Meetup Cookbook

Abstract

This document offers a practical guide for organizing and running regular social meetups, based on the authors’ experience with LessWrong meetups in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. It emphasizes a community-building approach rather than skill development or project-based activities. The guide covers four key elements: planning (including choosing a topic from provided “recipes”), advertising (using LessWrong, mailing lists, Facebook, and the SlateStarCodex meetup repository), day-of organization (taking charge, facilitating introductions), and location selection (prioritizing consistent availability, suitable space, and quietness). Meetup “recipes” provide detailed instructions for various formats, including group debugging, cooking, projects, short talks, reading discussions (with and without pre-selected readings), deep and shallow questions, storytelling, board games/singing, meta meetups, and year-in-review sessions. Each recipe outlines required materials, suggested announcement text, and step-by-step procedures for running the activity. The guide also offers additional resources for meetup organization and credits contributors. – AI-generated abstract.