On a Sunday in March, dozens of people walked into Indy Hall for something that has become less routine since 2020: showing up in person.<\/p>\n
For Philly\u2019s tech meetup scene, the turnout was a signal.<\/p>\n
Almost 20 creative and technical orgs collaborated on the Good Neighbors Meetup Mashup<\/a>, a hackathon hosted by coworking space Indy Hall. Seeing groups from different corners of the tech and creative communities build civic tech together reminded Indy Hall<\/a> founder Alex Hillman how strong the meetup scene can be when organizers work together.<\/p>\n \u201cThe highest compliment that we got was, this was the most fun I\u2019ve had collaborating since 2020,\u201d Hillman said. \u201cPeople have a lot of scar tissue around collaborating in general, and the pandemic era of collaboration \u2026 led people to forget that collaboration can be really fun and energizing, in addition to being impactful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To better understand where the scene stands now, Technical.ly surveyed 83 people about how they find meetups, why they attend and what they want to see more of.<\/p>\n The responses show that meetups remain an important support system in Philly tech, but one that can be difficult to navigate for newcomers, early-career workers and people outside existing networks.<\/p>\n \u27a1\ufe0f Jump to a section:<\/strong> Philly tech still wants to meet up<\/p>\n Today, Hillman said, people are still looking for community \u2014 and local meetups remain one way to find it.<\/p>\n Among respondents, about one-third said they attend meetups twice a month. The next most common responses were once a week and not regularly. More than four in 10 respondents said they belong to more than three meetup groups.<\/p>\n Nearly 80% of respondents said they hear about events through friends, colleagues or other people in their network. About half said they use online platforms like Meetup.com<\/a> and Eventbrite to find events. Other sites that were mentioned include LinkedIn, Luma, Discord and Slack<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe could all use more sharing across multiple groups to make it easier to reduce the barriers between groups,\u201d one survey respondent said.<\/p>\n Professional networking and personal connections<\/p>\n About six in 10 respondents said a meetup helped them connect with someone who affected their career. Far fewer \u2014 less than 15% \u2014 said a meetup directly led to a job opportunity.<\/p>\n Respondents said meetups have led to investor connections, business partners, new clients and relationships that eventually helped them find jobs.<\/p>\n But respondents did not describe meetups only in career terms. Many people said they\u2019ve made friends and built community through these events.\u00a0<\/p>\n Depending on the type of community you\u2019re searching for, Philadelphia hosts a variety of meetups<\/a>. Respondents had a few favorites that were recommended repeatedly, like Code and Coffee<\/a>, Sports Business Leaders and Code for Philly<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The scene never fully returned to its 2010s peak<\/p>\n The peak of Philly tech meetups was in the mid-2010s, Hillman said. That period had more energy, more resources and more visible support for organizers and attendees.<\/p>\n Many people say that the pandemic killed tech meetup culture, but before 2020 there were signals of leadership burnout and lack of succession planning for these groups, Hillman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n During 2020, a lot of people tried to keep programming going online<\/a>, but some leaders figured that this was a sign that it was time to call it quits, he said. For example, Philly\u2019s longest-running meetup PANMA retired during the pandemic<\/a>, a huge culture shift from the 2010s glory years of Philly tech<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I can attribute [the slow return of meetups] to anything in particular, other than a general landscape of uncertainty and apprehension,\u201d Hillman said. \u201cI feel like people are just super cautious about investing in something new.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Meetup infrastructure has changed\u00a0<\/p>\n Several respondents said meetup culture still feels different than it did before the pandemic, but more active than it has in recent years. One respondent said they stopped attending some events because many groups had not updated their online presence since 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cThe central tension of the ecosystem right now is like, how do we build and rebuild more sustainably than we did before?\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Hillman, indy hall<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However, this year\u2019s Philly Tech Week lineup showed the ecosystem\u2019s event enthusiasm, with over 90 events hosted<\/a> and many members of the community saying they feel a renewed sense of energy for the first time post-pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hillman sees those two forces operating at once: caution about investing in new groups and a renewed craving for community.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe central tension of the ecosystem right now is like, how do we build and rebuild more sustainably than we did before,\u201d he said. \u201cThe underlying question is always, why are we rebuilding?\u201d<\/p>\n As meetups started to come back after COVID<\/a>, the process has been \u201cslow and uneven,\u201d he said. Though it\u2019s working, as just last month, Philly Python Users Group held its first meetup since the pandemic<\/a>, for example.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sustainability issue<\/p>\n One of the biggest challenges facing Philly\u2019s meetup culture is sustainability \u2014 both financial and organizational.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Philly tech still wants to meet up<\/a>
\u2022 Professional networking and personal connections<\/a>
\u2022 The scene never fully returned to its 2010s peak<\/a>
\u2022 Meetup infrastructure has changed<\/a>
\u2022 The sustainability issue<\/a>
\u2022 Community connection is key<\/a><\/p>\n\n