In social media, we have a bad habit of focusing most of our time on our online communities – making sure that people are interacting, quality content is being published regularly, that we are gaining new followers and our communities are thriving. It’s time to mix it up a little and get your community together in real life.

Scheduling a meet up (or, in case of your twitter followers, a “Tweet-Up”) is one way of bringing your online community together offline. Not only does it give people a chance to meet in person, and get out from behind the computer, but it can also strengthen your community by giving your community members a chance to know each other a little bit better, and even help your community grow. A successful meet-up will help your community build credibility, and possibly gain lead generation, increased sales, and media exposure.

The following steps should help make planning your Meet Up a breeze.

1. Find your purpose – It can be as simple as a Happy Hour to get to know your fellow community members, or it can be a fundraising event to support a cause that is close to the community. It is up to you. By recognizing the purpose of your meet up, you will be a little better prepared for organization and promotion of the event.
2. Location, Location, Location – A few tips on location: if your community is spread out, you will want to find a venue that is as centrally located as possible. You won’t be able to make everyone happy, but a central location will make it easier for a majority to attend. Depending on how digitally connected your community is, check for locations that offer free Wi-Fi if at all possible. This will help keep the attendees happy, as well as allow them to tweet from the event and share photos. Also, be sure that you visit the venue, to ensure there will be enough room for mingling, the room isn’t too noisy for conversation, and to check for any other possible problems.
3. Promotion – Be sure to use all your networks to promote the event. Make sure that your community knows well in advance, and encourage them to tell their friends. Use a service like Eventbrite, Twitvite, or Meetup.com to organize guests and provide sharable content. If a lot of your community is active on twitter, designate a hashtag for the event early. Encourage people to use it while talking about the event. If you can, include a special, or incentive, and be sure to talk about it. Leverage everything you can to promote your event.
4. Share! - Encourage people to share during the event, whether it by uploading photos to Facebook, or tweeting about the happenings. Of course, ask them to continue sharing after the event. The more people talk about the event before, during and after, the easier it will be to gain momentum for your next event.

As you organize your first meet up, don’t be overly concerned about numbers. Even small meet ups will benefit your community. A well planned event will help convert community members into community advocates and evangelists. They will become a valuable part of your community growth and interaction moving forward. They will help spread the word about the community as well as future meet-ups, and the momentum will begin to grow exponentially.

Related articles

• 5 Ways To Drive Post Event Social Media Buzz (vivanista.com)
• Building a Facebook Community (annehornyak.com)