What makes a REI meetup a good one?

[Asa Hunt]

Hey folks, I'm looking to start a weekly lunch meetup in the North Dallas area (Addison) with a focus on multifamily investing. There are a lot of meetups in my area, so I'm thinking of ways to differentiate and maximize value in a short amount of time (1 hour over lunch). I'd really like to focus on facilitating relationships because all the learning you could ever want are on the internet, and face time with other investors is harder to come by. Ideas for a 1-hour meeting:

• Weekly investor introductions & time to share what you're looking for, any issues you're facing, and services you may have to offer.
• Deal pitching.
• Success & goal sharing/accountability.

My question for the forum is, what makes a REI meetup a good one? What is the most valuable part of a meetup? Is their value in a group where the focus is on support & networking vs. educational content?

[Theo Hicks]

I'd say the networking (which is obvious) and accountability. For example, at Joe Fairless' Cincinnati meetup, each person posts their monthly goals to a Facebook group and then updates the group on the status of their goal at the next meetup. No one wants to say they didn't achieve their goal in front of a bunch of people!