Question: what are the norms on showing up to meetups for the first time? I happen to be in Berkeley this week, and since there’s a meetup this evening I thought I might check it out; should I just show up, or should I get in touch with the organizers and let them know I’m coming/around?
I predict that the answer will be something like “new attendees are welcome, announced or otherwise, but {insert local peculiarity here, e.g. ‘Don’t worry about the sign that says BEWARE OF THE LEOPARD, we’re just getting ready for Towel Day’}”. However, enough of my probability mass is elsewhere that I thought I’d check. Also, I couldn’t find a definitive statement of the community norms within reach of Google, so I thought change that by asking reasonably publicly.
One tip: If there’s a mailing list / Google Group / Meetup.com group / etc., get on it, so you can see topic announcements and contact info for the organizers.
Question: what are the norms on showing up to meetups for the first time? I happen to be in Berkeley this week, and since there’s a meetup this evening I thought I might check it out; should I just show up, or should I get in touch with the organizers and let them know I’m coming/around?
I predict that the answer will be something like “new attendees are welcome, announced or otherwise, but {insert local peculiarity here, e.g. ‘Don’t worry about the sign that says BEWARE OF THE LEOPARD, we’re just getting ready for Towel Day’}”. However, enough of my probability mass is elsewhere that I thought I’d check. Also, I couldn’t find a definitive statement of the community norms within reach of Google, so I thought change that by asking reasonably publicly.
As someone who has been on both sides, “just show up and introduce yourself” has been good every time so far.
That’ll work fine at my local meetup.
One tip: If there’s a mailing list / Google Group / Meetup.com group / etc., get on it, so you can see topic announcements and contact info for the organizers.