How to start a meet up in my local area?8

[Dustin Shoemaker]

Question: how should I go about starting a meet up in my local area of Brandon , Manitoba, Canada? Who should I invite to it? Should I charge money and get pizza or some other kind of food? Thanks in advance!! Oh yeah I should mention we do have meet ups but they are 2 hours away and b/c I have full time job I can never make them, so I wanna start my own local one!! Also how do you get them to actually attend and not just sluff you off?

[Nathaniel Seekins]

@Dustin Shoemaker

Ryan's done a good job outlining how our local meetup was born.  As he said, don't get hung up on the logistics.  Your primary focus should be networking with other folks in your market.  

Find a local place that costs nothing (bars, restaurants, etc. are good, especially mid-week when they're slow and would appreciate the business). Then post a meetup on the BP event page (you'll have to be a plus or pro member to do so) and if only one person shows up to that first meeting then hey, success! You've got someone to talk REI with! Also, go back through the forums, see if anyone has talked about meetups in your local area and reach out to them directly, inviting them to your event. Just don't do promotion on the open forums or you'll endure the wrath of @Mindy Jensen :)

It will snowball from there as long as you are consistent.  Same time, same place, without fail.  With meetups, consistency is key.  Not everyone will be able to attend each time but if it's always at the same time and place, people can start to put it on their calendars.

Please feel free to PM me if you wish.