Recipes for Failure

"Why are teams asked to post venue blurbs before the 1st of the month?"

1. One of the things that makes us standout is our professional reputation, worldwide. Late venue postings hurts all of us.

2. It takes the same amount of time to get a venue whether it's done today or tomorrow.

3. Sticking with 1-2 venues throughout the year can't be that hard, can it... ?

4. A one-month lead time to promote events locally increases turnout significantly.

5. People want to know when/where our next event will be held so they can plan ahead.

"We're all volunteers and have busy schedules. Isn't it unfair to expect that we meet the venue posting due dates?"

Not really...

It's easy to secure a venue, and most of our teams execute without delay. The most successful teams stick with just 1 or 2 venues as per our recommendation, and spend their time promoting the events.

It takes the same amount of time to secure a venue whether it's done today or tomorrow, so if you are consistently having trouble meeting this deadline, it's more a reflection of the weaknesses of your team rather than a reflection of our internal policies.

If you are too busy to keep up with our due dates - because of hectic travel schedules, work/family obligations, etc. - we understand.

Likewise, we hope you understand our desire to find other people in your city who are more available if you are not, so as to maintain the high standards that make us who we are.

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"We are having problems getting a venue this month because ____. Is there any flexibility on the posting date?"

Yes, for teams new to the network, and for teams with a proven track record of timely execution but that are experiencing temporary, minor hiccups.

You shouldn't be spending more than 3-5 hours a month planning happy hours. If you are, you are probably doing something wrong, as most of our teams have got it down to a science and never even need to meet in between events.

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"We are concerned that people won't attend our events unless we keep finding hip, new venues."

• While these concerns are not uncommon, we also witness groups using the same venue for more than a decade and repeatedly attracting formidable turnouts.

  The same holds true for the most popular party groups in San Francisco, in Taipei, and other metropolitan cities. They stick to the same handful of venues and everyone knows how to get there.
  

• Co-branding with a fixed venue that meets our requirements increases attendance, not the other way around.

  One of the biggest complaints from guests in the past was not being able to find a (new) venue, even with maps and explicit directions. In our experience, continuous venue turnover hurts attendance, as a general rule.
  

• We are not in the business of promoting venues, unless they are paid advertisers.

"We would like to use new venues... can we?"

Yes, as long as the venue blurbs are posted before the 1st of the month and the event is promoted locally.

That people are willing to volunteer their time to help us is wonderful, but what we ask of them is to spend that time in local promotions, not in venue selection.

If your team is doing more of the latter and is missing our deadlines because of it, your team will most likely be put on hold until there is more certainty in your abilities to follow through.

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