Find conferences near you easy
Meetup.com is a great place to find local events that are being held by your community for free! Finding conferences and get togethers comprised of your target market or potential referral partners really is as easy as the click of a button. First let’s get you to www.meetup.com.
One you ‘re at Meetup you have a few options. You can search your entire city with or without a keyword. Both methods of searching have their advantages. If you search by location alone you will get every Meetup within 25 miles of that city but you also get to filter the results by “most active”.
The most active filter will tell you, in order, what the best Meetups are without much effort. When you see one that is comprised of some or all or your target, BINGO. If you see nothing that excites you try the keyword search or another city.
To try the keyword search enter a keyword like “event planning” and then enter your city and state below before searching. You will not be able to filter by “most active” anymore but you will have fewer results to choose from so it matters less.
Tips and Tricks
There is a trick to the keyword searches as well. On Meetup, each keyword variation matters. In other words, typing the words “event planning” will not pull up any conferences or get-togethers that have been tagged or described with slightly different keywords. So “event planning” will not pull up the same search results as “event planner” or “event planners”.
After you have identified your potential Meetups go ahead and see when the next Meetup is and what the rules are to join or attend. To prepare for the event do a little research so that you bring either something useful, new or funny to the group. There is usually a theme to the get together posted on the Meetup page so it shouldn’t be that difficult.
Make sure to bring pictures of your booth in action and plenty of business cards. Another idea is to ask the event host if you can set up your aaaphotobooth at the event for free to showcase yourself. It never hurts to ask and, though it’s a bit more work, it’s well worth it when you are in front of such valuable referral partners or your target market.
