General Meetup Discussions

The only thing you have to do is to create the thread and make sure you include the required information. Then the thread will be checked and added to the calendar if all required information is there.

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Thank you for the answer :slight_smile:

Postcrossing should consider encouraging meetup organizers to list what COVID-19 safety measures are required or expected at face-to-face events. Are masks required? Is proof of vaccination required? Is the event venue indoors or outdoors? All or any of these may be deciding factors for some attendees, and it would be helpful to have them listed.

Hello, fellow postcrossers!

I’m pretty new to this world but I’ve really found it super interesting from the very beginning.

I live in Estonia and I’m thinking to organise a meet-up in Tallinn in February 2022 (if COVID allows…).
I’ve read many posts and the guidelines, in the meantime.

I believe that this meet-up is going to be the first one in Estonia, if I’m not mistaken. Am I right? If this is the case, there are almost 2.000 postcrossers registered in Estonia — am I the first one with this idea in mind here?! :wink: Or there’s something bad I’d take into consideration?

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Hi @sdcb, welcome to the forum! :wave:

Great! :+1:

There’s been a few actually. You can find them here— you may need to click the “Pasts meetups (Archive)” link at the bottom.

No, not really! That said, it’s usually easier to organize one if you have been to a meetup before just because it helps you understand how they usually go. But, they are usually friendly and easy going events so don’t stress too much about that.

Perhaps you can try to connect with other postcrossers from Tallinn to help you organize it — perhaps someone that has been to a meetup before. I know that @andry1961 has been to quite a few and perhaps he knows others in Tallin interested in organizing a meetup there.

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I would like to call everyone’s attention to Meetups Guidelines: feedback welcome! since it’s very much about meetups, but as we are looking for feedback from everyone, we posted it under the #postcrossing:general-topics instead. Please reply in there, thanks!

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A separate “category” or “location” for virtual meetups would be very helpful on the meetup page. It saves the end user from having to sort through the listing by country or calendar to locate this sort of meetup.

A number of folks in a variety of places have hosted virtual meetups during the pandemic, and it has been a very useful and enjoyable activity fo the participants, who may still be constrained or feel constrained in going out to face-to-face meetups. Additionally, it has provided attendees the opportunity to meet postcrossers whom they’d otherwise not likely ever meet face-to-face.

While I recognize that at its core postcrissing is not about virtual connections (think email), but about real ones (think postcards), it would be good to see postcrossing provide broader support for this sort of activity. I don’t feel like I’m asking for much here, just an easy way to differentiate virtual and face-to-face meetups in the listings.

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Hello!
I’d like to ask how long does it take to check and approve the information of the meetup and to add it to the calendar?
And also is it possible to make “Lithuania” category in the MeetUp thread - it is our third meeting, and we plan to organize even more in future.

Usually every few days. You only listed your meeting a day ago.

We do ask that a meeting be advertised at least 14+ days before the event so that all details can be checked and meeting postcards checked (if there are any) before listing on the calendar.

This gives time then for any queries or feedback (eg cardprinting) and the meeting.

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Hi @POSTALSAURUS

It’s my suggestion regarding meetup. Is there any universal code of conduct for the meet up. If not there should be one. A separate meet-up section can we create so as it roofed one tag. With a inclusion demographic tags. It my fare feedback. List of meet-up participants added on advance. I had a terrible experience while attending the meetup. I was at the venue unable to locate the meeting area, lack of communication. I was upset because I was unable to attend it. But I glad the meeting went on well. Since it was my first meet up. I won’t blame anybody. It was purely my experience

THANK YOU.

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Hello!Everyone,does anyone know to change the meet-up address?please tell me ,thank you very much!:slight_smile:
I hope to organize a postcrossing meet-up in my hometown–Quzhou,Zhejiang,on Februrary 14th ,1:00p.m-3:00p.m.This is the first time we try to organize a postcrossing meet-up .
Would anyone like to give us some advice?

I think the guidelines should include discussion of virtual meetups. While I understand that the focus of Postcrossing is to focus on real-life connections via real-life tools (hence actual postcards sent vice virtual messages like email), there are some advantages of virtual meetups that cannot be overlooked, especially during the pandemic. For some people, depending on their medical condition, state of mind, or current governmental regulations, it is just not possible to meet face-to-face. Virtual meetups inclusively allow these folks to still participate in the social aspect of the hobby when otherwise they would be excluded.

Additionally, virtual meetups open up the event to a much wider audience, as they can be attended by anyone anywhere in the world. When I host a face-to-face meetup in my local area (Maryland/Virginia/Pennsylvania in the U.S.A.) I will generally attract attendees from this region as well as, perhaps, some dedicated travelers from adjacent states. With regularly hosted events you may start to see the same attendees routinely, but participation is generally limited by geographic constraints. Not so with virtual events. The limiting factors with virtual events are more related to technical capabilities (does the participant have the equipment, level of service and technical savvy to make it work) and time zones. Generally, if they can participate in postcrossing using its website, then they have the capability to participate in a virtual meeting from a technical point of view. By hosting on a weekend (generally Saturday much like face-to-face meetups) mid-afternoon, it is not unreasonable to expect that I include the entirety of North, Central and South America and much of Europe. Outliers (with regard to time zone) are in no way excluded, and indeed we get participants you might not expect.

Another aspect to consider is human nature. Just as there are some folks who are naturally extroverts, there are also some who are naturally introverts. Not everyone is comfortable in a social setting, and I know of postcrossers who would likely never attend a face-to-face meetup because of that. Some of those people will, however, attend a virtual meetup, where they do not have to show their face, or even have to speak if they are uncomfortable doing so. Yet they still get to benefit from the participation of others. Virtual meetups expand inclusivity in this way, and this should not be overlooked.

Through virtual meetups, I have gotten to meet other postcrossers who I would otherwise never meet. Much as I might like to, I suspect it is unlikely that I will ever travel to Kampala, New Taipei City, St. Petersburg or Chennai. Yet through virtual meetups I have had the opportunity to have extended conversations and develop relationships with postcrossers from each of these places. I have met the group of postcrossers who meet face-to-face in Dublin once a month, as well as the group who meet in and around Oslo, and yet another group in Brazil by attending their virtual events.

I have now hosted 6 virtual meetups in the last year. As a result, I have developed relationships with postcrossers all over the world. This has been an amazing panacea during the pandemic. Our overall average has been 30-40 participants. We have made a short educational presentation at each of the last five, and had open-floor totally inclusive discussions at each one. All have been exceptionally well received by the participants, based on their comments. While hosted at 1500 local in our time zone on the east coast of North America, we have had participants not only from all over America, Canada and Mexico, but also from much of Europe, and even as far away as Russia, India, Taiwan, The Philippines, and Uganda. I would note that the participants for those last four countries listed have attended more than one of our events, so we have repeat participants staying up past midnight or getting up at 0430 in the morning to attend. If that doesn’t speak to what this form of meetup has to offer, I don’t know what does!

Virtual meetups are part of the hobby, and I respectfully submit that the guidelines should recognize that.

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@eta55 I moved your post from the Meetups Guidelines: feedback welcome! topic to here as I want to avoid that topic diverging into a different direction: virtual events is relevant discussion to have, but I don’t think there’s anything on the proposed Meetups Guidelines that “invalidate” virtual events as the guidelines are so general.

We’d like to hear more people about virtual events first, so we’ll give it some time for others to chime in on it too.

While I acknowledge your concern, I find it frustrating that you’ve done so, and I respectfully disagree. My primary point was the first line:

“I think the guidelines should include discussion of virtual meetups.”

I think that the guidelines should acknowledge virtual meetups as a valid format of postcrossers gathering, as well as provide some guidance on how virtual meetups should be conducted. The discussion of whether or not that should be the case falls clearly in the guideline discussion topic, not here.

@eta55 - Here is your answer!

Many thanks for your suggestions (and my apologies for the very delayed response), @paulo!

I’ve just a final question — can the meetup announced even if the postcard design isn’t finished yet?

Thank you again

That’s actually the way it should be (IMHO).

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That was also my thought, actually. I got confused when I saw some meetups announced with the design of the postcard already available (and, in some cases, offered for sale by the organiser)

Hi!
Please add this meetup in list :hugs:

Thank!

Hello! I am attempting to organise my first meetup. I have made a post in the forum proposing a date and place. A few people are interested. How do I make it official? The title of the meetup says ‘INCOMPLETE’ but I can’t see an option to edit the forum post to fill in the missing information and make it an official meetup?