Bring the community together

Start a meetup

Thinking of starting an Umbraco meetup? Meetups are a great way to get to know new people and share ideas and common interests. If you have been thinking about starting a local group, consider this your invitation! We have guidance and resources for you and a community ready to help make it a success.

Resources for meetup organizers

Umbraco

What type of meetup are you planning to start?

🌱 First or one-off meetup

Are you wanting to try and host a meetup for the first time  - or do you want to host a pop-up meetup somewhere? Hackathons, Workshops and other pop-up meetups are a great way of getting the community together for special one-off events.

One-off meetups

đź“… Recurring meetup

Are you interested in starting recurring meetups in your local area? We will get your group signed on to our Umbraco Meetup account and cover the Meetup subscription fee for you. We kindly ask of meetup organizers to host at least 2 meetups per year.

Recurring meetups

đź’» Virtual meetup

Are you interested in starting a virtual meetup? Virtual meetups get publicized in our Umbraco Virtual meetup group, and you can get access to our Umbraco Zoom account as a host. Reach out to us as soon as you know the date to reserve the account and sort out access.

Virtual meetups

Considerations before starting a meetup

  • There's many ways to do meetups. Think about the vibe you’re aiming for: a relaxed evening of chatting with other local Umbraco folks, a session with prepared talks and an audience, a “show‑and‑tell” with live demos or even a hackathon?

  • It's hard to do it alone. It helps to have co‑organizers who can share the work load and keep the group running smoothly.

  • Many meetups partner with their workplace or other local companies for venue space and beverages/snacks, which can make hosting far simpler.

  • Consider how often you want to run events - monthly, quarterly, or something in between?

Two people smiling at an Umbraco event
6 people sitting on chairs, discussing Umbraco

Diversity and Inclusion

We want Umbraco meetups to feel welcoming for everyone, and part of that is making sure the people on stage reflect the variety of people in our community. Different experiences and perspectives make conversations richer and help the whole community grow.

To support that, we encourage organizers to put together speaker lineups that aren’t all from the same background. That includes inviting people of different genders, cultures, abilities, and locations, and making sure anyone who wants to contribute feels encouraged to do so.

As a general guideline, around 25–35% of speakers over the course of a year should come from groups that are typically underrepresented.

Resources for meetup organizers

Here you'll find an overview of the resources and support available to you as an Umbraco Meetup organizer.

Connect and collaborate

Meetup organizers get an invite to our collaborative Slack channel for meetup organizers and selected Umbraco HQ’ers. Inside this space you can exchange ideas, ask questions, share event formats that worked well, and get quick support from both HQ and fellow organizers. It is a space to celebrate successes, solve challenges together, and stay informed about new opportunities.

Umbraco Swag

Active meetup organizers are invited to collect an Umbraco swag package once a year at major events like Codegarden or at a business summit. Each package includes a variety of items such as T-shirts, hoodies, and stickers, depending on current availability, to use at your meetups. To reduce our environmental impact and simplify logistics, we unfortunately no longer ship swag by post.

Requesting HQ speakers for meetups

We love sharing the latest news or what we're working on in HQ at meetups. To request an Umbraco HQ speaker, please contact us well in advance once your event date is set. While we primarily support virtual sessions, we consider in-person requests for new meetup groups or when an HQ staff member is already nearby to help grow the local community.

Social media promotion

When you launch a new meetup group, it can be a good idea to spread the word and get more people joining early on. We would love to help you by spreading the word on our social media and in e-mails to local developers. By sharing your new group with the wider Umbraco community, we can help you find like-minded people in your area and ensure that more people will know about the meetups.

Get in contact with us

Want to start a new meetup or want to discuss any of the above information? Please contact the Umbraco Developer Relations team via the button below!

Contact DevRel