Also, not to sound rude, but I get enough of socializing with programmers at work.
I think part of it is I don't feel like I get enough socializing with programmers at work...
A number of tech meetups (no necessarily programming) are held at loud venues and involve alcohol. In other words, getting drunk under loud music while yelling at each other 'cause you can't hear and not hearing half of what other people say.
Exactly what I need after a twelve hour day. I never understood how this can be considered "networking". It's shallow, ineffectual and mostly useless.
If you can't make it, please be courteous and release your "yes" RSVP so that people on the waitlist can get in and so that the organizers can plan more accurately.
If you aren't likely to make it in the first place, please don't RSVP "yes" for the off-chance that you feel like going - please wait until you know you are going for certain to update your RSVP.
Out here, especially with social sites, RSVP is taking on another meaning entirely. Those "slots" are fictitious (just like airlines overselling seats) and assuming attendance numbers will be what something like Meetup says they are is irrational. I usually factor in a 40% attendance rate - nothing wrong with that if it's more, but it's unlikely to be 100%, unless one holds an irrational belief their event is going to net more than another.
That's not to say it doesn't make planning for the event a bit more challenging, but I seriously doubt there anything anyone can do about it other than charging for the event, which may not be desirable.
You're right, that on aggregate, groups do factor in a poor showup rate.
And that adds to the cost of hosting. You risk buying too much perishable food versus running out of food and disappointing the latecomers.
There are options for dealing with this:
- Charge for the meetup (but then people with fewer resources can't come.)
- Track no-shows, and kick them out of the group (which is a burden for the organizers and can penalize people with really good reasons for not being able to make it.)
- But just saying something about it makes a difference in the showup rates (we tried it and it works).
So that's what I'm doing here.
If your group is so large that you have a waitlist, I'd be willing to bet there's a consistent statistic of RVSP vs Attendance that you could rely on. Maybe check records of your past events and see if there's much fluctuation?
We do a lot to get attendance up and to create events that people want to attend.
Showup rates started declining, probably due to people thinking it didn't matter if they didn't make it, and not canceling their "Yes". We started discussing the problem when we had a 40% showup with a large waitlist.
We considered tracking no-shows for suspension, but before we even started that, I started mentioning the fact that we were thinking about the problem to members, and making statements on meetup pages about us looking at no-shows.
We didn't have to actually change policy, but thanks to some simple communication, we got showup rates back to their average 66%.
As a best practice, we should probably continue to mention it from time to time to ensure we don't get back to those kinds of lows.
Realistically this is the only option. No-shows tells people who show up that the numbers they expected to see aren't realistic and that they may be the only one that shows up the next time.
Charging for the meetup just irritates people, and sets them up for disappointment. Putting a limit on attendence and creating a waitlist works. (Although some of the people who were truely a maybe won't sign up)
I run various volunteer activities. Some do require people to sign up for free but we really make it clear to people to please give us notice of cancellation if it really matters to us.
You can charge a small fee. I know events that charge and offer to refund it if you show up. But for more casual evening events, this doesn't really work most of the time. People don't like to feel like they're locking themselves in which they tend to do even with a small fee.
A good organizer knows this is statistical. Only a certain percentage of people show up in any given 'open' social meetup event. I've been going to these for years and the organizers tend to account for that. I'm surprised programmer-organizers wouldn't be even more keen on the statistical and probability aspect of organizing headcount.
We have had to turn people away at the door.
This is very rare, and I hate to do it.
(If it looks like we need to, I try to make an announcement before everyone shows up so we aren't turning away dozens of people a quarter of an hour after the start time. I have only done this a couple of times.)
I was talking more about telling somebody already inside that they have to leave because they were randomly selected (and using the police to force the issue if needed), similar to what recently happened with United.
I organize a meetup and I'm always struggling with how to increase attendance of people like me (and you) - not in 20's, have a house/spouse/kids and a commute home to the suburbs.
In general I'm having problems connecting with anyone my age outside of work. They all seem to have very little capacity or interest to do anything other than go home from work and see their family.