Hello BP! I'm taking @Brandon Turner 's advice and starting my own meetup. We plan to keep it consistent in terms of time, date (3rd Tues. of each month), and location. I've posted it on Meetup.com, here on BP in the events, and created a FB group which will also have the event posted. Do any other meeting hosts have tips or advice for me? I expect it to be small for a while, but I'm hoping it starts to pick up around the 6 month mark.

Where do you plan on hosting it. In Your home, or an office. I want to start one, but im not a realator just a construction work who has bought a few different buy&holds. A couple of flips, not sure what to do in the first several meetups. I have a big house with two big family rooms, i thought of doing it there. I also have been thinking alot about what Brandon Turner had said.

@Adrian Alfaro I am holding it at a local restaurant. Sometimes REIA meetings around me are held in hotel conference rooms, but for a meeting like mine (no structure, agenda, or pitches), it makes more sense to host it where attendees can get food and/or drinks if they'd like.

@Nicole Heasley what is the purpose ? 

@Bob Prisco Pure networking. No sales pitches by the organizers, no structure, no agenda. Just come in, grab a drink or whatever you'd like, and find someone to talk to. I'm basing the structure (or lack thereof) off of two larger meetings I used to attend when I lived in Cleveland, OH. 

@Nicole Heasley my 2 cents, coming from a shy person who goes to many networking meetings... have some format, even if it is very loose. Do a "haves and wants" where people can comment on what they have to offer (property, service, whatever) and what they are looking for. I personally hate going to meetings and talking to strangers. This helps break the ice.

@Nicole Heasley I get it but reality is everyone is trying to " sell " something , especially in Cleveland . Props, services etc. In Cleveland there are so many deals, I, am sure you as well can get as many as we want without attending a meeting . I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I would rather spend my time with family after hours. Deals / service are abundant . Also you will get the same people at your meet as the others meetings. 

All the best 

@Nicole Heasley  Always nice to build that network.

Talk to @David Bardwell , he has an ongoing meetup in Cleveland and may have some tips.

@Corey Hawkinson I will consider that! Thank you!

@Bob Prisco People are welcome to bring their deals and services. I want people to find clients, deals, partners, or whatever else they're looking for. But we organizers won't be standing at a podium peddling wholesale deals or a $10k mastermind course; like you, I don't think I need a meeting to find deals. But I do receive invaluable connections, best practices, and encouragement. I do understand that some people don't find value in meetups. The meetings I attended in Cleveland had 40 attendees a month once they became more established, so I know there are others who find value in in-person networking. Mine will be held in Youngstown, and I don't know too many people who will drive an hour and a half from Cleveland to Youngstown for a meetup when there are plenty in their own backyard, so I don't expect many repeats. 

@Jad Boudiab Hello, fellow Ohioan! I used to attend the meetups at the Melt in Independence (formerly the Brew House in Middleburg) and the Harry Buffalo in Lakewood. I've never met David, so he must have run a different one. Thank you for the connection! 

@Nicole Heasley I am not sure where you get your info, I have never stood at any podium or any meeting  peddling, anything. I do not even go to meetings ,  I live  in FL.   I am the one who discourages others from those guru meetings.  So before you " sling mud"  get your facts straight ! 

I was not putting down your meeting you were asking for advice . Cleveland is full of so called wholesalers  ( I am not one ) and bsers that say they have deals when they have nothing.  

I do wish you good luck and hope it works for you .

@Bob Prisco

Hey Bob, I think you miss understood the OP’s comment, when she said “like you” it was going on the following line that both you guys don’t need meetups to find deals, not going backwards implying that you sell guru pitches etc. there is a , before the “like you”

Read it again......

I think

Me and my partner started a meetup here in california a few months back and we've really enjoyed it. We started off hosting it in a conference room my brokerage had and now we host it in the lounge room of my partners apartment building. We also are not selling anything so we just have some networking in the beginning, sit in a roundtable type format and let people share any questions they might have(new people love this) and go around the room and ask about recent deals etc etc, this is usually enough to occupy about 45 min or so and then just more networking! We also get some light snacks and drinks. My main focus has been to keep it sales free and a very relaxed environment so people feel comfortable. You'll enjoy hosting one! 

@Eli Gilbert   @Nicole Heasley   thank you Eli,,,,,,,,, Sorry Nicole , I miss read it .  I thought you were throwing me under the buss..   Again I wish you nothing but health and success,,,,,, :) 

@Bob Prisco

Sure

I started mine a few years ago. I get the best turnout when I have a speaker with a topic then networking time afterward. It takes a lot of work to find and curate good speakers, but it's worth the work.

@Taylor L. What speakers have you had? Which had best turnout? Thank you, Jeff

Thanks for the mention @Jad Boudiab .

@Nicole Heasley I’d be happy to give you some tips. I just started my monthly meetup in June so it’s still pretty new. New enough that I remember what I did wrong at first :)  Here’s a little history from my young meetup—which by the way you can see here: 

- I tried holding meetups during the day, but was not successful. My meetup specifically targets people who are part-time investors, so by nature they have ‘regular jobs’ during the day.

- My first few meetups I specifically said “don’t come if you’re just trying to sell something”. But that was only because at meetup 1 and 2 I had less than 6 people each and both times there were non-investors there who really could not contribute to the conversation. Now that I have larger crowds I’ve removed that limitation and it is not a problem at all. We’ve got one guy that always talks too long and is a bit salesy, but he’s a good contributor so we let it go.

- I tried holding it in a restaurant/bar and that was good for the first 3 meetings or so when I had anywhere from 3-12 people. Then it got cumbersome and difficult to hear people. We needed a quieter atmosphere, but I still wanted there to be food and drink available. And I didn’t want to pay for space. Took a little searching but I did find a great spot. I never considered holding it at my home. We host holiday parties with 50 people so space is not the issue, but I can’t imagine the hassle and expense.

- I had no format when we started. That worked fine, but once I reached 20+ people in month 4 or so, I decided it was time to change both the location and the format. I wanted 

- I just wrapped up my 2nd meeting at the new location which is a private room at a hotel restaurant. I purchased a $100 veggie/cracker/cheese tray both times and people ordered their own drinks and some people order meals. AFter seeing 1/2 of the veggie tray go to waste I think I’m done with that. I do like providing something, but I hate seeing food (and money) wasted like that.

- My new format (instead of just mingling over drinks) is this: We open with everyone doing a 30-60 second intromercial (I think I just made that word up, but I like it), then I have 2 guests. Guest 1 is my "Ask the Expert" guest. Last month it was a mortgage broker. This month it was an insurance agent. Guest 2 is my "Success Story" guest. They tell us how they started, how they managed to transition from part-time to full-time investor, and then of course provide their own commentary along the way. Following the speakers, we then just have open networking until the party dies down. We started at 6 tonight, I left at 9, and there was still a good contingency of people who had moved to the bar to continue.

- I’ve considered charging simply to offset some of my own costs but everything is still free as of now.

- I just started doing a ‘registration’ table too. Last month on paper, this month I used an app on the iPad (OneTap). Not a huge fan of the specific app, but it worked. As the group gets larger, I don’t always get to meet everyone personally so it’s nice to be sure to capture everyone’s information.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to connect if you’d like to talk more.

@David Bardwell this is very helpful. Contemplating on forming one in Austin, TX.

@David Bardwell THANK YOU for the excellent feedback! I'll respond to you here rather than PM so others can benefit from the conversation. When/where is your meetup? I would love to attend! 

A few questions/comments:

-Why did you want to target PT investors rather than FT? 

-We've stated that we as organizers are not pitching or selling anything to the group as we don't want to discourage those who have gone to a "meetup" in the past only to find it was someone trying to sell a guru course or a wholesaler trying to dump deals on them. However, we realize the purpose of networking is to find people to work with. Your presence there is an advertisement or attempt to sell in itself. So we are not putting any kind of sales ban on the group. If someone gets annoying and detracts from the event or we feel they're trying to defraud folks there, we'll handle it. But I haven't seen it happen at any of the meetups I've attended. 

-I've also been to meetups in locations with terrible acoustics, so we chose a venue with that in mind. It also has a private room. As we're doing it on a week night, I don't expect to have any issues with large crowds. My home isn't an option as it's in Akron, and the meetup is in Youngstown. Also, as a woman, I'd be extremely hesitant to go to a Meetup at someone's house or to put my address on the internet. Did you approach the restaurant prior to scheduling the meeting to reserve the room and explain that this was a monthly event? 

-If it helps, I've never been to an RE meetup that supplied refreshments, and I've never expected them. I'm not supplying anything, but I did choose a venue that is both a bar and restaurant.I can't expect guests to show up at dinnertime to a location where they cannot get food. 

-Do you feel your structure will be able to accommodate the group as it continues to grow?

-I'd love to also find a way to offset costs. I considered charging each person like $1 a year. But then I thought about it from the attendee's standpoint. I wouldn't pay someone I didn't know to join a group with no track record. I paid Meetup $70. I don't remember how many months that was for. It does add up! But I truly believe you cannot put a price on a good connection. Once we're established, I may start charging. 

-The registration table is an excellent idea! I did start a Facebook group that I'm hoping attendees will join to continue interacting outside the event. But I may implement that idea!

@Eli Gilbert You interpreted my post correctly! That is why the comma was there. My apologies for the confusion, @Bob Prisco . You are absolutely correct; there are always a score of newbies at these meetings who are "starting their wholesale business." I'm sure my meeting will eventually encounter the same issue, but I don't see a way around that. 

@Taylor L. I think that's a great idea. How do you invite speakers to your event? Do you host monthly, or does the event time/date center around when a speaker is available? Do you have a back-up format if you cannot find a speaker for the event, or do you just cancel the meeting if you can't find someone? 

@Nicole Heasley Hi there. Hopefully I can help, I actually started a meetup 12 months ago, we meet every first Saturday in Palm Beach County FL, and it started by me just wanting to meet people and posting in groups that I’ll be at this coffee shop at this time and 5 people showed up! Second one was 12 people, I stayed consistent and with the people I met started having people speak, no we host in a library conference room and have around 30 people on average come, still growing, but the value I received from meeting these people has sky rocketed my plans. Do it! I also know a few people flipping in Cleveland.

@Nicole Heasley ALL GOOD :) 

Free booze, free food!!

Originally posted by @Nicole Heasley :

@Eli Gilbert You interpreted my post correctly! That is why the comma was there. My apologies for the confusion, @Bob Prisco . You are absolutely correct; there are always a score of newbies at these meetings who are "starting their wholesale business." I'm sure my meeting will eventually encounter the same issue, but I don't see a way around that. 

@Taylor L. I think that's a great idea. How do you invite speakers to your event? Do you host monthly, or does the event time/date center around when a speaker is available? Do you have a back-up format if you cannot find a speaker for the event, or do you just cancel the meeting if you can't find someone? 

My meetup is monthly, although I took last month and this month off because I've been very busy with deals and need to plan 2020. Any great investors I meet who live within an 8 hour drive of Richmond, I ask to speak. Sometimes they say no, that's fine. I get it. But when they say yes I get them pinned to a month or two tentatively, then we firm up the actual date later.

 Fortunately, I haven't had a speaker cancel last-minute yet. If they did, the action would depend on timing. If they cancelled day of I would probably still do the event. If it was a week or two before I would reschedule and still do a networking event most likely. The only last minute emergency I've had was my girlfriend got in a bike accident the morning of, ended up in the hospital for a day. That event was rescheduled! Potential brain damage is a valid reason to postpone :) (She ended up being fine).

Get ideas and all that, but just try. Sometimes the turnout will be way less than you wanted. That's a terrible feeling, but it's also fuel to get more people out next time!