General Meetup Discussions

Hello. How to announce a new meetup in February to make such an announcement visible on this website? Thanks!

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Hi, welcome to the forum community :slight_smile:

All meetups here are being published by the organizing persons themselves .

As there is no separate listing for Kazakhstan, you could publish your meetup in the other places. I don’t know if the Russian category is for Russia only or also for other Russian speaking countries. :thinking:

Hey there!
I have a question for those having attended/hosted an online meetup!
Did you have a time slot in your agenda for writing postcards? Does writing postcards together work well over online?

@ mail from jo -

I have attended three and hosted two other virtual meetups, and I have not seen anyone try a postcard writing session during one of them. I have also attended face-to-face meetups pre-pandemic. I feel like writing cards is a sort of solo activity between the writer and the recipient; not sure why I’d want to be online with others while doing that. At face-to-face meetups I have seen a few people address meetup cards while signing the cards as they get passed around, so that the recipient gets a card with all of the signatures.

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Please add our meetup to the Meetups calendar :pray: 1 March 2021 - Russia Cat's Day Meetup in Kaliningrad

Hi! I just realised that, of the recent ones, my new meet-up in Bishkek was the only one that wasn’t added to the calendar. Maybe you forgot about it… Here’s the link → click here! Thank you so much for your help! :smiley:

No we saw it. There are issues with the meeting postcard that need to be corrected first.

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Hi!
I would like to ask a few questions…
Who/ How is the card design chosen?
What are some popular topics/ activities?
Thanks in advance!

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@tracykinal -

In my experience, the card design for the meetup (whether a face-to-face meetup or virtual) is created by the person(s) hosting that event. It is often thematically or geographically related to the event. One needs to take care to provide proper attribution for any content/imagery used, and not to violate any copyrights. This includes the Postcrossing logo (there is guidance regarding the Postcrossing log on the main site in the “about” section.

Popular topics of discussion can include anything postcard or postal related, as well as philatelic topics. Activities often include raffles or games based on postcard collecting or thematics. Prizes are sometimes offered, again, usually a set of postcards of some sort.

The core activity at face-to-face meetups is card signing. Generally, the host comes with some number of cards printed, and they are all passed around to get all attendees to sign each card. Signatures may be done manually, but many people also use rubber stamps or stickers to represent themselves (this also goes more quickly). The goal is to get all the cards signed by every attendee, and then each attendee leaves with a set (some number) of signed cards. Customarily (at least in my experience) then attendees offer to contribute to the cost that the host took on to have the cards printed. Some hosts accept such offers, others decline. I have yet to attend a meetup (face-to-face or virtual) where the host demanded payment.

My experience at this point includes attending 4 face-to-face meetups pre-pandemic (one of which I hosted) and 7 virtual meetups, (three of which I hosted). I will be hosting another virtual meetup on 22 MAY 2021 at 1500 Easter Daylight Time, it is listed on the postcrossing calendar (Mid-Atlantic Postcrossers) and you are more than welcome to join us to get an idea of what such events are like.

While most of us prefer the face-to-face meetups that occurred pre-pandemic, there does seem to be a growing interest in continuing virtual meetups as well, even after the pandemic permits the return to face-to-face events. I believe that this is primarily due to the fact the face-to-face meetups generally are attended by local postcrossers, but virtual ones allow for a more geographically spread group. In short, you get to meet postcrossers that you might otherwise never encounter at a virtual meetup.

It is my belief that both forms of meetup have a place in the hobby, and bring positive aspects to it

Hope this helps!.

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THANK YOU. You explain things EXTREMELY well! I must have asked the correct questions because I have the information I was looking for. I GREATLY appreciate your time, and experience!

Happy to help Tracy, in my mind, this hobby is about giving joy to strangers. Just pay it forward!

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I agree 100%.
I’m a people- pleaser by nature so if I have the means and the time to accommodate something from the wish list, or in the Spread the Joy section, I’m all over it! I LOVE this!

I asked my questions earlier because I’ve organized a small group of postcard swappers- with high school classmates. For the most part, they are all very into it! I’d like to host a meet up with them over the summer.

A post was merged into an existing topic: About the Postcrossing Meetups

Is there also a list of Meet ups via Zoom for this year?
I think it would be nice to be able to talk with members from Postcrossing from all over the world!

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Unfortunately, there is not a separate list for Zoom meetups. The host has to list that is is virtual via Zoom in their listing. I have found that the best means is to find them is to look at all upcoming listings on the calendar. I did a quick search this morning, and here al the virtual meetups currently scheduled for June (all times listed here are local):

Taipei 12 June 1300 (No language listed)
Phillipines 12 June 1400 (Tagalog/English)
Poland 19 June 1200 (this one is in the Polish language)
Germany 02 July 1600 (No language listed)

It is in your own best interest to check out the individual listings to make sure I have the details right, I’ve not yet had any tea this morning!

Our group, the Mid-Atlantic Postcrossers (east coast U.S.A.) has been hosting one every two months or so. Our last one was a week ago, we’ll likely host another in July or August.

I wish they would make a separate category for these, they are a wonderful opportunity fo us to meet postcrossers around the world!

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That would be great!
Thanks for your quick response :hugs:

Hi,there!
I’m going to have a meetup in Osaka, Japan on 3.July.
I posted the information of the meetup about one month ago.
But I can’t find it on the Meetups calendar.
Could you post it?
Thank you:)

That meeting was originally set for 29 May and so it was on the calendar under that date.

You changed the meeting date to 3 July

but the meet up in Osaka was
postponed to July 3rd because of COVID-19.

As it was already on the calendar for May we don’t see the changed date.

I have updated the calendar by removing the May meeting and added it to July.

Vicki

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Thank you for your support,Vicki!

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Hi Jessica! :wave:

I’m afraid meetups can’t be added afterwards. The main purpose of adding them to the calendar is to allow members from the community to join them too, which can’t happen afterwards. This is also why it’s recommended to always add them well in advance so that others have a chance to consider coming too (some people may have to make travel arrangements, etc). Maybe for next one? :slight_smile:

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