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Organizer Guide

This section serves as a guide for individuals interested in running a GSF meetup group.

Providing a positive experience​

GSF is committed to providing a positive experience for community members both online and offline. Please make sure to read the GSF Code of Conduct to learn more about the acceptable behaviors that all meetups should follow.

Meetup.com has a feedback function enabling you to receive feedback from event attendees. Looking through this feedback will provide you with insights on what people like and dislike about your meetups. It also allows for people to give suggestions about how to improve the experience. Use this function whenever possible.

Using the meetup.com platform​

Your new group will have its own space in our Meetup network. The name of your group will be either the city or region where you live, such as GSF - Manchester or GSF - Canada.

In addition to the information in this document, check out the guides that meetup.com offers:

We recommend using to run your local group, however, we recognize that there may be reasons why the site isn't the best fit for your community. For example, meetup.com isn't accessible in China. If you want to use other event hosting platforms please get in touch with us. Note that our guidelines for running meetups will still apply and that we may also create a group on meetup.com to point to where you are hosting your event in order to better promote your activities. Recordings from the event can be uploaded to GSF’s youtube channel. Please reach out to us at meetup@greensoftware.foundation if you would like to upload a recording from your event.

Collaborating with other Organizers​

There are currently over 25 GSF meetup groups around the world. Each group has a wealth of experience, technical knowhow and ideas. Take advantage by connecting with other organizers and collaborating with them. You can contact them through their group page or via the Meetup GitHub Discussion Forum. Introduce yourself and ask any questions you may have. We offer the following tools to facilitate collaboration:

Scheduling and promoting events​

The secret to growing a large group on meetup is very simple: regular high quality events. Imagine Meetup as closer to a social network like Facebook than an events platform. When you start to have regular events, the platform’s algorithm starts to show the future events to more people. The more your group grows, the less you will have to take care of external marketing in order to get attendees.

Different timelines and intervals for meetings and events will be suitable in different groups, depending on the number of members and other factors. Here are a few recommendations for keeping the group active and involved:

  • Organize a meetup or event ideally every month, but at least once a quarter
  • Gauge the interest from your local community and adjust the timing as needed
  • Announce your event (save the date) at least 3 - 4 weeks in advance to give people time for planning
  • Finalize your agenda and add it to Meetup.com at least 2 weeks before your event
  • Make sure to have a clearly defined target audience for your event such as students, professionals, leaders, hobbyists, sustainability enthusiasts, etc.
  • Share a post-event summary within 24 - 72 hours with a specific call to action for the audience.
  • We recommend doing in-person events. Organizing Virtual events could also be an option if need be, however we have seen that hybrid events are often problematic for both organizers and attendees.

For promotion of your event, consider a variety of approaches:

  • Attend software events near you
  • Speak to GSF member companies
  • Reach out to students at nearby universities
  • Share the event on your social networks using the #greensoftware hashtag

Let us know of your planned event in advance and we’ll share it on our Twitter account, LinkedIn account and newsletter. We can share photos, write-ups or announcements. Sharing photos and write-ups of a successful event will get visibility for your group and will get people to sign up to be notified of future events.

Also consult the Meetup groups and events policies.

Finding content and speakers​

We strive to create an environment where people who are interested in green software — developers, beginners and advanced users alike — can gather and talk about the technologies we’re creating and learn what is new in the space.

You may also want to bring in speakers. The GSF Speakers Catalog features community members who are knowledgeable about Green Software and who are available as speakers. Connecting with the Speakers Catalog is a great way to find a presenter who can attend an event either in person or by joining remotely. Other meetup organizers may also be available to speak at your events. Meeting community members in your area may also be a source of speakers.

Selecting a venue​

Are you working at an organization or are you at a school? You may have access to space there. Often organizers are able to find hosts in their local community who are happy to provide space for events.

One very common method is to look on meetup.com for other similar meetup events in your area, where are they hosting there events. Every city has a few venues that open their doors to meetup organizers for free or in echange for a short pitch at the start.

If you’re just getting started and have a small number of members, you can meet informally in a coffee shop or other public space. Once you start getting a larger number of people though you’ll need to find a more formal meeting space that will allow for you to project slides, use a microphone, etc.

Sponsorships and funding​

In general, GSF does not have any funding available to support meetup group events. Organizers are encouraged to seek sponsorship from their own organization or local community to cover any costs that come from organizing events. Please carefully review these guidelines before seeking sponsors for your event.

  • Sponsors can be recognized by adding their name/logo on the Meetup event page and thanked at the beginning of the meetup.
  • Sponsors may speak at a meetup just like any other person or organization is welcome to speak at a meetup.
  • Sponsorships in return for product pitches are not allowed.
  • Sharing of any attendee data with sponsors is not allowed.

Running virtual meetups​

We recommend doing in-person events. Running Virtual events could also be an option if need be, however we have seen that hybrid events are often problematic for both organizers and attendees.

You may want to consider running online meetups when that makes sense for your local community members. Meetup.com has great tools for organizing and promoting a virtual event, for handling registration and communicating with attendees. Have a look at the support article Hosting an online event on Meetup.

Here are a few more useful resources for online events:

Tips about how to manage zoom meetings are in managine zoom meetings.

Streaming and recording live events​

You may be interested in streaming or recording your events. Please consider that some people don’t want to be on record when they attend these events. Recording an event may also have a chilling effect on what people are comfortable saying. In addition, what you can legally record may vary across jurisdictions and you cannot record and stream copyrighted material, like music or other content, without a release.

You can find recordings of GSF events on the GSF YouTube channel. If you would like to add any meetup recordings from your events, please contact us.

Tips on how to record and stream events are in recording and streaming.

Using official GSF branding and assets​

We kindly ask you to use the approved GSF logos whenever publishing materials. Please review our Brand Guidelines and Trademark Guidelines for more information about our policies.

When referring to GSF, please use the following official description of the GSF community:

The Green Software Foundation is a non-profit with the mission to create a trusted ecosystem of people, standards, tooling and best practices for green software. The Foundation's vision is a future where there are zero harmful environmental effects from using software. To learn more, visit: https://greensoftware.foundation/.

Organizing other types of events​

We encourage all organizers to run new and creative types of events in their area. For instance, you may be thinking about running a hackathon or a training bootcamp. Browse thearticles available on the GSF website. They offer topics for possible training and workshop sessions. More resources are in planning, including certifications.

Here are some ideas that may be of help:

  • Hackathons, Contribute-a-thons, Challenges
  • Trainings, Workshops, Bootcamps
  • If you're looking for help with any other type of event, please feel free to contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Meetup Organizers Meetings​

A formalized regular call for GSF meetup organizers helps to coordinate and plan as a group. An exchange between organizers of lessons learned, positive and negative experiences, what worked and what did not. Any existing GSF meetup organizer is welcome to attend these calls.

Topics could include:

  • Lessons learned: What has worked well and what could be improved?
  • Generating ideas of new things to try
  • How to keep your local community engaged
  • Recruiting speakers and selecting engaging topics
  • Creating new events easier and more effectively
  • Drafting an event template for a virtual workshop
  • Drafting recommendations for improving processes, event organization
  • Improving accessibility of resources, e.g. Meetup.com, Chat, Google Drive, GitHub, YouTube