Organising Your Own Tech Meetup to Boost Your Community and Career with Keith Harrison

For this episode, Mike is joined by Keith Harrison a seasoned software development leader with 24 years of commercial experience. They discuss the intersection between community building and tech innovation and how it catapults your personal and business growth.  Keith explains how to set up your own tech community. Including, securing sponsors attracting high-quality speakers, pricing, finding venues, and more.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Constantly learning is essential. Meetups and similar events are an excellent way to do this. Before setting up your tech event be clear about its purpose. What is needed for a business-focused event is quite different from what wors for community events. Sponsorship is powerful, it gives you credibility and attracts attendees, speakers, and partners. Know your audience and make sure the talks are relevant. Keep talks short. People have been at work all day, so attention spans are short. Initially, attracting the best speakers will take a lot of effort. In time, they will approach you. Pricing is a tricky subject, Mike and Keith discuss this in-depth.   BEST MOMENTS 8:17 "We try and keep the talks broad enough so pretty much anybody could come along that has an interest in tech and get something out of it.” 10:34 "Decide which one you are: is this a community-based event, or a business-focused event? If you pretend to be a community event but it's for business, it won't work." 11:48 "Word of mouth has been our biggest driver." 11:50 "You can't beat LinkedIn... it's been great for reaching out and getting more people to come along to our meetup." 12:50 "Start by deciding your focus and building your community." 26:30 "We try to keep talks around 25-30 minutes because people are tired after work." 35:33 "Venue is the number one problem... I nearly quit over venue issues." 55:02 "If you want to scale, adding more events multiplies the effort. It's not the same process scaled up."   EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.meetup.com/techmeetup/events/303972875/?eventOrigin=group_events_list https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithdharrison ABOUT THE HOST Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals. As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.  ABOUT THE SHOW Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.