Retiring Meetup Groups

The lifespan of a MeetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. group depends on a lot of factors. It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes groups have to be closed and their members redirected elsewhere.

There are a few reasons that a Meetup group might need to be closed:

  • They are joining forces with another group in their area.
  • Their community is active on a different platform.
  • They have worked hard to organize events, but are without an organizer or without a local community.

First, begin with the steps listed in Reengaging Local Communities. Once those steps are complete, if no one has stepped up to help organize regular events, then the steps to retire a group are shown below.

  1. Let the group members know. Select the ‘Email Members’ option from the ‘Group Tools’ drop-down menu and send a message to all members letting them know when the Meetup will be closed (about two weeks is plenty of time). If there is another group they should be directed to, share the URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org in the email so it doesn’t disappear when the group closes.
  2. Step down as the organizer. When you’re ready to close, go to the Meetup group’s homepage and choose “Step down as Organizer” option from the “My profile” drop down menu. You’ll be prompted to select a reason, and then click “Continue” and on the confirmation page select “Or close down this Meetup completely and don’t allow anyone to step up as Organizer” at the bottom.
  3. Email support@wordcamp.org to let the Community Team know! This is very important, as it helps us track the status of our meetup groups.

Closing a group is a permanent change. All photos, past events, and membership lists will be lost. You probably won’t ever get this particular prompt, but just in case you do don’t change or end the Organizer Subscription plan.

When in doubt, ask in #community-team!

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