That sounds great, @David Davila
I'll PM you with my contact info and we can start planning it out. Our next meetup is planned for May 21. If that coincides with your visit, I encourage you to attend. I'll send you a message with that info.
As far as getting a MeetUp started, really it started with @John Van Uytven first messaging me through BP - just your standard "hey we're both in Korea on BP.. why don't we grab coffee.."
Then he started a MeetUp on the Meetup.com site. He used the name - Seoul Real Estate Investing and I believe our first MeetUp was called, "Basics of Real Estate Investing." This helped people know right away what our group was about.
I suggest that's a good way to start.
Also, if you haven't, set up keyword alerts in BP (through your dashboard) for Shanghai and China so you can be alerted anytime it's mentioned.
You can also try to do a search through BP for "China" and "Shanghai" and start PM-ing people or seeing what they're posting about and adding a comment.
After we set up the MeetUp, we made Video Introductions - just using our computer cameras - and set up a standard response to any new members that included our Facebook page, links to our Video, etc.
We also created some video cartoons (a little more complicated - maybe if you get someone in your group who has some computer skills?) and we'll set up a website at some point.
We try to send out a message to our group about once a week using the Meetup tools provided.
We got about 12 people to go to our first meetup. And then it grew from there.
Some tips to grow it:
* Send out recaps of your meetings
* Try to get experienced meetup members to talk at meetups
* We feature one virtual guest each time to increase our pool of potential speakers as well as to emphasize how much easier and connected the world is nowadays
* Try to find local area experts - I'm sure there are lot of people who might be interested in investing in China as well or learning about property. That can attract members to join.
(Our members are split about 50/50 between Korea / World interest and US interest, although lately it might be skewing more toward the US.)
* Post about it on BiggerPocket in the appropriate forum so people know what you're up to. You can't advertise a meetup on BP unless your a Plus or Pro member, so keep that in mind.
BP basically helped us connect with other investors in the area. Then we, as a small group of three people, broadened our reach through MeetUp.com
After a successful Meetup, we posted about it and thanked the BP community and it happened to catch Brandon's attention.
He said he'd help us out and speak at a MeetUp and I think that really helped to build momentum and obviously Joshua joining us helped to keep it going.
So I think once you get the ball rolling, you will find, as I have, that not only Joshua and Brandon but a lot of other people can help support it and grow it. I know I will.
Anyways, if you want to see more of our marketing and outreach tactics, join our group and make sure to allow 'messages from organizers.'
I hope this helps! Good luck!
