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Alright, hello GORUCO! Thanks for welcoming me back. Let's get right into it. I live two blocks from here, and this is my favorite conference—not just for that reason, but that's pretty awesome. I'm a dad, a husband, and I love beach volleyball. I run Yap and Yap Labs here in New York and I have a nifty collection of GORUCO shirts, adding another awesome one this year.
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Today, we're going to talk about tips and tricks for growing a tech community in New York City. These principles can apply to other cities as well, but I'm going to speak mostly from my experience in growing Ember NYC. Now, you might wonder, what's so special about Ember NYC? Why are these credentials worth noting?
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We’ve had 1,100 members and we’ve been around for a little over two years. During that time, we’ve run 49 events. Typically, we host one evening of talks each month, along with two smaller events that we call hacker hours. We even have a pretty awesome mascot designed by Samantha Penner.
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But more importantly, the way to understand what makes Ember NYC special is how people feel about it and what they say about it. People have described Ember as the most informative meetup they've ever attended. It’s an incredible community of friendly and supportive 'emberanos' (that’s what we call ourselves). It’s a genuine sharing environment where people actually want to help.
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One of the co-organizers called this consistently one of the best and most interesting meetups he’s attended. One person even wrote, 'This meetup has literally changed my life.' So those are some fantastic sentiments about our community.
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Let me share some of the things I’ve learned. Here are my top 10 tips for growing a great tech community. It may not be as funny as Letterman’s Top 10, but let’s see what we can do.
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Tip number 10 is to think like a promoter. One of the tricks here is building anticipation with out-of-town speakers. The idea of an out-of-town speaker automatically engages people's fear of missing out. It’s not someone you’ll be able to see next month or next week.
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Spreading awareness through joint events with other meetups gives both meetups additional exposure. This can be particularly useful for us, such as when we collaborate with a broader JavaScript meetup alongside a more niche one like Ember. Be careful not to schedule against competitive meetups—by competitive, I just mean the other meetups that the people attending yours also want to attend. It's respectful to keep their schedules in mind.
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These are effective ways to start or restart things with a bang. Tip number 9 is nurturing your speakers. Just like in startups or anything in the tech space, you should always be recruiting—always be recruiting speakers. For our evenings of talks, we have two 30-minute talks and three lightning talks, like the one I’m doing right now.
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Lightning talks at a meetup are a great venue for speakers to deliver their first talk ever in a relatively low-pressure environment. I often offer to review speakers' slides and outlines if they send them to me a few days in advance, giving them feedback that helps improve their content while also making them feel supported.
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Don't forget to provide feedback after talks as well. Letting speakers know they did a great job is important, as this is a big step for a lot of people who have never spoken before a group. Tip number 8 is to use existing tools. This may seem obvious to us, but we didn’t always have platforms like Twitter and YouTube.
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When I first started my Ruby meetup, we had to figure out what platform to use for our site. Eventually, we settled on Meetup.com and now our Ruby community has over 3,000 members. We’ve been recording our talks every month. Initially, I didn't understand the value of this, but every time I travel around the country talking about Ember, people thank me for posting those videos monthly.
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Many people with scheduling conflicts in New York also appreciate being able to watch them afterward. Recording talks provides great exposure for speakers and allows their content to last for beyond just that one night.
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Tip number 7 is partnering with venues. From my experience, the key to a good relationship with venues is to create a win-win scenario, where the venue seeks exposure in the community for recruiting or aligning with the ethos of your community.
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Ensure the venues you partner with are not overly aggressive with their recruiting. You ideally want venues that have built-in AV equipment and don’t require you to bring your own, as well as food and drink. In New York City, I also prefer places that don't have extensive security processes.
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Another key aspect is to take care of these relationships. The main currency you have as a meetup organizer is exposure, so thanking your sponsors publicly and frequently is really important. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without sponsors like Pivotal Labs.
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Tip number 6 is to be welcoming. This means being the MC or having someone on your team to connect attendees. Introducing job seekers to people who are hiring will make you a beloved figure in the community. Remembering people’s names is crucial, and techniques like those from Chris Hunt can be useful.
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I like to conduct icebreakers in between speakers, asking everyone to learn something new about someone else and then have that person share it with the group. Additionally, we’ve played games like Ember Jeopardy, which started off as a simple question game but now includes an open-source Ember implementation.
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We’ve done several varieties of game shows, including one similar to The 64,000 Dollar Pyramid, and while we haven’t tried The Bachelor dating game yet, that could be a fun future endeavor!
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Tip number 5 revolves around food and drink. This is a vital aspect of nurturing community connections. The way we bond often happens over food and drink. You can't discuss this topic without mentioning pizza and beer, which we have found to be the most efficient way to feed a large group, especially here in New York.
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While there are people who prefer to avoid alcohol in these environments—and I completely respect that—it's essential to acknowledge the power of the post-event socialization, where attendees can enjoy each other's company and build relationships.
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What you’re really trying to create isn't just a technology-focused event but rather a community of people who know, trust, and can work with each other.
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Tip number 4 is about sharing the workload. It's easy to experience burnout doing everything yourself, so it's crucial to get help. But more than that, this provides an opportunity for others in the community to step up and contribute, developing their own leadership skills.
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Be sure to delegate liberally. When someone volunteers to help, encourage them to take charge rather than simply asking you to come up with something.
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Tip number 3 is about championing values. When I joined the Ruby community back in 2005-2006, I loved the vibe—there was no corporate influence dictating the community’s direction. We had an acronym: 'Matz is nice.' This emphasized kindness and the notion that the community should be welcoming.
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I still believe that fostering connection and teaching others is essential. This is why we hold hacker hours and smaller events—they create opportunities for bonding and welcoming newcomers as they learn.
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Tip number 2 is consistency. Month in and month out, continue your efforts! Growth might be slow initially, but persistence pays off.
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For new meetup organizers, my favorite tactic is to schedule the next meetup on the calendar before the current one is over. By committing to the next date, you encourage attendees to clear their schedules in advance.
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Finally, tip number 1 is that small is beautiful. Smaller groups facilitate bonding and foster a supportive environment in ways that larger groups cannot. Every large community starts out small.
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This photo taken back in 2006 shows us gathered around a table—if you look closely, you can spot some familiar faces. The rewards for growing a successful community are manifold.
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Connections made will aid in recruiting and finding jobs. You also get to schedule speakers who teach valuable lessons, but the biggest reward comes from witnessing your community thrive and seeing the ecosystem you helped create.
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With that, I look forward to the Q&A. Thank you all for your attention—I appreciate it!
