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Meetup.com Update for Memphis Technology User Groups

    Author:
  • Joe Ferguson

This past week there has been a lot of commentary on the announced meetup.com changes that are being tested in two states among select meetup groups. The proposed changes involved charging for RSVPs. Naturally our users of the Memphis Technology User Groups Meetup account are worried they may have to start paying to attend meetups. I want to reassure anyone concerned that we are in communication with Meetup.com directly and we ware unaffected and currently do not anticipate being affected.

To get a better idea of where this feature stands, we had Bryan Robinson reach out to Meetup.com on behalf of Memphis Technology Foundation, who operates the meetup account. Here is the initial inquiry we sent Meetup:

I'm a board member of a non-profit that extensively uses the Meetup platform for lots of great free events. We're trying to ascertain if we're part of the non-profit program and if not what steps we can take to take part in that. We're a registered 501(c)3 and I can get you that documentation if we don't currently have that status. This is our Meetup URL: https://www.meetup.com/memphis-technology-user-groups/ Our non-profit entity is the Memphis Technology Foundation; our EIN is 46-5484247 Thanks for checking into this,

We quickly received a (probably canned) response:

The payment change you're asking about is currently only a limited test for select groups in a small number of locations. Groups in the test will receive advance notice before any change goes into effect. We will always contact you if there are changes to your subscription. Meetup serves a wide variety of groups and members, like non-profit groups, and we're exploring personalized solutions based on each groups' unique goals and types of events. We're always looking for ways to improve the experience for everyone in our community. For the past several years, organizers have paid a subscription fee to create and manage groups on Meetup. One of the options we're currently exploring is whether to reduce the subscription costs for organizers and introduce a small event fee for members. This change will help to more evenly distribute costs between organizers and members. We are committed to providing advance notice before any changes go into effect and we are reviewing all feedback.

Before we could reply, we received the following:

Hi Bryan, There's been some misperceptions around changes to Meetup's payment policies. Meetup is not making significant payment changes at this time. We recognize that Meetup has a diverse community of organizers with different needs and goals, like non-profit groups. To be clear, if we make payment changes, we will give our organizers as much choice as possible. There's nothing you need to do right now to designate your group as a non-profit and we will keep you posted when we have more information. Thank you for reaching out, we are reviewing all feedback about the test.

So you're up to date with where we stand and we'll keep you updated here as things change.