Event Ideas

By Barbara Sharette

Ideas for meeting spaces/venues

  • Local tech company spaces - ask people you know who work there, or ask your own employer if there's a meeting space you can use. Don't be afraid to find local Python companies and cold-email a public email address!
  • For companies willing to let you use their meeting spaces, offer them the chance to do a hiring spiel to open the meeting.
  • Check with the organizers of other tech meetup groups for venue ideas.
  • Contact local hacker spaces
  • Contact local coworking spaces
  • Contact your local university's CS department

Meeting ideas

  • Workshops with themes/goals (e.g., one workshop on how to build a small webapp, another one where you try to use python to solve some brainteasers)
  • Hold a small competition for your group where there's a goal and you split into two teams and try to solve a problem faster, or better (performance, speed, etc.).
  • Beginner Python and Git classes
  • Get involved with hack days with other local user groups
  • Brainstorm ideas for group projects, so that you have a collection of specific projects to work on for hack nights.
  • Leverage Google Hangout to offer support to existing members on matters that hinge more on conversation than on in-person hacking (e.g., PyLadies recently hosted a hangout to chat about the PyCon call for proposals)

More event ideas can be found here!

Getting the word out

  • Email the organizers of other tech meetup groups to ask them to help advertise your event.
  • Put posters up at universities, or contact the CS student society. Ask the department secretary to contact grad students.
  • Partner with other groups for jointly hosted events
  • Get business cards to hand out at events
  • Set up a Twitter account

More details on how to promote your events here!