A few things I look at; do they have a linkedin presence, have they done events before (if so how many), are there speakers and panels, do they have an event schedule of future meetups, is there a membership fee (this can be a good thing because it shows commitment on all members parts), is there a wide array of attendees, investors, operators, GPs, brokers, lenders, etc.

We have a huge line up of awesome speakers. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/711129-northstar-real-estate-conference

Here is the FB group page: https://www.facebook.com/group...Over 100 investors, agents, contractors, lenders, wholesalers, and title people go to these meetings each month to see the speakers and to network (most importantly). 

I have been a guest speaker at FIBI and know David and Matt and Jeremy personally done deals with them..

Neighborhood improvement ideas and guest speakers come in. 

This month's speaker will be discussing the City of Binghamton's funding that exists to support investors providing affordable housing. 

And from there, thanks in large part to the help of the BP community including our Virtual Speakers, Joshua Dorkin, @Brandon Turner, @Ali Boone, @Engelo Rumora, @Chris Clothier, @Matt Faircloth, @matt shaffar, we've continued to grow.This month we hosted a Happy Hour to say farewell to the Summer and enjoy the beautiful nights we've been having in Korea.(..and of course as an excuse to drink some great craft beers ^^)We've also launched a website recently and we're hoping one day our forums are active with investors living in Korea looking for resources and others to connect with.While talking with other members, we had an interesting discussion about value.If I ask an investor about value, the typical answer might be to discuss how much a ‘property’ is worth – what’s its value?

Naturally, I chalk it up to this guy is super saleman and just a better speaker than me.

After that there is usually a featured speaker on an important topic.

Our speaker is great for Consultations, but he would refer you out to a local CPA.Check out the BP Event Calendar to attend these events.Check out John Hyre www.IRALawyer.com