<aside> 🌎

Meetups are intended to be a time for a small area, sub-area or cross-functional group to come together in a focused and strategic way.

</aside>

Meetups are designed to complement the annual company retreat and encourage more face time during the year. Your team or cross-functional area may also organize a meetup for some focused, in-person work sessions.

Many teams will use this time for high-level vision, strategy and goal-setting. A “hackathon” style meetup focused specifically on one product or feature can be great too.

Each meetup group should approach this time with clearly stated objectives that are planned for and shared well in advance of your time together. This time together should result in meaningful collaboration that has a lasting impact.

Expectations for meetup attendees

In most cases, you’ll be expected to attend at least one meetup per year. Some folks, like members of the Product team and people leaders, will be expected to attend at least two meetups per year. To get a clear picture of what’s expected from you, talk to your lead.

Here are our overall expectations for meetups:

• Attendance is generally expected, if you can travel on the selected dates: ****As the goal of this time is to reap the benefits of being in person, meetups work best when as many teammates as possible attend. We’ve found that hybrid meetups, with some in-person attendees and some virtual attendees, gives a very uneven experience that we cannot recommend. (If a teammate is unable to travel to the meetup, consider traveling to them.)
• If you cannot travel, you can expect to be included remotely for key sessions. The meetup team leader will be accountable for making sure you feel included in all key sessions.
• Be prepared for focus work: Unlike the full-team retreat, meetups are intended to be small, focused, and intensive. Traveling solo will likely give you the most freedom to focus. If you do bring a significant other, note that we can only reimburse for team member expenses.
• You will have your own private space: Wherever you go, you can expect to have your own bedroom and bathroom.
• You will have time for travel: Most meetups will have a travel day Monday, focused time Tuesday-Thursday and a travel day Friday. If your event’s schedule differs from this, you can still expect have a day for travel to and a day for travel from the event.
• For longer-distance travel, you will have time for recovery: If you travel for an meetup to a destination that’s a 5-hour or more time difference from your home, you’ll be able to arrive a day early to get acclimated, and you can expect to have a recovery day after the meetup.

Planning your meetup

Each meetup should have a clear owner who manages the budget, works with the People & Finance team, and ultimately makes the final call on meetup decisions. This doesn’t have to be a lead; anyone can be an meetup owner!

For meetup planners:

• Time your meetup for 5-6 months following the team retreat if possible. Putting some distance between the company retreat tends to produce the best results for meetups.
• Share plans with People Team with as much advance notice as possible. Have the logistical basics ironed out well ahead of time. How many folks will be attending? Where is the best spot for you to meet? This is the information Stephanie will need to plan your event.