By popular demand, Meetup now offers more flexibility in choosing comments or chat for your upcoming events.

Scroll down the event scheduler and select which mode of event communications you prefer. You must select at least one communication tool to be on.

Note: It’s currently only possible to choose communication tools when creating an event on your desktop or mobile web browser.

Event comments is the more familiar option, which allows attendees to post messages on the event homepage. Event chat is a newer communications feature, empowering attendees to share and reply to messages in real time. Chat also offers more options for uploading attachments and applying emojis.

Once your event is saved or published, you cannot switch between comments or chat. This applies to all events in a series. If you’d like to make adjustments between event comments or event chat for a series of repeating events, create a new series and configure the event communication settings to your preference.

Real-time event chat is now available using the desktop website, the classic Meetup app, or the Meetup for Organizers app. When publishing your next event, choose whether your community will stay in touch via event comments or the new event chat. Learn more about the difference between comments and chat.

Event Chat is designed to help members feel like they’re part of a thriving and active community. Send immediate updates about changes to your event time or venue – or share ideas and conversations prior to, during, or after your event.

Where is event chat?

Event chat is accessible in the new Event Chat tab in your Messages or on the right side of the event homepage, under the date and location. Anyone in your group can send messages, files, and photos once they RSVP or join the chat.

You may view, copy, reply, delete, report, or react to each other’s messages. To tag someone in a chat message, type the @ symbol and select the attendee to tag.

Who can access event chat?

All members can see and use this feature as long as they have either RSVP'd to the event or manually joined the chat. 7 days after the associated event, that chat will be read-only. 30 days after that, chats will be archived.

Members in the chat will receive a push and on-site notification when a new message is sent.

You may mute notifications for a specific event chat by following these steps:

Web or Mobile Web:

1. Go to the event homepage and click Event chat.
2. Click the three dots "..." icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Mute notifications from the dropdown menu.

Meetup app or Meetup for Organizers app (iOS & Android):

1. Navigate to the event chat in the app.
2. Tap the three dots "..." icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Mute notifications from the dropdown menu.

How do I leave a chat?

If you have joined an event chat for an event you have not RSVP'd to and you no longer wish to be part of the conversation, you can leave the chat. Leaving a chat will remove it from your list of Event Chats. You will not be able to access it anymore unless you re-join.

Note: There is no way to leave Event Chat if you are RSVP'd to the event. However you can mute the notifications and ignore the event chat if you don't want to participate.

You may leave a specific event chat by following these steps:

Web or Mobile Web:

1. Go to the event homepage and click Leave Event Chat.

Meetup app or Meetup for Organizers app (iOS & Android):

1. Navigate to the event chat in the app.
2. Tap the three dots "..." icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Leave event chat from the dropdown menu.

What content can I send in event chat?

Organizers and members are free to send text or media attachments in event chat, as long as the content shared follows our Community Guidelines.

Any photos posted in event chat will not be automatically shared in a group or event photo album.

On desktop web, organizers and leadership team members can use the "..." three dots menu beside individual chat messages to moderate or remove them, if necessary. In the app, organizers and leadership team members can perform the same functions by pressing and holding an individual message.

Successful Meetup groups all start with the same thing: engagement. We want organizers to be able to contact their members quickly and easily to keep them in the loop.

The Contact Members tool helps you to communicate with your members without having to disclose your personal email address, as you would with your group’s announcement list.

To access your Contact Members tool via your desktop or mobile web browser:

1. From your Meetup group homepage, select Manage group.
2. Select Contact members from the drop-down menu.
3. Under Send this message to, you’ll see the default option is set to email all members in your group.
4. Click see more options to choose a specific group instead:

• A custom list
• Members on the announcement list (if enabled)
• Pending members
• Active members
• Inactive members (for less than 12 months)
• Leadership Team
• Members related to a recent or upcoming Meetup (by RSVP status)

While the Contact Members tool supports basic formatting options like bold, italics, and underlining, you can customize your message further by sending it directly from your email client. Sending from your email client also allows you to include attachments, such as the menu of the restaurant hosting your event. To send a customized message, email your message to your group’s announcement list address.

Contacting your members via the Meetup app

While the Contact Members tool isn’t currently available via the Meetup app, you can still communicate with your members by sending a message to your group's announcement list directly from your personal email.

Note: When contacting your members via your announcement list on a mobile device, your message must be sent from the email address connected with your Meetup account.

Organizer App for iOS/Android

1. From your Meetup group homepage, tap Contact members.
2. This will launch your device’s preferred email client where you can compose and send your message.

Message format

To ensure a consistent experience for members, messages sent by email include a subtle gray border and a Meetup logo at the top.

While organizers do have the option of using HTML in their communications to members, for the best results on all devices, we recommend keeping it simple, and ideally text only. Images should be a maximum of 360 pixels wide.

Discussions make it easy for your members to stay engaged outside of scheduled events. Whether newbies are looking to introduce themselves, longtime members are sharing news, or organizers are seeking feedback, discussions benefit everyone.

Of course, with great discussions come great responsibility, at least for organizers. As an organizer, it’s up to you and your leadership team to make sure your group's discussions align with the interests and guidelines you’ve set. For most, this includes deleting spam, bringing the peace to heated conversations, and removing members who can’t keep it civil.

Delete a Discussion or Comment

Only the primary organizer and co-organizers can delete discussions and comments from their group. Any member can also delete any of their own discussions or comments.

Desktop and Mobile Web:

1. From your group homepage, scroll down to Discussions and click See all
2. Find the discussion you’d like to delete and select the three dots next to it
3. Choose Delete
4. Select Confirm to delete the discussion

Android and iOS App:

1. From your group homepage, scroll down to Discussions and click See all
2. Find the discussion you’d like to delete and select the three dots next to it
3. Choose Delete

Report a Discussion or Comment

While only organizers and co-organizers can delete content from their group's discussions, all group members can report comments and discussions. If you come across a post that seems to violate the group’s or Meetup’s guidelines, we encourage you to report it so our Community Integrity Team can review and take action if necessary.

1. From your group homepage, scroll down to Discussions and click See all
2. Find the discussion you’d like to report
3. Select the three dots icon on that discussion and choose Report
4. Choose a reason you are reporting this discussion and select Next
5. Type in additional comments (if needed) and select Report

Choose Whether Members Can Start a Discussion Thread

Organizers and co-organizers can decide whether members can start a new discussion, or limit members to reply only. This is a tool to help organizers have more control over the quality of the discussion. You can change this setting at any time by clicking the toggle. Members can always reply to existing discussion threads.

1. From your group homepage, scroll down to Discussions and click See all
2. Use the toggle at the top to manage member permissions

• When the toggle shows a check, anyone (including members) can start a discussion.
• 
When the toggle shows a gray x, only organizers and group leadership team members can start discussions, limiting members to reply only. 


 

Note: Custom email lists can only be managed via the desktop web version of Meetup.

There may be times when you want to contact a specific subset of members within your group. Perhaps you want to send a welcome message to only your newest members, or share study tips for the beginners in your Spanish language exchange.

Organizers have the power to create, edit, and delete custom email lists to send the right message to the right members at the right time.

When you send a messages to a custom list through the Meetup site, recipients are able to reply directly via email. The responses go only to you, and are not sent to anyone else on the email list.

To create a new custom list:

1. From your Meetup group homepage, click Manage Group 
2. Select Contact members
3. Under Send this message to check A custom list
4. Click New list
5. Give your custom list a name
6. Add members to the list by clicking Add to list in the left column
7. Remove members from the list by clicking Remove from list
8. When you’ve finished, click Create list to save your new list

To edit an existing custom list:

1. From your Meetup group homepage, click Manage Group
2. Select Contact members
3. Under Send this message to check A custom list
4. Select the list you want to update from the drop-down menu 
5. Click Edit
6. Make your changes

Save your updates by clicking Finish

When the 140-character limit of a discussion isn’t enough, your group’s announcement list is the perfect way to reach your members via email with updates, newsletters, and more.

We assign every group a unique announcement list email address, which ends with *-announce@messages.meetup.com. Make sure the domain includes "messages.meetup.com."

To adjust the settings of your Meetup group’s announcement list:

Desktop Web

1. From your Meetup group's home page, select Manage group and then Edit group settings.
2. Choose Optional features.
3. Under Communication, edit your mailing list address and settings.
4. Confirm your updates by clicking Save.

Mobile Web

1. From your Meetup group’s home page, select Manage group and then Edit group settings.
2. Select Other.
3. Under Announcement list, edit your mailing list address and settings.
4. Confirm your updates with Save.

Organizer App for iOS/Android

1. From your group’s homepage, click the settings gear icon on the upper right corner of the page.
2. Scroll down to Optional Features.
3. Update your Announcement list address.
4. Confirm your update by clicking Save.

When you have big news for your members, you want to shout it from the rooftops. Take it from us, Meetup messages, group communication, and contact tools are going to be much more effective (and safer).

As an organizer, you have several options for getting in touch with your members. You can message members individually, in small groups, or all at once.

Watch our Community Support specialists walk you through your communication tools:

For more details about each communication tool, see the written instructions below.

Contact Members

The Contact Members tool allows you to send a message to all members who have chosen to receive organizer announcements. You can also use this to send messages to specific subsets of members (based on recent activity or RSVP status, for example).

You can access this tool by following these steps on a desktop or laptop computer:

1. From your group’s homepage, select Manage group.
2. Select Contact members from the dropdown menu.

The Contact Members tool will not display your email address when contacting members, unless your group announcement list is enabled.

Contact Attendees

Need to contact attendees of an upcoming or past event? Follow these steps to send a message to only the attendees of a specific event.

1. Select the event from your group homepage.
2. Select the Organizer tools drop down menu.
3. Click on Contact attendees.

Announcement List

Every group has its own unique announcement list, to which members can subscribe or unsubscribe. When you send a message to the announcement list, Meetup will notify all members subscribed to the list.

You can send these emails from the Meetup platform or directly from your email client. Just make sure to use the email address associated with your Meetup account, so our system knows it’s you. Also keep in mind that when you send something to the announcement list, your email address will be displayed to the recipients. The same goes for any members who reply to the message.

When a new member joins your group, they’ll receive announcement list updates by default. They can always choose to unsubscribe.

Learn more about announcement lists and how to use them to keep your members up to date.

Meetup Messages

You can reach out to members privately or in small groups using Meetup Messages. These messages are sent directly to the recipients’ Meetup inbox, and only the members included in the conversation are able to view them.

Welcome Message

When a new member joins your group, we’ll send them a welcome message, which you can set up to say whatever you like. This is often the first piece of communication they’ll see from you, so make it count.

This article explains why it’s so important to customize your welcome message and how to do it.

1. From your group’s homepage, select Manage group.
2. Choose Edit group settings.
3. From the group settings page, choose Your Members.
4. Scroll down to "Welcome message to new members" and enter your message.
5. Click Save to confirm your changes.

Discussions

Group discussions are a quick and easy way to get conversations going that all your members can access. The 140-character limit on posts and comments keep things from getting too crazy, while still allowing everyone a place to speak their mind.

Learn all the details you need to manage your group’s discussions.

Send Attachments to Members

If you need to share an attachment with your members - an informative welcome pamphlet or a map of the venue for an upcoming event - use your organizer announcement address to send the attachment directly from your email client.

To find this address:

1. From your group’s homepage, select Manage group. 
2. Select Edit group settings from the drop-down menu.
3. Scroll down to Optional features.
4. Copy the appropriate address.
5. Paste it into your email client, compose your message, and send it.

Message format

To ensure a consistent experience for members, messages sent by email include a subtle gray border and a Meetup logo at the top.

While organizers do have the option of using HTML in their communications to members, for the best results on all devices, we recommend keeping it simple, and ideally text only. Images should be a maximum of 360 pixels wide.

Tips for a successful communications strategy

Maintaining a regular and robust plan for contacting your members is crucial to securing RSVPs and new members. Our Community Matters blog can walk you through some principles for devising a communications plan. You can also connect with top organizers who've used Meetup to build thriving communities! Join the Meetup Organizer Community on Discord and learn more about keeping in touch with your members.

Note: It is currently only possible to remove and/or ban members from the desktop web version of Meetup.

Organizers (including co-organizers and assistant organizers) have the ability to remove or ban members from your groups. You decide which option is best for which members. 

• If you remove a member from your group, they can request to rejoin at any time.
• If you ban a member, they are removed from your group and are prevented from sending a request to rejoin. Consider a ban if a member’s behavior is negatively affecting the experience of other group members, or otherwise in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. 

Whether a member is removed or banned, Meetup sends them a short message to let them know that they are no longer a member of your group. 

Remove a member

1. From the Members page of your group, click the member you want to remove
2. Select the Admin Tools dropdown to the right of their name
3. Click Remove member
4. Optionally add a message to them (we encourage you to explain your actions in this step)
5. Meetup will also send the member an automatic notification that they were removed 

Ban a member

1. From the Members page of your group, click the member you want to ban
2. Select the Admin Tools drop-down to the right of their name
3. Click Remove member
4. Check Ban from being able to re-join your group box at the bottom of the check box list
5. Click Remove member 

To make sure members are a good fit for your group from the start, we give organizers tools to screen members and control who can join their groups. Organizers who decline a member’s request to join their group also have the ability to ban that member from there. 

Keep track of banned members through the Banned Members tab in your Members List (this is only visible to the group’s leadership team). This is also where you can unban a member if you decide to change your mind in the future.