DEV Community

Baskarrao Dandlamudi
Baskarrao Dandlamudi

Posted on

In Person Meetup or Remote Online Meetups

As a beginner/experienced developer, do you prefer attending in-person meetups or remote online meetups? What are your expectations while attending a meetup?

Top comments (8)

Collapse
 
missamarakay profile image
Amara Graham •

In person. Remote online meetups almost always end up falling back to a webinar format.

My expectations are learning something and meet someone. Every meetup and every community is different, so I try to set my expectations accordingly. If its a workshop, I raise my expectations that I'll walk out with a clearer understanding of something.

Collapse
 
baskarmib profile image
Baskarrao Dandlamudi •

Yes In-person is generally preferred. What if we can make remote meetups more interactive?

Collapse
 
missamarakay profile image
Amara Graham •

I would say it depends on the community and the platform you are using to host. Can you facilitate small side conversations (chat or voice/video)? Can you remove anonymity?

I'm comfortable with in person or remote, but I've been both an attendee and an organizer. If folks don't do a lot of video or voice meetings it may be awkward for them and harder to get them to engage.

Thread Thread
 
baskarmib profile image
Baskarrao Dandlamudi •

Yep we tried asking questions in the meetup on voice and send in questions through chat and have them addressed at the end during Q&A. But agreed it would be challenging for those who do not do voice and video meeting.

Collapse
 
primaryw profile image
Jay H. •

Short meetups can be either. Sometimes remote is better since it may lessen the anxiety level I think.

Longer should be in person. Best after a short remote Meetup since people have had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with each other.

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland •

100% in person. Both for the presenter and for the audience. There's a lot of benefit to be gained by talking with local community members and being able to ask questions in person.

Collapse
 
baskarmib profile image
Baskarrao Dandlamudi •

Yes I generally prefer in-person meetups as well. But it might be difficult for some to commute from their work place to attend in-person meetup. So in those situations as an organizer I prefer to conduct remote meetups.

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland •

My issues with meetups tend to he time. I usually don't want to take time away from family or some volunteering work I do, so I rarely attend unless I'm extremely interested in a topic or presenting. It's easier in the summer when the tutoring program I help with is stopped.