(originally note1ey5mg077qxeuyaf9qk2f0fgn3m9v4mtn5zpgcpj2g2d7928udv4s2txh2z)
If you’re a Bitcoiner and there are no meetups around you.
START ONE. Bitcoin is a social network too and every Bitcoiner is a node that should make connections.
Here’s some thoughts from starting mine:
- My first meetup was just my friend Charlie and I. I had handmade slides. That was dumb. Just use these or no slides at all: https://www.teachingbtc.com/resources/
- Be consistent. If you can carve out one night every other week great! I do once a month CONSISTENTLY.
- Restaurants have rooms that you can reserve. Don’t try on the weekend for these rooms as you may have to pay. Sometimes there are minimum for bill cost. I found it better to plan on a weekend at a non-busy time. i.e. Brunch at 10am as soon as places open. Scout the place first if you’re unsure if they’re busy at a certain time.
- Orange Pill App. If you’re not on there, check it out. It’s worth the $20 to have it for a year. I’ll likely renew. Publish your meetup there.
- Facebook. This is critical for reaching normies and depends on location. I’m in a more rural blue collar area and a lot of people are still on Facebook around here. Adjust according to your locale, but publishing on social media once or twice can’t hurt. Be ready for FUDsters, BUT BE NICE! Ask questions in a polite way. If you can’t, type your normal reponse into ChatGPT and ask to have them translate to nice for you.
- Website. Get a domain or a website. It’s practically free. If you can’t or don’t know how, shoot me a DM and I will get you up and running. It will look exactly like https://shenandoahbitcoin.club 😅 but I’ll work with you to add personalization.
- Business Cards. I card around a dozen or so. I got 1000 of them for ~$40. Worth it for those one off occasions when you meet someone and don’t exchange contact info. I give mine out even when I don’t talk about bitcoin but want to exchange contact info. I tell people to ignore it if they want. I’ve had a few engage on the topic and even attend the meetup. Physcial touch points are important to building fellowship and will legitimize you for some people.
- Find a nearby meetup. The biggest meetup I had was after attending DC BitDevs and telling people there about my upcoming brunch. It’s worth an hour or two drive to attend another meetup to make connections.
- Don’t be pushy. Put it out there but don’t be pushy. It’s off putting and you only need to make yourself a known entity. When people need bitcoin, if they have your business card or know you as the “bitcoin guy”, you’ll get a call or email.
- Setup a table in a walkable area of town. We have a walking mall downtown and I setup a table one day and sat there with a sign. YES. This isn’t for everyone, but I talked to more people locally about bitcoin like this than any other time.
- Meetup App. Fuck this thing. It costs too much money. Don’t use it until you’ve ran the meetup for at least 6mo in a row. Imho, it’s not worth it until then.