What can you do for me?

I love a good meetup, almost as much as I love a good meeting (no, really).

I noticed something interesting recently about the welcome messages of people who join meetup groups.

They almost always seem to read like this "Great that you joined our group, [your name]. Looking forward to/glad I could meet at [insert group name here]. If I can be any assistance with [the product I'm selling], please contact me via [my preferred method]. I'd love to catch up at the next [insert group again] so we can talk about [the product I'm trying to sell to you]."

What is wrong with this picture?

It ignore the needs of the person as to why they joined the group, or why they might possibly attend again.

Further, it falls short of asking the (or any other potential participant) what they might hope to join for, whether the group met their needs, and what might possibly be done for them in the future to achieve those aims.

So if you are running (or considering starting or taking over) a group, have you asked yourself why less than 5% of your actual members turn up, or why most never come back? I bet the answers (if you are open to them) might surprise you.

Take care of the needs of the audience first, and your volumes will be well catered for.