Hey there! I'm relatively new to the local meetups as well. I've been to five over the course of the past half year. I finally made the decision to clear my busy schedule and make them a priority because I have set goals to connect with a mentor and get into multifamily investing. I realized the best way to do this would be the meetups and it has been super helpful. Now, two monthly local meetups are etched into my calendar and I don't miss them anymore. They are essential IMO, especially just starting out.
My suggestions:
1. Have a solid goal in mind and be able to recite it in a brief and concise way. Your elevator pitch (but without being a "pitch") What ARE you looking for exactly. Nothing loosy goosy like "I want to invest in a property this year." More defined than that. Have that figured out before you arrive.
2. If they have an open mic portion, USE IT. Get up in front of everyone, introduce yourself, brief background, and recite that elevator pitch. Tell the room what you are looking for and why you are there.
3. When others do this, write down the names of the people who introduce themselves with a note on their pitch or background that interested you. Make a point to talk with them before the end of the meetup about what they are doing.
4. Bring a notepad or buy a Moleskine type pad and document everything... people you meet and a description of what they are doing (so you can remember later)... this is network building. Over time, you'll have names and references in that book that tie into the many things you'll want to execute down the line. It's a perfect reference and no one will hold it against you if you write everything down. In fact, that might be a reason they want to explore a working relationship with you.
5. I try not to overthink it. When the main presentation is over and it's "networking time" I simply look around the room, find that person, grab a chair, plop it down in front of them with a smile and say "Hi I'm Jason! What do you do?" and boom, we're off to the races. It's as good an ice breaker as any and gets the discussion rolling. No time wasted. Next thing you know, the place is kicking you out and you've been talking real estate investing for 3 hours!
I'm sure there are seasoned veteran Meetup-ers with more concrete advice but in my short time, this has been a big part of me actually walking away from them feeling like I learned something, got something valuable out of it. I'm meeting up with a guy this Wednesday for coffee that I saw at a meetup last week to talk about multifamily deals and possible mentorship as I enter into this new direction of investing. And so it continues. :)
Good luck!
