As per issue #389, I’ve just pushed a change to meetups. All future meetup posts will be created in /r/meetups to un-clutter /r/discussion a little bit.
Hmm, I just noticed that the ‘Nearest Meetup’ feature is mostly removed (you can still see the field when you refresh before everything has loaded), so you cant see any notification anywhere for local meetups happening soon unless you are specifically checking /meetups or r/meetups.
I understand why Luke and co wanted this change asap (people have been complaining about the clutter), but I suspect that this change will have a big overall impact on LW Meetups turnouts. I’m fairly certain that a lot of non-regulars decide to go to a specific meetup because they are randomly reminded of it in the sidebar or in discussion, and not because they actively check.
Anyway, is there any chance you know why the ‘Nearest meetup’ area was removed (no mention of the removal in the issues)? I am not sure what the benefit is of having Upcoming Meetups over Nearest Meetups, but the latter at least provides a reminder for people of posted local meetups. Alternatively, is there anything else planned to serve as a reminder?
PS: I would’ve published this as a comment on the issue itself, but that didn’t look very appropriate.
I’ve noticed that when I’m at work (but still logged in), it shows me ‘upcoming meetups’ instead. My first guess, that I’ve made no attempt to confirm or disconfirm, is that it tries to determine your location from your IP address. If it succeeds it shows you ‘nearest meetups’, and if it fails it shows you ‘upcoming meetups’.
I feel like there should definitely be a link to ‘meetups’ next to ‘main’ and ‘discussion’. It’s so easy to miss things in the sidebar.
I’ve noticed that when I’m at work (but still logged in), it shows me ‘upcoming meetups’ instead.
Looks like it is the same for me—I posted the above comment from work, however, I see ‘Nearest Meetups’ now that I am home. Your theory sounds reasonable.
As per issue #389, I’ve just pushed a change to meetups. All future meetup posts will be created in /r/meetups to un-clutter /r/discussion a little bit.
Hmm, I just noticed that the ‘Nearest Meetup’ feature is mostly removed (you can still see the field when you refresh before everything has loaded), so you cant see any notification anywhere for local meetups happening soon unless you are specifically checking /meetups or r/meetups.
I understand why Luke and co wanted this change asap (people have been complaining about the clutter), but I suspect that this change will have a big overall impact on LW Meetups turnouts. I’m fairly certain that a lot of non-regulars decide to go to a specific meetup because they are randomly reminded of it in the sidebar or in discussion, and not because they actively check.
Anyway, is there any chance you know why the ‘Nearest meetup’ area was removed (no mention of the removal in the issues)? I am not sure what the benefit is of having Upcoming Meetups over Nearest Meetups, but the latter at least provides a reminder for people of posted local meetups. Alternatively, is there anything else planned to serve as a reminder?
PS: I would’ve published this as a comment on the issue itself, but that didn’t look very appropriate.
I currently see ‘nearest meetups’.
I’ve noticed that when I’m at work (but still logged in), it shows me ‘upcoming meetups’ instead. My first guess, that I’ve made no attempt to confirm or disconfirm, is that it tries to determine your location from your IP address. If it succeeds it shows you ‘nearest meetups’, and if it fails it shows you ‘upcoming meetups’.
I feel like there should definitely be a link to ‘meetups’ next to ‘main’ and ‘discussion’. It’s so easy to miss things in the sidebar.
I, too, expect this to reduce meetup turnout.
Looks like it is the same for me—I posted the above comment from work, however, I see ‘Nearest Meetups’ now that I am home. Your theory sounds reasonable.
philh is correct, and nothing I pushed should’ve changed the sidebar behaviour.
For those that are worried about meetup attendance being affected:
The sidebar should not be changed,
The list of upcoming meetups is still where it was at http://lesswrong.com/meetups/
How many people discover meetups through /r/discussion as opposed to the sidebar and /meetups? Perhaps I should poll this:
Before this change, how did you discover LW meetups? If none apply, please write in.
[pollid:698]