WeWork is going to acquire Meetup • Hacker News Board

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#101

Post by ChuckMcM » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:21 PM UTC

Larrikin wrote: post #84

oblio wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can definitely see all event details as a free members... You can't create a group, though.

It depends on the group. Tech events tend to be undercover head hunting events so they are usually sponsored so they waive the fee. The smaller groups have to pay a fee too which gets put on the members. Usually it's very small and I'm happy to pay two dollars a year to goto a language exchange if it helps keep the group alive.

This. Apparently all of the things I'm interested in like SDR and Robotics and what not the groups don't pony up the cash to make things visible to non-paying members.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#102

Post by tedmiston » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:21 PM UTC

I think there are a lot of possibilities. Many tech meetups are hosted where people work, so maybe something like Meetup.com event hosting will get bundled in as a WeWork perk. Maybe WeWork can rent space to meetups. Maybe they'll use it to monetize vacant WeWork space. I'm sure Meetup also has a data trove of past meetups.

Maybe monetizing services on top of their longterm real estate leases is the key to profitability: "workspace as a platform". Meetup fits that model well with a huge userbase.

https://qz.com/966956/wework-wants-to-make-its-business-look...

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#103

Post by tedmiston » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:23 PM UTC

narrowtux wrote: post #63

sitepodmatt wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem with these things is you can make yourself out to be not welcome despite best efforts, some attendees are utterly hopeless / shameless that they'll decline any offer of drink (soft drink or otherwise), demand free tap water, speak like shit to staff (grunt with no thanks or please), leave no tips, sneak their own beverages in, complain wifi is slow and so on. I wouldn't host an event in a bar unless I knew th…

Maybe an entry fee that buys you your first drink would help for the first problem at least

A meetup I frequent solves this by having a monthly drink sponsor that spends a few hundred bucks to buy everyone's first drink, and get their logo projected on the wall.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#104

Post by opensports » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:26 PM UTC

Shameless plug: if you are a sports organizer on Meetup and don't see Meetup going in your direction, you can check us out. Here's a group that moved over from Meetup as a sample: https://opensports.net/@PhiladelphiaVolleyball

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#105

Post by mbesto » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:28 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #16

I liked Meetup, I didn't like it enough to pay for it. It wouldn't give me information without paying so I stopped using it. I also note that they terms of the acquisition have not been mentioned. If it is an all stock transaction it could be an example of Wework exploiting their astonishing valuation to buy companies with stock. This was something that happened a lot in the dot com boom and didn't end well. The othe…

> If it is an all stock transaction

For the amount of money raised by WeWork I don't know why Meetup would take a deal like that and why WeWork wouldn't just use it's massive capital chest to do so. Generally speaking all stock transactions are ways to (1) incentivize founders/management to stay (2) it's a cheaper way to capitalize a transaction.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#106

Post by jldugger » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:52 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

siquick wrote: post #12

Most Meetup events and groups have become a vehicle for salespeople and self-promoters.

So, what is an effective means to try to connect with people for work related stuff? Say, if you freelance and need a water cooler type group?

In tech it's pretty common to have user groups focused on a particular technology slowly evolve into a social community. Previously, IRC & freenode catered to my particular niche Lately, I've been finding more Slacks, which may appeal to a broader audience.

Donno of anything specific to the freelance writer community though.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#107

Post by jldugger » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 7:54 PM UTC

roystonvassey wrote: post #72

oblio wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not 100% sure but his point my be: how do people find you once you quit Meetup.com? Cause attrition happens and at least Meetup provides a somewhat constant inflow of people.

Right but once you have a pool of 25-30 people, you're set ( for most activities).

For a while. Unless your pool of people is good about inviting new members (who also invite new members) that number only ever goes down, and eventually the decay grows exponentially.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#108

Post by DoreenMichele » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 8:14 PM UTC

jldugger wrote: post #106

DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what is an effective means to try to connect with people for work related stuff? Say, if you freelance and need a water cooler type group?

In tech it's pretty common to have user groups focused on a particular technology slowly evolve into a social community. Previously, IRC & freenode catered to my particular niche Lately, I've been finding more Slacks, which may appeal to a broader audience. Donno of anything specific to the freelance writer community though.

I am not specifically looking to connect with other writers. I am looking to connect to digital independent workers and people who might be interested in becoming such.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#109

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 28, 2017, 8:38 PM UTC

roystonvassey wrote: post #72

oblio wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not 100% sure but his point my be: how do people find you once you quit Meetup.com? Cause attrition happens and at least Meetup provides a somewhat constant inflow of people.

Right but once you have a pool of 25-30 people, you're set ( for most activities).

[deleted]

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#110

Post by prawn » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 12:56 AM UTC

sah2ed wrote: post #79

prawn wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've co-owned a small co-working space for about a year now. It's been a good decision, financially. Nothing extravagant, but I certainly have no regrets and I'd invest in another if the opportunity came up. One thing that I think helps is that historically, consulting rooms have been a big desk in a 4x4m room with 1-2 client chairs facing the tenant. In a co-working space, you could accommodate 3-4 desks/tenants in…

May I ask where your space is located?

In South Australia (links to it via personal site linked in my profile). 13 desks total, but we're currently fully tenanted.