OzBargain 16th Birthday Meetup Events - Suggestions & Feedback

scotty on 01/12/2022 - 21:54
Last edited 02/12/2022 - 11:36 by 2 other users

OzBargain has turned 16, and many OzBargainers came to celebrated our 16th birthday by organising & partaking in meetup events. 18 organisers, 28 events and 470 OzBargainers participated — that was quite a blast. I would like to thank all who came to the meetups for your support, and big thanks to the organisers who took up the initiative to organise meetup events, handle logistics etc.

I believe there are some areas that need improvements. I would like to use this forum post to ask for feedback or suggestions, so that we can organise better meetup events next year.

Events / Checkin System

The whole events / checkin module used by the organisers was hacked up in 2 weeks last year, and further improved this year. However it works by piggy back on the poll module, and the entire work flow isn't that straight forward. I think the work flow should probably be something like this:

  • Organiser posted a new forum post with an optional poll, asking the community for suggestions of date & venue. This can be omitted if the organiser has already decided on the date and venue.
  • After the date/venue has been decided, still within the same post, we'll then update the title with details, remove the existing poll (if there's one) & set up the event tab for that post. That will allow RSVP — people can vote Yes coming / No not-coming. Those who voted "Yes" get added to the participant list automatically. People should be able to change their vote prior to the start of the event.
  • Event organiser can still mark a participant as "paid" or not-paid. More about payment later.
  • (Optional) 48 hours prior to the start of the event, OzBargain will automatically send out a notification or private message or emails to ask all participants (i.e. those who voted Yes) to click on a link to confirm that they are coming. Those who don't confirm 4 hours prior to the start of the event will be removed from the participant list. This should save the organiser having to PM everyone to confirm.
    • I fear that many people will forget to confirm. There were many users who created account just to come to the meetup & then never log back in — they might not be aware that they'll need to confirm. More on "new users" later.
  • Event organiser can set a cap on the number of participants, and can set up an automated wait list. Users on wait list get notified when another participant changed vote to "No", or when people fail to confirm before the deadline (e.g. 4 hours before the event), to allow them to be registered as participant.
  • Current we ask the users to show their QR code for the organisers & co-organises to scan. I think it's okay for small events, however it can be slow for large events especially when the organisers still have to run around handling logistics. We could just produce a single printable QR code so participants can scan them at the venue to mark them as checked in.

The event module is mainly used by moderators and event organisers. I would like to hear from those who have to use it this year, on what other features they would like to see implemented to make their job easier.

Payment

Quite a few events this year opt for refundable payment to encourage people to turn up to the event that they've voted for. I think it works well, and I would like to see more events taking this approach next year to have better estimate on the number of people who will turn up. We (neil) use Eventbrite and its built in ticket selling, QR code scanning & checkin system — we might need to figure out how to better integrate that with OzBargain's own. Other people used Beem It, so they can take payment without disclosing bank account details or PayID.

What other options do we have?

Venues

Neil has a few suggestions regarding to picking suitable venues — he'll chip in later. From myself,

  • Please pick venues that are likely going to keep the cost under the budget. Beware that some venues also charge "service fees" or force you to take their more expensive "banquet menu" due to the number of attendees.
  • Mid-week lunch time usually mean less people = more space for the meetup, but might be difficult for workers to take extended break. Weekend evenings would mean advanced booking, surcharge, cancellation fee if some people don't turn up, more crowded, etc.
  • Some people like to stay in one place & eat, but it's a community meetup and I think many would like to move around and chat. So maybe consider venues with more open space? Like pizza or BBQ at local park?
  • We've also heard that Fortress is coming to Sydney. Great meetup venue for Melbourne over the last 2 years. For people who like to chat you can do it over finger food & drinks. For those who don't want to chat there are Mario Kart and Smash Bros video games.

Budget

Okay. I have to admit that meetups cost us $25k + $6k for the T-shirts this year — that's a lot more than what I had originally planned, and that also affects how we are spending money for the rest of the year. Total cost = number of participants x per-person cost.

  • Per-person cost was set at $35, which was increased from $30 last year. 17 out of 28 events went over the budget. Maybe we should have a reduced budget next year, and actually eat OzBargain-fitting meals?

  • 470 OzBargain users came to the meetups this year registering 671 checkins. It might look like a big jump comparing to last year. However, 83 of those accounts were registered after the announcement on 6 Oct, and together they checked in 111 times. 2 new accounts went to 5 events each, making those meetups like regular family dinners for them. It has been pointed out and suggested that we should limit the meetups to only users signed up prior to certain date. At the same time there are also people arguing that they were lurkers before, and have only turned registered users because of meetups.

After all, we sponsored those meetups because we want OzBargain users feel like we are a real community — real people with real faces and names, living regular lives, and not just keyboard warriors behind usernames & profile images. "Everybody gets free feed" is side benefit but shouldn't be the priority.

So, any suggestion on how we can better control spending for the meetups next year?

Related topic — sponsorships. Thanks to Creative Australia, Mobileciti & Wireless1 for providing prizes to giveaway at some of the meetup events. However OzBargain itself will not ask for sponsorship in any form from retailer/merchant, as I think it is necessary for us to stay impartial. Organisers / OzBargain users can however talk to your favourite merchants to see whether they have any prizes they want to give away.

I think that's enough from me.

Site Discussion OzBargain16

Comments

  • sss333 on 01/12/2022 - 22:13
    +2

    Like pizza or BBQ at local park?

    I was hoping one of these links was to this

    • scotty on 01/12/2022 - 22:32
      +5

      That is something that will highlight the events as OzBargain meetup. Occupying all the council BBQ.

    • impostor on 02/12/2022 - 00:03
      +4

      Spoke to Mobileciti when I was collecting the prizes for this year's event. They also hope for something along the lines of a BBQ for next year so that more people can attend.

      I'd think logistics might be bit of a nightmare such as:

      • finding the amount of people to assist with set-up and packdown
      • availability of BBQ grills in parks - if it was planned for the afternoon, a group possibly may have to go in morning to 'occupy' the space
      • amount of 'actual' food required i.e. drinks, bbq meat, veggies

      Alternatively, we could also just get few Costco platters/pizzas - it's good value and I find it tasty too

      • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 16:46
        +1

        id be keen on this and happy to help out as a bbq veteran. for my birthdays i usually organise bbqs where I just invite everyone on facebook and theres about 200 that turn up over the duration of the event with up to 50 people attending at any given time.

  • kerfuffle on 01/12/2022 - 22:30
    +20

    "Everybody gets free feed" is side benefit but shouldn't be the priority.

    Seemed like the priority for quite a number of people who only seemed to join just to get a free feed, as someone who was watching all the comments in all the events. I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again here: I feel the events should be limited to those who were members of OzBargain for at least a year (or perhaps at least six months) prior to the birthday month planning i.e. the November 2023 events will only be for members who joined before 30 May 2023 or 30 November 2022. The Classifieds have a year rule before you can post in there; why not meet-ups where you dine on OzBargain's expense?

    If you're a lurker arguing that you only joined because of the free feed/meetups, there's lot of benefits of membership that doesn't involve free food, like subscribing to threads, being notified when a good deal is on, helping boost membership numbers, etc. What about giving back to the community that's helped you save and also feeds you?

    I bet the majority of those 83 accounts that signed up won't be saying much now the parties are over …

    • Clear on 02/12/2022 - 00:22
      +4

      When I attended parties years ago I found each year there were the same people who have accounts, except they don't post, comment or vote. Looking at Sydney pics this year those same people attended and nothing changed.

      Sure not every member has to engage but it seems blatantly obvious they're there for the food and freebies.

    • impostor on 02/12/2022 - 01:03
      +6

      I also agree to limit to members with at least a year but also needs a minimum criteria (such as minimum amount of comments; have voted deals in past etc). What's stopping everyone now from creating multiple accounts for next year's events?

      When I chose users, I also considered their 'last seen' status. Considering how we can hide our 'last seen online status', it will be difficult to gauge how active the user is if they don't post, comment or vote.

      Maybe the mods can implement something like 'last active more than a month ago' next to hidden if they haven't logged in 30 days or more?

    • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 16:52
      +1

      i'd give people the benefit of the doubt. most of the people that made an account for my events last year still use their accounts to this day irrespective of whether they still lurk. some engage in the content and posts. I always tell them of the benefits of having an account and how powerful the tools are for finding the right deals, accessing the classifieds section and even controlling what content they see on the front page. its not a tough sell when were exchanging stories of our bests deals and how making an account actually played a role with it.

      The main thing with my events is that its usually the veterans that come up with the occasional one or two partner that does not have an account situation. One of the questions I often ask is how long have they been on ozbargain and its usually at least 4 years plus with some people only coming to realise that ozbargain celebrates its birthday. I know I'm more of the exception than the rule but I think for the longevity of ozbargain, I'd say I hit it on the nail of bringing people together to talk and act like a community. I've seen people settle their disputes in real life, resolve miscommunications and just become enlightened by how far you could stretch that dollar.

  • I Smell Pennies on 02/12/2022 - 00:15
    +3

    Imagine the amount of food you could get from Amazon Warehouse with the cost. Almost expired nissin ramen noodles still an option?

    • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 16:52

      ive got access to a truckload of expired drinks to go with it ;)

  • penguincat on 02/12/2022 - 00:25
    +2

    17 out of 28 events went over the budget.

    That's a reason why I don't go. I'm not a person that eats food that wasn't paid for by me. So unless I personally helped cover the charge for my cost at least 120% (so there was still money for other things site costs etc throughout the year.) I will happily sit home and celebrate by myself eating pizza and salads like I did. https://imgur.com/a/hsgc64t I recreated it in paint. :) Maybe one day I will try and get a shirt so I can stop being nude. :p

    Maybe have 2 types of events 1 for people who have been members for years and hide them like the classified part of the site. Then one organized for recent sign ups that is cheap BBQ at a park/beach BYO stuff which can be shown to anyone. I'd much rather go to one of those (But even then I am not much to talk too. So I could go to one wave and leave) then here is a $35 per person place.

    • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 16:56

      HAHHA love the image lol. I agree with you with everything you said and actually liked your suggestion of going to the beach. I think it would be nice to have an event like that to build up the community but i have a feeling it will just create a divide with the rest of the community instead.

      I didn't have enough time to suggest something like that to Scotty in the midst of recovering from a motorcycle accident and starting a few initiatives that I was very time poor and hosted events that could've been much better had I had more prep time and all that.

  • impostor on 02/12/2022 - 00:43
    +7

    Just putting some feedback from hosting this year:

    Events/Check-in section

    • Currently participants are organised in alphabetical order. For big events, it's difficult to tell who comes first on the waiting list if there's a cap in place (provided poll has not expired)
      • is it possible to have it organised in ascending timeline order (the time they voted on)?
    • I found the QR code system a bit iffy to use considering it opened a new browser on my phone each time I scanned someone in. It was much quicker to tick them off within the events section.
    • The Remove All button seems very deadly - if we mistakenly press on it, it will wipe all username entries that have been manually added to the event
      • possible to remove this function for next year?
    • Once user has revoked their vote, the event system still asks to add them back in with Add poll voters as 'user have voted but not in participant list'

    (Optional) 48 hours prior to the start of the event, OzBargain will automatically send out a notification or private message or emails to ask all participants (i.e. those who voted Yes) to click on a link to confirm that they are coming.

    Event organiser can set a cap on the number of participants, and can set up an automated wait list. Users on wait list get notified when another participant changed vote to "No", or when people fail to confirm before the deadline (e.g. 4 hours before the event), to allow them to be registered as participant.

    I believe these will be good implementations for next year. Like above, the waiting list should be organised into ascending order of what date/time they voted.

    Payment

    few events this year opt for refundable payment to encourage people to turn up to the event that they've voted for.

    I also think it's a good idea to take this approach for next year to confirm attendance, but I also think the community should contribute (more in payment)

    Budget

    Ozbargain could do previous year's method where they sponsor $XX amount towards an event. I know it still equates to a per-person cost but this would mean we, as organisers won't be actively searching for $35pp meals.

    I also think the community needs to chip in (could chip in $5 or $10 depending on size). Ozbargain is already subsiding like 90% of the cost so it's a small price to pay to get good food as well as free merch.

    • scotty on 02/12/2022 - 06:49
      +1

      Thanks. Great suggestions.

    • Vulgar on 02/12/2022 - 07:11
      +6

      I think getting people to chip in is fair, this could also be used to replace the deposit.

    • Clear on 02/12/2022 - 09:12
      +1

      Community chipping in is a good idea. It's worth mentioning that people don't realise how cheap it is to eat out in places like Sydney. The Tassie Meetup last year was way out of budget and it was a cheap place to eat. That's because everything here is always more expensive and often double than equivalent Sydney venues.

      This applies elsewhere like in WA.

  • spychiatrist on 02/12/2022 - 00:56
    -4

    I don't believe people go to events like this just for the free food. People invest their time to go, pay for public transport/ gas money/ parking.

    I suggest just have the one venue per state. If a member can't attend the date set, tough luck, try next year. In regards to people who create a new profile - some people value their privacy and that's understandable - maybe it will be allowed to talk to a mod (a TWAM) for a profile name to be generated just for the event? Though if sockpuppeteers are caught, why can't those members who create new profiles be flagged? If you really want to police it.

    For the venue, an arcade/ pizza place is good. And have a hard cap/ budget. Buffet style or order pizzas to be shared.

    For improvement, more interaction from attendees. Have a designated emcee/ host - there must be some giveaways, even just small items just to break the ice.

  • mmd on 02/12/2022 - 02:16
    +3

    (Optional) 48 hours prior to the start of the event, OzBargain will automatically send out a notification or private message or emails to ask all participants (i.e. those who voted Yes) to click on a link to confirm that they are coming. Those who don't confirm 4 hours prior to the start of the event will be removed from the participant list. This should save the organiser having to PM everyone to confirm.
    I fear that many people will forget to confirm. There were many users who created account just to come to the meetup & then never log back in — they might not be aware that they'll need to confirm. More on "new users" later.
    Event organiser can set a cap on the number of participants, and can set up an automated wait list. Users on wait list get notified when another participant changed vote to "No", or when people fail to confirm before the deadline (e.g. 4 hours before the event), to allow them to be registered as participant.

    100% agree with this. Turnout this year was massive (compared to last year) in Perth. I think it was because i actively pm everyone individually to confirm their attendance - some never got back because they dont have pm, or dont look at their pm?
    definitely agree with a waitlist automation after a cap.
    The other option is to create a huge pm group for the ppl who have rsvp to communicate. I found that the maximum number was 11 or 12 people. This might be better way to communicate to those who have already rsvp?

    Perth is quite expensive to eat generally - you'll be paying $5 for a coffee or $10+ for a pint of beer. I think its hard to find a cheapish place, but agree with spychiatrist - i'll probably order pizzas for everyone next year (but how to cater for people with specific dietary requirements?)

    Ppl showed me their qr code but as an organiser i found it was easier to just tick them in the event section.

    Payment

    i thought about taking payment, but it would be a hassle to me to transfer back. Mayb an extra column in the event section so i can tick off as i give $5 cash back?

    Scotty to appear at every party? hahaha
    How do I organise freebies with Creative Australia, Mobileciti & Wireless1?

    • scotty on 02/12/2022 - 08:51
      +4

      Scotty to appear at every party? hahaha

      Probably not every party, but I would like to visit more events to meet the OzBargainers. One thing that I forgot to mention is that birthday celebration in November might not be the best idea because we also happen to have Click Frenzy & Black Friday in the same month (i.e. busy for the OzBargain team as well).

      Can't really change the birthday month, but it's possible that we can do meetup events in different time of the year.

      How do I organise freebies with Creative Australia, Mobileciti & Wireless1?

      Creative Australia actually asked me. As I've said that we don't take sponsorships, but I did pass on their info to some other organisers.

      • Clear on 02/12/2022 - 09:16

        One thing that I forgot to mention is that birthday celebration in November

        Peak months are expensive to fly "post covid". If I was well enough to fly it would have cost me $400 to go from Tassie to Melbourne and even more to Sydney.

        How about something mid year? Or even in the first quarter of the year. I'm sure we can tie it around some event. Or bi annual Meetup?

        • kerfuffle on 02/12/2022 - 09:18
          +3

          OzBargain's 16.5th birthday: May 2023

      • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 16:58

        could push it back to a bit over december like last year due to covid

  • ChillBro on 02/12/2022 - 09:59
    +2

    Fortress is coming to Sydney

    This sounds great! Such a shame that spawn point closed down.

    Definitely agree on what's been mentioned: refundable deposits, partial instead of a full subsidy, prioritising long term members with higher activity, having it in a different month, etc.

  • dust on 02/12/2022 - 10:17
    +7

    I’ve attended and organised a few OzBargain birthday meet-ups so thought I’d add a few of my thoughts too.

    Deposits
    Taking deposits to confirm registrations are good. It’s more work, especially if you have a larger event but it’s the best way to confirm numbers. There were ~48 people at the Chatswood event this year and there were ~12 people who messaged earlier to cancel their registration. I’m not sure if everyone who could no longer make it would have messaged telling me that if the deposit system wasn’t in place. And there was also a large number of people who voted yes who never paid the deposit to confirm their spot. I’m not a fan of messaging everyone 48 hours beforehand. Cash is king. Especially on OzBargain. People will confirm their spot if they’ve got something to lose.

    Checking in
    For checking in, I didn’t use the QR code. Agree with what has been said above that it was easier just to tick people off. And also, I withdrew a large number of $5 notes to refund people’s deposits so I thought it was easier. In addition some people didn’t vote on the poll for the event so their names weren't automatically on there. I managed the check-ins and deposits on a Google sheet. Having a co-organizer would help with this.

    Types of venues and length of meal
    From what I heard about events this year the type of venue was important in determining how good the mingling was. Having enough space or a private area really helps with being able to meet and mingle with other members. The length of the meal is also important, if it’s too short (1-1.5 hours) there’s not as much time to chat and eat.

    Number of events
    I would prefer fewer but larger events per city. Allows us to meet more members and allows us to concentrate our organisational abilities into less events. It also allows Scotty to meet more members without attending more events.

    Limit to events attended
    Along with the point above, I believe members should be limited to how many events they can attend. Attending 5 events as a new account is outrageous. The rule doesn’t have to be draconian, it could be something like a limit or 1 (or 2) event(s) per city where you are not the organiser.

    Lower budgets
    Lower budgets and if you go over the budget then the organiser covers the difference. We don’t need $35pp (or more) for this to work. BBQ, picnic in a park is a great idea. Doesn’t work as well for night time activities but we’ve got a year to work something out.

    Sharing the cost
    Let’s make the $5 deposits part of the cost of attending the meet-up. I don’t think it would deter members who are keen to meet-up and have a chat but it might deter people who are just coming for a free feed. I actually spoke to a member at the Chatswood meet-up who didn’t even realise that the meal was going to be sponsored (they were happy to pay for their meal and just wanted to meet some fellow OzBargainers!).

    Account age limit
    Limit events to accounts of a certain age. We could perhaps align it with accounts who can post to classifieds (i.e. accounts older than a year)? Agree with previous comments regarding minimum engagement, etc.

    TL;DR

    Have fewer but bigger events with varying timing (lunch, dinner, weekday, weekend) and locations (city, north, south, east, west). Reduce the budget for the meet-ups and implement a co-payment (perhaps $5 each). Fewer events mean fewer (but hopefully more equipped) organisers but with a reduced budget and more people at each event it will require more organisation so having multiple organisers per event.

    • Spootage on 05/12/2022 - 13:32

      I would be afraid to organise an event again if I had to cover the cost of the difference. I'm sure others would feel the same. We can try as hard as we want, but you can't always force people to stay on budget.

  • neil on 02/12/2022 - 11:49
    +6

    Having organised 2 events this year and usually a big event in Melbourne once a year, I'm generally in agreeal most of with what organisers have said here.

    Here is my actionable list:

    • PMs Moderators are able to send PMs to everyone. Users are not and are dependent on everyone to switch them on. PMs should be automatically switched on so the organiser can PM them if needed. Similar to how classifieds works. Even if all the other steps are automated, there may be questions you need to ask users (e.g. a shirt size ran out, have this one). Even beyond this, some people didn't respond to PMs, so maybe also capturing an email. Action: Attendees must have PMS turn on, maybe capture an email as well.

    • Checkin It's already been said above that it's easier to just check people off rather than scan a QR code from the OzBargain site. I also had an issue where sunlight was hitting everyone's screens and my phone couldn't read any of the codes. I'd still have people show a check-in screen but have their username in big print. Getting people to pronounce their username, trying to hear them at a loud venue, or let's say they have an embarrassing username can be a longer process. Action: Username in big font for check-in screen

    • T-Shirts I ended up with 100s of t-shirts in my house of various size including some from last year. When clicking to attend an event, t-shirt size should be captured automatically. Even better, with Eventbrite I just added a quantity of each size into their system and it would allocate a shirt if available. I PT it to events so instead of bringing multiple boxes of t-shirts in various size, I fit everyone's shirt in my luggage. Action: T-Shirt allocation system.

    Due to the limited supply of shirts (or at least in medium sizes), we had to limit 1 t-shirt per member for the meetups. So there were people attending multiple meetups but wanting a t-shirt at each event. Action: 1 t-shirt per user

    • Name Tags Pretty sure I'm the only one who does name tags but it helps as an ice breaker but also I stick them on to the t-shirts to help me distribute the shirts. I used the Avery 980010 tags & the free Avery software. Would like an automated way to outputting this. Eventbrite has something built it but it uses real names from events instead of usernames as far as I can tell. Action: Output attendees usernames, post counts, avatar to labels.

    • Dietary Requirements We have a number of people who had various dietary requirements beyond just vegetarian. I think we should capture this when an attendee signs up. A big issues is that OzBargainers jump on any food that comes there way no matter what it is. The staff at Fortress asked me if our group didn't eat lunch before. Ha. But we need to direct staff to serve the say vegetarian food to the actual vegetarian people so it's good to know beforehand. Action: Capture dietary requirements.

    • Video Game Comp at Fortress I've noticed once people sit down and start playing video games, you can't get them up which leaves others no way to play. I'm thinking if we have the meetup at Fortress next year, that we need to run a comp at each booth with maybe a prize for each. Mario Kart? Action: Video game comp at Fortress to get more people playing games

    From a technical standpoint, I think we should just use Eventbrite entirely. They've spend millions of dollars to develop a product that works so easily & yet is powerful and used by many who run events. Why reinvent the wheel?

    My 2c.

    Deposits - There is a lot of evidence from business/academia that having just a small fee works as a psychological incentive for people to attend events but also let people know they won't be attending. Using Eventbrite, I just went through the check-in list and then selected those in the system to automatically be refunded. Pretty simple. However, cash or whatever others find easier seems OK.

    Venues - Scheduling events at smaller venues on peak times, e.g. Saturday nights can be a recipe for disaster for no-shows. My venue knowledge is limited to Melbourne but I would be hesitant to even schedule an event on a Friday or Saturday night. Bad Shephard worked well as they just allowed each person to order at the bar when ready and then I settled the tab, instead of pre-ordering or ordering catering packages. I also think if possible to have events at businesses that are members here like Dad & Daves, Bad Shepherd etc. Not always possible but I think the venues will have a better understanding of what to expect.

    Number of events - I think if you are having multiple events in say the CBD is maybe not the most productive. I'd like to see meetups in different geographical locations. Most of Victoria's population lives in the south east suburbs but we have a growing population in the west. Ideally we'd have 1 in each population centre.

    Here is where I'm differing.

    Limited Members I don't think we should be valuing members based on how much they post. It's something I see in the comments all the time, where people use it as an insult (oh you only signed up last month, you've only posted 1 deal). It's elitism. You CAN be an OzBargainer and just check all the deals every day or just enter competitions or contribute in the forums. I have friends who I chat OzBargain deals with but are yet to have an account. I've had chats with people at meetups who I can see from the name tags post very little yet can recite what a broden, who is jv etc etc.

    Different Strokes for Different Folks People like different social get togethers. I personally hate small intimate dinner places for groups where you are basically trapped chatting with the people nearest to you (hello weddings!) for the whole night. But I get some people do and that's fine. I'm of the thought that people should have enough space to stand & chat, move to different tables or even not chat at all. Perfectly fine to show up, grab a food/t-shirt and leave. Or play a video game, go to the bar, etc which is why I like Fortress.

    • BargainsGrabber on 02/12/2022 - 15:51

      Agree on the QR code checkin. One of the events in Canberra was a black spot for data, and cerealsmok3r had to manually check us in. Since most users were a reoccurrence, it was easily to remember their usernames and we did it manually

      Regarding Eventbrite, a great idea actually! This would limit the no shows, and will actually have a better estimate on attendance as had half attended, half no shows.

    • dust on 03/12/2022 - 20:58

      Regarding Eventbrite, what's the cost? (The fee they charge + the Paypal fee?)

      Doing the Beemit deposits and cash refunds definitely take time but it's completely free.

      (It's just one of the many things in life where you trade in time/effort for money.)

      • neil on 04/12/2022 - 13:48

        For every $5 ticket, Eventbrite, on the professional package, takes $1.36 in fees. Unfortunately at low ticket prices, the fees %wise seem huge. A $100 ticket would mean $6.58 in fees.

        There is an app to check-in people, a waitlist to release tickets, can add co-organisers with just the permissions to check-in and we use their own payment processor so not additional fees.

        Eventbrite: Pricing

        Doing the Beemit deposits and cash refunds definitely take time but it's completely free.

        Can you step us through the process of how you utilise Beemit? e.g. ask for deposit before, refund at event (how do you check that off in system etc.)

        • dust on 05/12/2022 - 14:11

          For every $5 ticket, Eventbrite, on the professional package, takes $1.36 in fees.

          Is this inclusive of any other fees? (e.g. Paypal?)

          Can you step us through the process of how you utilise Beemit? e.g. ask for deposit before, refund at event (how do you check that off in system etc.)

          I took $5 payments using Beemit and then refunded at the event using physical $5 notes. The events functionality in OzBargain doesn't include the capability to do this so I had my own spreadsheet where I was tracking deposits, cancellations and refunds. It's "simple" but is time consuming when there are 50 attendees and about a dozen cancellations and people on the waitlist.

  • neil on 02/12/2022 - 11:56
    +3

    One other thing about t-shirts. Some people are self-conscious and may feel uncomfortable when say the organiser is speaking to a large group of who wants X size shirt. Another reason I pre-allocate t-shirts to users.

  • neil on 02/12/2022 - 12:09
    +5

    Oh and yes, events other than in November would be great. I actually would like to see events that involve tours of say Amazon, Catch, Inglewood Coffee or something like that. See my 2014 tour of Catch and Tinyme. Or check out one of my IG bargain buddies, Bargain Boss taking a tour of the Amazon fulfillment centre. Anyway, these take a lot more organizing but would be cool.

    • Clear on 02/12/2022 - 15:34

      Oh and yes, events other than in November would be great

      Likely a couple of mini meet ups late January in Melbs. That's an open invite 😉

      • BargainsGrabber on 02/12/2022 - 15:42

        Oooo I’ll be there 25th Jan, open invite it is then

    • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 17:02

      yes please! I would be keen on organising this if you put me in touch with someone of the otherside :DD

  • chrisie on 02/12/2022 - 12:23
    +2

    "I actually would like to see events that involve tours of say Amazon, Catch, Inglewood Coffee or something like that."

    Great Idea I'd be all for that.

  • mmd on 03/12/2022 - 20:35

    Also, I checked in 24 members to my event, but there were 30 ppl on my list who was physically there. Those 6 are the younger ones. Is that a factor? And may skew the data?

    Thoughts on dropping the spend to $30 per person

  • chuns on 06/12/2022 - 19:56
    +4

    Thanks Scotty for giving us all this opportunity to bring together ozbargainers. A bit sad to see that a significant amount of events went over budget given it was already pretty generous. Great to meet more ozb members in the local area though, and also proud to represent Perthies in organising an event.

    I'll add my feedback below.

    Events / Checkin System

    • I didn't use the QR code to check people in and just manually checked them via the event page. I had the page opened on my phone and just ticked it when people rocked up and wrote their handle on the address label.

    • I used the 'Paid' column to indicate who has confirmed to me they were coming. I messaged everyone individually to check. I did this because there wasn't a way for me to remove people from the 'Yes' vote and so they kept appearing in the Participants list. I also tracked confirmation in another document so I could add notes (such as bringing kids, dietary requirement, a partner (and what their ozb handle was) etc). On the day, I just had a sticky note that had everyone's handle and I ticked it off (at same time as ticking off in the Events page). This worked well for me.

    • The workflow you suggested seems good, more refined and would be much appreciated. Some feedback on it below from my perspective:

    Organiser posted a new forum post with an optional poll, asking the community for suggestions of date & venue. This can be omitted if the organiser has already decided on the date and venue.

    • This is great. I know my post had some issues with the current iteration of event management whereby I asked people to vote either 'PachiPachi' or 'TaroTaro' and they were removed from the 'Yes' vote. Lead to issues when clicking the 'Add Poll Voters' and the Action column saying 'no longer voted'.
    • Having this up front prior to people clicking to attend is great.

    After the date/venue has been decided, still within the same post, we'll then update the title with details, remove the existing poll (if there's one) & set up the event tab for that post. That will allow RSVP — people can vote Yes coming / No not-coming. Those who voted "Yes" get added to the participant list automatically. People should be able to change their vote prior to the start of the event.

    • This is good. Just need a way to either manage someone's vote because they don't remove it (if they voted Yes but are no longer coming) and vice versa (if someone clicked No but are now coming - due to a free spot or something). Saying that, if they clicked No but are wanting to attend and don't change their vote, then the Organiser can just consider them as a 'No'.

    Event organiser can still mark a participant as "paid" or not-paid. More about payment later.

    • Noted and a good feature.

    (Optional) 48 hours prior to the start of the event, OzBargain will automatically send out a notification or private message or emails to ask all participants (i.e. those who voted Yes) to click on a link to confirm that they are coming. Those who don't confirm 4 hours prior to the start of the event will be removed from the participant list. This should save the organiser having to PM everyone to confirm.

    • This is good and will definitely save time. Given my event was less than 20 people, it was manageable DMing everyone individually, but it still needed effort. Automatic notifications are great to keep people connected. I liked mmd's method of creating a chat group for people, but the limitation of 10-12 people per chat group still meant multiple chat groups were needed.

    I fear that many people will forget to confirm. There were many users who created account just to come to the meetup & then never log back in — they might not be aware that they'll need to confirm. More on "new users" later.

    • Agreed. I made sure to keep pinging people (using @) to keep them engaged and some either responded too late or didn't enable DMs. Maybe for these events, if they post something in the chat, they should automatically be subscribed to any updates the OP makes (whether to the forum post or a comment made).

    Event organiser can set a cap on the number of participants, and can set up an automated wait list. Users on wait list get notified when another participant changed vote to "No", or when people fail to confirm before the deadline (e.g. 4 hours before the event), to allow them to be registered as participant.

    • A big yes. I prefer smaller events so everyone can meet one another without the event forming too many sub groups. Wait-list management is a good feature. I was managing this elsewhere and where someone was on a wait-list, I would append next to their name who they were replacing.

    Current we ask the users to show their QR code for the organisers & co-organises to scan. I think it's okay for small events, however it can be slow for large events especially when the organisers still have to run around handling logistics. We could just produce a single printable QR code so participants can scan them at the venue to mark them as checked in.

    • Good suggestion. Users can Check-in, write their names down on address label, see the organiser (if they aren't by the door), then proceed to find a seat and get comfortable.

    Payment

    • I didn't end up taking payment from attendees as the number was small and manageable. I also worked with the restaurant to have a contingency plan if less people attended (i.e. having tables placed in a way to change if there were a lot of no-shows).
    • If I did take payment, it would have been via PayID and I would bring $5 notes with me to hand to ozb members.

    Venues

    • Agreed on the points made and all those were considered when I was hosting my event. What was important from my perspective was a venue that had a range of food and beverages (soft drink, milkshakes, tea, coffee etc). I felt the $35/pp was very generous and was enough for everyone to have a proper feed and mingle with others. $30/pp would even work, even for us Perthies. I feel Japanese/Asian/Thai food can be quite affordable and should always come under $30/pp (let alone $35/pp). I'm thinking my next event might be Ramen + Ice Cream which will come under $30/pp easily. Hawker food is generally between $13 to $20 per meal.
    • From my observation comparing my event (around 20ppl) and mmd's event (around 30+) was that if the venue is too large, too many sub groups are formed and some people just end up sitting with their small group for the event. With my event, we were all on a single table and felt like one big conversation where everyone was joining in on. Venue was also a smaller place, so felt more cozy. With my event hosted on a Sunday, also felt more relaxing as there was generally less people around (during lunch time).

    Budget

    • Pretty surprised at the total cost and can only say thank you for supporting all these events. The cost definitely isn't sustainable long term given the high number of events going over budget (60% went over budget, that's…. not good).
    • My feedback on how I managed my event was:
      • Firstly looking at the venue and their menu to see how much it cost for the average Main dish. I was aiming for the Main dish to be at least a max of 70% of the budget (so around $25 for a main dish with a $35/pp budget). This way people can opt to get a drink if they want or stick with water (which will reduce overall cost).
      • Secondly I ensured to socialise the menu and DM people accordingly about it (to set expectations and get them to start seeing what they wanted). Also as a reminder to confirm again if they have any dietary requirements or any further questions.
      • Thirdly, on the day, I reminded everyone of the budget and regularly checked with the restaurant to monitor the total cost. A smaller venue also meant you can keep track of who is ordering and whether people are making multiple orders.
    • Regarding the new user accounts going to multiple events…… a bit shameful doing that. Maybe there's a way for Ozb to collate all 'confirmed users' and socialise this as a report to organisers to show how many events this user is attending. Essentially a way to flag that a user is attending multiple events and for the respective organisers to discuss and action.
    • In my case, I attended mmd's event to pass shirts over to him and help coordinate his event. Attending another event should only happen if you're helping the organiser in some form.
    • I agree with posts regarding new user accounts just to attend the event. These sponsored events have been going on for some time now. It's not much to ask someone to create an account and attend the next year's event. It's the least they can do IMO….

    Other thoughts

    • Looking at other events that happened elsewhere, it was pretty clear some events were held at places that were not your usual cheap/affordable eating places (that would obviously fall under $35/pp).
    • Other observation was events been selected where Main dishes were close to or at $35. This to me is a huge risk for going over budget. Like Scotty said, we should be picking Ozbargain level food, so aim for venues having a lower average cost for Mains. This is OzBargain, not OzTravagant =).
    • Co-contribution will deter a lot of people from simply joining for the sake of free food and I agree with implementing this suggestion. Even making the $5 co-contribution to confirm your seat and keeping the $35/pp will likely already lead to a more positive outcome (due to potentially less people coming and smaller events - easier to manage to keep under budget).
    • Note, I am mindful other cities can be more expensive, at the same time, I also know those same cities still have affordable places to have events.

    Thanks again Scotty and the Ozb team for making this happen.

  • cerealsmok3r on 08/12/2022 - 13:47
    +1

    @RIPwallet in case you want to share your expertise

    • cerealsmok3r on 09/12/2022 - 07:36

      and @I Smell Pennies

      my response is on its way haha

      • I Smell Pennies on 09/12/2022 - 10:53
        +2

        My response is soon, I’ve just been busy

    • RIPwallet on 09/12/2022 - 11:10
      +2

      Thanks for the tag! Will respond in a bit after work

  • cerealsmok3r on 09/12/2022 - 09:04
    +2

    Most of these comes from my own experience hosting events, talking to Neil while I was down there and having studied that free associate certificate in Applied Design from University of Tasmania haha. Took me a couple of days to write it all up but here goes!

    Events / Checkin System

    The system works fine if you're tech savvy but i do agree that more can be done! An issue I faced was where the QR scanning didn't work - you can't check in people via QR irrespective of whether you have access or not to data or wifi and had to manually signed everyone up in the events tab. i tried to troubleshoot it but couldnt figure out what was causing this.

    The optional notification part is a good feature to have and it would be nice if we had more flexibility or options around when the notifications would send and what we could do with them, i.e. ping them twice or change the timing to 1-2 days prior if collecting deposits for larger events or varying frequencies to accommodate for this.

    The automatic waitlist is an amazing idea and is definitely needed for organisiing events. Additionaly, I think the QR code would work if restaurants allow us to stick it somewhere and to have more than one. It does run the issue of people forgetting to scan or not scanning at all because theyre lazy or something which would require you to double check the list to make sure everyone has checked. This might mean more effort to make sure everyone is there in attendance. I think that the current system of enabling more co-organisers to scan would be just as effective and even more mobile if people are willing to provide some support. At the moment, I just use the events tab, if thers a few people that can't make it, its easier to just tick all and them remove the ones that didn't come and visa versa.

    As for other features, it would be nice if there was something around the shirts in asking for shirt sizes and how much they want. They may want two shirts if theyre corresponding as a couple with their partner that has already checked- in for example. This could be as something as a google forms thing that gets sent around automatically. This idea came from @Neil suggesting that event organisers like myself could be a bit more considerate of sizing particularly for people who are more private people and do not want to disclose their sizes.

    Payment

    So I'm sort of the alternative organiser in the sense that I really don't want to collect payments because I'm lazy lol. I prefer to optimise the user experience as much as possible to get people through the door and mingling with one another as soon as possible and there's are many non-payment ways that I can think of that helps me encourage attendance that I will list at the bottom:

    Venues

    Finally I can talk about this one! I've wanted to do more events outside of a restaurant/bar/fast food joint place where we just have a budget based of people, order some food and do a DIY picnic where we all just mingle. In fact, we could just not spend money and organise a potluck event where people can bring food, cutlery, drinks and other things like games and other nifty toys or books! You guys can also organise these kind of events outside of the birthdays like on Harmony Day as an exmaple.

    Having a chat with Neil while I was down at Melbourne, I'm also keen to introduce just basic coffee catchups instead where we can instead set up a bar tab to the number of people attending and just coover the cost of their drinks instead. This could be a birthday even but could just be a matter of getting a bunch of young professional chatting and stuff before work or early in the morning when people head out for their coffee breaks. There would many of these events but they would be much smaller in scaller (we're talking 3-5 people max but could be scaled up to 10 if cafes and workplaces are sparse and far)

    Lastly, I wanted to do more event-based events where food is not provided. This could be bowling, arcades, movie and a range of other activities that we can piggyback from deals - even better if users wants to share their deals e.g. the $39 monthly fun pass lets you cram as many people as you want in a karaoke room and start singing for an hour (could do this with a few rooms pending availability). You could sort out food for a small cost (like $5) like to a catering company or a quick run to woolies or costco. This would be a nice alternative and it actually prevents overspending if you want to shutdown extras or ask that they pay for themselves.

    Budget

    I thought budget was $25 last year? Yeah priority should be given to those that have a long tenure on ozbargain. We should also have set amount allocated to new accounts if they are lukers but depends on whether you guys have anyway of verifying this process. There is definitely an issue of community outreach not really being fulfilled because there is still to this day quite a lot of people that do not know of that ozbargain celebrates its birthday for the month of November where events are being organisedbut I'm not sure where you see this in the grand scheme of things as it could go both ways in promoting awareness of ozbargain vs the cost invested into it.

    After all, we sponsored those meetups because we want OzBargain users feel like we are a real community — real people with real faces and names, living regular lives, and not just keyboard warriors behind usernames & profile images.

    I can attest to this when I organise events. The first thing I usually do is make sure people are comfortable and also give an opportunity for those that are relatively shy some space to talk. That's going on the assumption that they their attendance means that they are capable of holding a conversation or would like to try to participate which has been true for the most part. Over the in unofficial discord group (where the admin got himself banned lmao), we occassionally meet outside of these events and constantly discuss of all things related to ozbargain and life so its more a litte hub for friends to have some banter, share deals and enjoy ourselves. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone as the political discussions can sometimes be offputting and quite controversial because of how free it is currently. The discussion regarding these events there has gone from free food to how we can challenge ourselves within the confines of this initiative. There were a handful of discussion (myself included) that were more about making that amount stretch for the meals that it paid and wanted to even go as low as possible because we realise its not just free money that goes towards having a nice meal. During the earlier pereiods prior to organising the events, I had proposed a $20 ayce venue but that was shut down because the others wanted more premium offerings.

    I think for spending, I do like the idea of having the community contribute some money to the events so that ozbargain can have a bit more money to dedicate to other events. However, I don't think this should be for all events. If anything, it does a disservice in bringing people long because of the deterrence element to it. Sure people would think free food but theres also students and those that could make good use for it. I understand that there is a good argument against this but not everyone is privileged or sees the value in contributing a small deposit to an event. That being said, the angle that I sort of lean on is capacity building and growing the size of the community. Some of this has paid of from the events that I have organised last year where I have encouraged others to host their own events and some have come back seeking guidance and support.

    Additioanlly, it may be possible to draw from other avenues of income sources that need to be created to create a funding pool thats from the community for the community. An example of this would be to donate to charity but for every dollar that the community contributes on top, you can match it and some or all of that amount can go towards an spending allocation for these events. Personally, I would like to see more events to be spread out across the states and territorities. In NSW alone, there was 12 events that could be reduced down to 10 or 7 or 5 depending on the scale and size of the events as well as other considerations. You could also achieve this naturally by limiting how many events an organise can host or promote them to host in other states and territories. Conversely, I think its good to host more smaller events as the conversations become more intimate and you're not scarying some people away which to me bring more and newer set of people into the community to have a chat over a good meal.

    Other considerations and feedback

    Ideally, I would like to see more events in the other states and territorities with more diverse and variety in ozbargain members and backgrounds, but I assume that the amount of events being hosted there comes down to the size of the communities in those areas. I have made it a goal for me to try and organise an event in all states and territories but there may not be a need for that. Most of it will be small scale (hopefully just under 10 with the exception of NSW as @I smell pennies wants me to oversee one of the larger events).

    Non-payment methods of encouraging people to attend drawn from section above
    - organise for smaller groups - this was about 50% successful with Canberra events being close to full capacity or at least sticking with the budget and victoria being a major flop lol. I can go smaller if it becomes allowed
    - organise for specific groups of people - no idea if theres any data to back this up but having more events that cater to specific people would be handy like being age restricted to large groups like students from 14 - 25 y. o. or womens only, vegan/vegetarian, other dietary requirements etc. and we have seen this take place with our first vegetarian event this year!
    - pick lesser known venues - so I learnt this the hard way in determining a venue and to pick it on days that arent as busy so will be avoiding thursday - sunday evenings and at popular joints so going back to the drawing board to see if i can support more local businesses rather than entitled owners which would take more time and planning but I'll start from now instead.

    I think there would be value on getting other ozbargain merchandise in addition to providing shirts out to everyone. We could ask the community what they would want whether its a trinket or something useful like bags, cufflings, accessories, pens or cups where the margin would be lower but the value of having something ozbargain related is there. This would also be a useful alternative as it was evident at the Bavarian meetup where some of my friends receieved bags instead and they were pretty happy with that.

    Lastly, I would be interested in supporting any other events to be organised for ozbargain. I think Neil mentioned doing tours to certain stores and companies to see what the other side looks like or getting access to more exclusive events that benefit ozbargain but somehow remain impartial. This really does help promote solidarity in the community and showcasing some of its networks and other nifty things that the average joe may never get access to in their lifetime. Users who work at these locations can also aim to promote the value of ozbargain as its esentially cheap marketing and PR if done correctly. This could alos broaden what ozbargain consider its favourite if sentiment and reputation becomes a deciding factor after users look at competing deals.

    • kerfuffle on 09/12/2022 - 09:18
      +4

      Sydney had a Women Preferred event in 2019; I couldn't go to that one as I had another commitment. As you can see, usual trolling and WhAt AbOuT mEn comments.

      For OzBargain merchandise I would like an OzBargain sticker so I can stick it in my diary :) (except preferably in black and white because orange does not go with my diary's colour scheme ahahaha)

      • cerealsmok3r on 09/12/2022 - 10:32
        +1

        haters gonna hate but it wont be stopping me from organising one next year and offloading it to someone lmaoo

        thats a great idea! it could draw on similar designs last last years shirt design where it was black and white. for the merchandise idea, we could also have that open to more design competitions to help others build their portfolio. there could be a weighted system against the people that have won previously to ensure that everyone gets a chance at winning or something

      • impostor on 13/12/2022 - 21:55
        +2

        I would like an OzBargain sticker so I can stick it in my diary

        I want one stuck on the rear window of my car :)

  • sunnyc on 15/12/2022 - 14:23
    +2

    Maybe we can do subsidized meetups for contributors instead. So like a loyalty reward dinner for so many upvotes on a deal or number of deals posted.

    • cerealsmok3r on 16/12/2022 - 07:29

      interesting idea that we could get behind as it rewards good behaviour and could also be used somehow to promote others to share their deals and be engaged with the community

      I have my suspicions that this is somewhat done with Cashrewards and Ebay reaching out to the contributors for a handful of events.

  • I Smell Pennies on 03/10/2023 - 03:50
    +4

    Hey everyone, I’m sorry for this late post. I totally forgot about it, and I feel so bad, so I apologise to @scotty and the moderation team but I hope this comment does help one way or another as a form of feedback. If it doesn’t help because I’m too late, then that’s fine and I apologise, I’m willing to learn whatever comes next. I wasn’t going to ignore it and move on, that’s not the spirit. I thank @scotty and the team for everything made possible on these events and if there's one thing I learnt hosting these events, it's that OzBargain really cares for its community and I'm proud to be apart of this wonderful community, both on the receiving and the contribution side of things.

    So here’s my feedback and/or suggestions:

    Events Tab and Checking-in System

    • I loved this QR checking-in feature. It was very fast and efficient to check everyone in with their QR codes. However, sometimes it didn’t work. The QR code would present an error when scanned. It was faster to manually check OzBargainers in some cases. In the moment, you really don’t know how to troubleshoot and especially with large events like mine where everyone is waiting to be checked in, you really don’t have time to sit there and troubleshoot – in this case it was much faster to ask for their OzBargain username and tick off their name instead. I agree with @neil's proposal for a big username font for check in. By my last event, I gave up on the QR checking-in system and just manually ticked each person off.

    • The “Remove All” option on the events tab is terrible. The option removes all manually added usernames off the list, and it is a PITA to sort out the mess. Further, when those who revokes or removes their vote to attend an event, the events tab system pushes us to add them back in for some reason. Accidentally pressing it will force you to manually remove them again.

    • The paid feature is absolutely awesome in ticking off who has paid or not.

    Payments and Deposits

    • Because my events were large, and due to the huge demand, I decided to take $5 refundable payment deposits via Beemit/PayID/PayPal. How I organised it was that each OzBargainer gets a spot as soon as I see their $5 transfer, and their spot posted onto the post itself. At the event, on the day, I refunded everyone their $5 deposit in $5 notes. Some OzBargainers felt I should keep the $5 for all the hard work done organising the events, which I appreciated, but could not accept. Those who didn’t attend, well lost their deposit.

    • Is the deposit system a good idea? Absolutely! On all of my 3 events, I had almost perfect attendance. Maybe one or two didn’t attend, which was very good, based on other events I attended where there were a fair chunk of people not turning up. I did not spend a lot of time on deposits as my events were on a first come first serve basis – as long as the list of attendees on my post was not full, then a deposit would guarantee a spot for the event. I did not have to message anyone at all; most of the PMs were people telling me they just deposited their $5. When the slots were filled up and full, I created a waitlist for others. Those who backed out had their deposit refunded, and a PM or tag to those on the waitlist to let them know a spot has opened up. I did this on a selective process based on last seen status, and account creation date. I favoured older accounts over newer accounts.

    T-shirts

    • OzBargainers coming to an event should be able to have an option to select their T-shirt size. It sucks to receive a t-shirt of the wrong size, or not receive any at all because of allocation issues.
    • Some sort of system is required where if an OzBargainer has already attended an event and received their t-shirt, it should be marked to some extent, so they are unable to get any more t-shirts at future events for the year. One t-shirt per person in total irrespective of the number of events attended will increased fairness and allow more people to get a chance to get a t-shirt.

    Eventbrite

    • @neil’s use of Eventbrite will actually save organisers a huge amount of time, in areas of deposits, t-shirts and more.

    Everything about the events themselves

    • As stated at the start, this was my first year ever hosting an OzBargain meetup event – in fact I hosted 3 of them. I managed to break away from my introverted self and push my limits. As a result, there were quite a few things I would have done better if I went back in time. But we can only ever move forward, not backwards. So here’s my suggestions and thoughts RE events:

      • Venue type: There were lots of chatting across all my events which was great. However, I realised that the freedom of movement was really compromised. Moving forward, we should choose venues that allow us to move around and talk to each other – venues that are somewhat spacious and don’t restrict us to sitting at a particular seat. Of course, in my events people did move around and talk to those who knew each other, however, it wasn’t the best idea. In reality however taking a look at many other events organised by other OzBargainers (whose events I attended), mine were almost the same or no different – people weren’t moving around anyway – the majority simply chatted with those nearest to them. Of the 7 events I attended (included the ones I organised), only 1 event had the ability for everyone to move around as the food kept coming to one table (it was a bar) and people were able to talk to each other, move around etc. Honestly, this makes my events look decent, despite knowing I failed in some aspect or another. Myself and a few other organisers were actually discussing about choosing venues that were not food-based. We looked at bowling and arcades, however time was running out. With more time and experience this year, this may be an option where we can look at for future events.

      • Number of events and limits: Larger events with space to move around would be favourable however can be costly at times. I don’t mind if events are small or large, as I found either to be successful anyway. In regards to the limits, it depends. Attending more events allow you to interact with more OzBargainers, but costs are increased. If there is a limit to be imposed, I believe organisers should be free from this limit for their hard work, as well as giving them a learning experience and different perspective for future events. I believe any OzBargain accounts created after the birthday meetup announcement of each year should be excluded from attending any events. I tried my best to limit this on my events. As mentioned by others, many new accounts have been lurkers who don’t comment or do anything. We shouldn’t exclude them, but we should encourage them to contribute to OzBargain if they want to attend these events.

      • Food and Budgets per event: All suggestions so far are great! Picnics, BBQs, nearly expired ramen? All good with me. If the budget needs to be lowered, I understand. My mentality for the events I created was that due to inflation and increased food costs, we should be selecting venues that will make the budget worth the spend. I learnt following my events that this isn’t the correct mentality due to the reasons and sacrifices explained above. If budget is to be passed, then each attendee can cover the difference for their share. From my perspective, I felt like choosing a venue that had a good range of food and drinks was just as important as getting the money's worth for what we ate. Many attendees agreed, especially when everything is expensive in Sydney.

      • Sponsorships: Not required, but definitely a great bonus! I managed to get Wireless1 and Mobileciti to sponsor a good bunch of wonderful prizes for OzBargainers attending my events. Furthermore, I was able to get the venues to add in extras into the meals at both of my city meetups. Sponsorships and thus prizes can be a great way to get everyone involved in these events.

    • neil on 05/10/2023 - 16:46
      +1

      Great feedback. Pretty much in agreeal with everything you have said.

      We'll be updating the check-in system with some of the feedback we've received.

    • scotty on 05/10/2023 - 21:40
      +3

      Thanks for the feedback.

      Regarding T-shirts — it has always been chaotic. One problem is the number of shirts I have in stock is far less than the people who are attending the events, so not everyone can be guaranteed to have one, let alone one with correct size. If people get to choose the shirt size when they select the RSVP,

      • If they did not turn up, the organiser will end up with left over shirts
      • If they turn up but the size they have selected isn't available, there will be disappointment
      • The organiser can only know the exact number for each size right before the event, which is not workable

      I have around 300 shirts made this year for all the states. First come first serve is still the easiest, and if someone miss out, he/she should have reloaded OzBargain every 10 second arrived at the event venue a bit earlier.

  • chrisie on 03/10/2023 - 11:06
    +1

    Yes you make some very good and logical points which should be taken on board.
    On a side note who would have thought of you as being an "Introvert" :)

    • I Smell Pennies on 03/10/2023 - 12:14

      Thank you. Hehe, I'm actually very shy. But these events sort of boosted my confidence in life.

  • angywoo on 10/10/2023 - 00:10

    Do people really wear their shirts out and about or is it just a gimmick for the day?

    Could another consideration be an embroidered badge people can add to their own shirt that they purchase themselves? Might be more cost effective and when people wear their shirt to the meet ups others can see how many they have attended.

    Attend 10 meetups = 10 badges on your shirt. Think Scouts.

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