based

Consider offering attendees who are interested the opportunity to introduce themselves or talk about a topic of their choice in a lighting talk, i.e. a casual talk of max. five minutes about a free software topic. We have had positive experience with lightning talks not only at the LibrePlanet conference, but also at community gatherings.

In addition to a lightning talk session, or instead of one, attendees could get to know each other in a speed-friending session. This way people have something to talk about when they chat with other meetup participants later or when they enter a discussion. Consider asking them to introduce themselves and what drew them to free software (or one of the other below topic ideas). Depending on how many people attend, it might make sense to split the attendees up in groups of three to five, and have them choose different discussion topics to foster discussion.

You can also organize a tour in your city to all the places relevant to free software or a libre software treasure hunt. Want to improve free software outreach? Consider holding a session to update, improve, and augment the free software advocacy materials provided by the FSF.

If you want to aim high and offer a more elaborate program with a talk(s) or workshop(s), consider emailing the libreplanet-discuss mailing list to find speakers or get suggestions, or you can ask the FSF staff for a (remote) talk.

Topic ideas

The sky is the limit with what you could talk about at a free software meetup, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• How did you first get involved with free software?
  

• What steps of the freedom ladder are you struggling with?
  

• How do you tell your friends and family about free software?
  

• What do you hope the world will look like in ten years and what can we, the free software movement, do to get there?
  

• What are the biggest challengers to software freedom right now?
  

• How can we best promote free software at universities, colleges, in government institutions, or among our friends?

Location

It can be challenging to find an inexpensive venue. Some places that might be low-cost or even no-cost include schools, universities, museums, theaters, libraries, maker-, hack-, and community spaces. Another option is to meet at a restaurant, cafe, pub, or bar. When meeting at a bar or pub, make sure it is accessible for all ages. Regardless of the type of venue, make sure you check if the venue is wheelchair accessible. It can help you with your communication with the venue to know how many people you are expecting, which is why considering RSVP’s is worth it.

If your meetup takes place in a large building such as a university, don’t forget to put signage everywhere and/or share a plan of the building beforehand so that people can easily find your event.

How the FSF can support your meetup

• Promotion: we’re more than happy to promote your meetup among free software enthusiasts in your area. Once you announce the date and location of your event on the LibrePlanet wiki, shoot us an email to campaigns@fsf.org with a message for free software supporters in your area and we will forward it to local subscribers.
  

• Snacks and refreshment: for a relaxed atmosphere, it often helps to provide some snacks and refreshments. Please contact us if you need a contribution towards expenses to buy snacks and nonalcoholic drinks to support your meetup.
  

• Stickers and leaflets: if you want to have stickers at your event, let us know what address we should ship them to and we can send you some. Additionally, we recommend that you print some flyers and leaflets and/or the latest Free Software Bulletin for your event.
  

If there’s anything else we can do to help make your event a success, just email us at campaigns@fsf.org.

How to provide a great experience for everyone

In order to provide a harassment-free get-together and to align your meetup with the spirit of Librelocal month, please make sure that you as the host stick to our Safe Space Policy and that you remind attendees to do the same. If you expect many people to attend, it can be useful to designate two to three people as a safe space committee, who will pay special attention to keeping the meetup harassment-free and can be contacted if someone has a safe space incident to report.

How to promote your meetup

We’ll gladly promote your meetup in our newsletter and on social media, and if you send us a blurb we can also invite free software enthusiasts in your area via email. In addition, you can use these flyers and images for social media and spread the word by putting them up on your website, social media accounts, or in libraries, hacker- and makerspaces as well as at schools and universities. You can also email the libreplanet-discuss mailing list to invite people to come to your meetup.

Practical tips

• If you’re looking for fellow activists to organize a meetup together, you can announce this on the LibrePlanet wiki.
  

• Consider asking people to RSVP or sign up for the meetup because this will help you with the planning of space, food and beverages, chairs, and other things, as well as with your communication with the venue.
  

• Decide whether you want to share your contact details (e.g. email alias or irc nick) so that people can RSVP and contact you with questions they may have.
  

• Aim to be the first person at the venue.
  

• In general, it is helpful to have some time to socialize. This can be at a cafe at the end of the meetup or you can provide some snacks and a space to socialize during a break.
  

• When offering snacks and drinks, we recommend providing vegan options to accommodate as many people as possible.
  

• If you’re expecting people to travel to the meetup from out-of-town, consider sharing some tips on where they can stay for a reasonable price.
  

• If you plan or want to have photos taken at the event, dedicate someone to be the photographer. Also be sure to ask attendees, either ahead of time or at the event, if they are okay with their photos being taken (and/or published).
  

• If your gathering is planned to run for more than three hours, especially at a time that normally covers a mealtime, make sure to plan a longer break, perhaps forty-five minutes or an hour, for people to get a meal. It’s also helpful if you have a few restaurants that you can recommend nearby.
  

• Keep the program focused on computer-user freedom; e.g. please use the term “free software” rather than “open source”. Members of the free software community usually appreciate this.
  

Feel free to add your tips, tricks, and ideas for organizing a community meetup to this page. We can’t wait to see community members gather all over the world. Please send us photos of your event to campaigns@fsf.org.

Thank you for organizing a community meetup!