Find People with Similar Interests in Your Neighborhood with Meetup

As a platform that brings people together to do what matters most to them, Meetup is entrusted with a lot of data, including the content and information generated by our members.

Like most online service providers, occasionally we receive orders or requests impacting our members, such as government requests for information and intellectual property claims.

We value our members’ trust and we take our legal obligations seriously. We have developed procedures to ensure that we handle these requests and orders fairly and with proper consideration for member privacy.

We have chosen to publish this Transparency Report to give our members, as well as the broader public, visibility into how Meetup responds when faced with these decisions.

With rising levels of civic participation and public concern about challenges to democratic ideals, we hope that this transparency report will serve to strengthen our members’ trust, and provide everyone with useful information about this important topic.

Data Requests

When we receive a government request for information regarding a member, we seek to protect the privacy of our members and comply with the law.

During 2016, Meetup received nine subpoenas. Of the subpoenas received, four were sent by U.S.-based government entities and five were sent by civil litigants. These nine subpoenas involved a total of eight member accounts.

• In two-thirds of these cases, we notified the member(s) potentially affected by the subpoena. No notice was sent in the remaining one-third of cases, for various reasons, such as if the subpoena did not appropriately identify a member or if a non-disclosure order was included.
• Nearly half of subpoenas we rejected for various reasons, including when the subpoena was defective. We responded to the other subpoenas by providing the legally appropriate information.
• A government entity based outside the U.S. sent Meetup a request potentially affecting one member account. We responded by providing non-content.

In addition to the subpoenas discussed above, we received numerous informal requests that were made not pursuant to a subpoena, a court order, a search warrant, or any other judicial process. We declined to disclose information in response to these requests.

We received no search warrants, wiretap orders, pen register/trap and trace orders, or emergency requests. We also received one preservation request that did not apply to a valid account.

Governments sometimes request information, usually related to national security, in a way that restricts a service provider such as Meetup from indicating that it has received such a request. These requests include National Security Letters and orders from the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. As of the date of this report, Meetup has not received any such national security requests or orders for user information.

Intellectual Property Claims

When we receive an IP claim, it is our general policy to notify the member who posted the allegedly infringing material. No notice is sent to the member who posted the material at issue in the cases we reject, such as when the claim does not follow the procedures described in our Intellectual Property Dispute Policies.

During 2016, Meetup processed 73 claims of IP infringement, consisting of 35 trademark claims and 38 copyright claims.

• These claims involved a total of 62 Meetup groups and 20 events.
• In over one-third of cases we simply relayed the IP claim to the member who posted the material. In about one-half of cases we responded by removing or disabling access to some or all of the allegedly infringing material. For the other cases we rejected the IP claim.

Full Report

We hope that this transparency report helps you understand the kinds of data requests and IP claims we receive, as well as how we respond to them. Additional detail is included the charts and glossary below. We encourage you to learn more about these topics by reviewing our Privacy Policy and Intellectual Property Dispute Policies.

United States Requests

Types of Legal Process Received

Subpoenas	TOTAL
Gov’t	Civil
# of Requests Received	4	5	9
# of Accounts Potentially Affected	3	5	8

User Notification (Pre-Disclosure)

Requests with Non-Disclosure Orders	No Non-Disclosure Order, Notice was Provided	No Non-Disclosure Order, Notice was not Provided*	TOTAL
# of Gov’t Requests Received	1	2	1	4
# of Civil Requests Received	0	4	1	5
# of Total Requests Received	1	6	2	9
% of Total	11%	66.7%	22.3%	100%

• *”Not Provided” includes subpoenas that did not appropriately identify a member account.

Outcomes / Compliance With Requests

Total – U.S. Requests Above	Rejected	Content Disclosed	Only Non-Content Disclosed	TOTAL
# of Requests Received	4	3	2	9
% of Total	44.5%	33.3%	22.2%	100%

National Security Requests

Bands of 100	National Security Letters, FISA Orders for Content, and FISA Orders for Non-Content
# Received	0
# of Accounts Responsive	0

International Requests

Types of Legal Process Received

Retrospective	Prospective	TOTAL
# of Requests Received	1	0	1
# of Accounts Potentially Affected	1	0	1

Notification (Pre-Disclosure)

Requests with Non- Disclosure Orders	No Non-Disclosure Order, Notice was Provided	No Non-Disclosure Order, Notice was not Provided	TOTAL
# of Requests Received	0	0	1	1
% of Total	0%	0%	100%	100%

Outcomes / Compliance With Requests

Total – Int’l Requests Above	Rejected	Content Disclosed	Only Non-Content Disclosed	TOTAL
# of Requests Received	0	0	1	1
% of Total	0%	0%	100%	100%

Claims of Intellectual Property Infringement

Types of IP Claims Received

IP Claims	TOTAL
Trademark	Copyright
# of Claims Received	35	38	73
# of Groups Potentially Affected	32	30	62
# of Events Potentially Affected	8	12	20

Outcomes / Compliance With Claims

Removed or Disabled Access	Relayed claim only	Rejected	TOTAL
# of Trademark Claims Received	6	21	8	35
# of Copyright Claims Received	32	4	2	38
% of Total	52%	34.3%	13.7%	100%

Glossary

• Requests or Claims Received: Total number of requests or claims acted on (e.g., rejected or respond to) during the report period (including amended requests).
• Potentially Affected: Total number of accounts, groups, or events that would be affected if we complied completely with each request or claim (not including data requests that did not specify enough information to identify a target).
• Notice Provided: Total number of data requests for which we notified target(s) (including rejected data requests).
• Notice Not Provided: Total number of data requests for which we did not notify target(s) (including rejected data requests).
• Relayed claim only: Total number of cases for which we relayed the IP claim(s) to the member who posted the material (not including cases in which we removed or disabled access to some or all of the allegedly infringing material).
• Rejected: Total number of requests or claims pushed back on for any reason (e.g., overbroad, did not specify enough information to identify a target).
• Content: Information concerning the substance or meaning of a particular communication, which can include text of emails, messages, and more. Content disclosures may also include non-content information.
• Non-Content: Account information that is not considered to be content, which can include basic subscriber information such as the name used to create an account, the internet protocol address from which the account was created, or the internet protocol address used to sign in to an account, along with dates and times. Non-content information can also include more detailed transactional data about a user’s communications such as the internet protocol addresses, email addresses, handles, or phone numbers that sent or received the communications, as well as when the communications occurred, how long in duration, and how large in size they were.
• Retrospective: Existing, historical data.
• Prospective: Data that will be collected in the future.

Acknowledgements

This transparency report is based on the Transparency Reporting Toolkit’s Reporting Guide and Template created by the Open Technology Institute at New America and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. For more information about transparency reporting and the process of creating a transparency report, you can read the entire Toolkit at: https://www.newamerica.org/oti/transparency-toolkit/.

The post Introducing Meetup’s Inaugural Transparency Report appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

As we make some changes to build a better Meetup and bring more people together around the world, we need to update our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We’ve also created a new Cookie Policy and a reorganized Policy Center to make all these documents easier to find.

Key Policy Updates

While you should read Meetup’s updated Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and related policies in the Policy Center, below is a summary of some key updates:

Terms of Service

• We added an easy-to-understand overview, section summaries, and practical tips.
• We updated aspects of how and where you can bring a claim against us, including important information about informal dispute resolution, mandatory arbitration, and a class action waiver.

Privacy Policy

• We added details about how we collect information about you.
• We let you know how we use information about you to operate our service, and for other uses, including advertising.
• We explained how we share information about you with our service providers.
• We provided more information about your choices related to how we communicate with you and how we use information about you.

Cookie Policy

• We described how we use cookies and similar technologies.
• We elaborated on how you may be able to control or opt out of some of these technologies.

Next Steps

To continue using our services, you must agree to our updated Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.

• If you created an account at any time before March 28, 2017, please click “Agree” to indicate that you agree to our updated Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.
• If you created an account on or after March 28, 2017, these updated terms and policies already apply to you.

Feedback

You can find answers to many questions in our Help Center. You can still access the prior versions of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy from the links at the top of each page.

If you want to provide feedback on our updated terms or policies, you can contact us at legal@meetup.com.

Thank you for being a part of the Meetup community.

The post Important Updates to Meetup’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

For almost 15 years, Meetup has served as an organizing platform for a wide range of political parties and movements, welcoming everyone from the Howard Deaniacs to the Tea Party. “We’re vital plumbing for democracy,” we always said. Before today, our company had never taken a partisan stance. It’s not a decision we take lightly.

But after Donald Trump’s order to block people on the basis of nationality and religion, a line had been crossed. At a time when core democratic ideals felt under attack, we looked at our members’ response, and were inspired by Meetups like SF Resist. We felt a duty to spark more activity and broaden civic participation.

As champions of democracy, equality, human rights, social justice, and sustainability, more people (than ever!) are ready to organize, take to the streets, visit town hall meetings, pick up the phone, paint signs, and huddle to make their voices heard.

We are Meetup, dammit! We needed to act.

So last week we stopped normal operations for a company-wide hackathon (a “resist-a-thon”) to help people get involved.

We created 1,000+ #Resist Meetup Groups to act as local hubs for these actions

• We launched 1,000+ #Resist Meetup Groups, free for everyone
• We’re announcing them to our 30 million members
• We made key product changes enabling anyone to schedule local Meetups
• We partnered with leading organizations to distribute their ideas for making change

It’s time to defend our democracies and restore values of inclusivity, love, tolerance, and respect — one helping hand, one voice, one Meetup at a time.

Find a #Resist Meetup near you

We’re not operating alone

It’s up to the people to take this forward (anyone can show up, anyone can step up). And we’re lucky to have partners including the Women’s March, Human Rights Watch, Planned Parenthood, the Anti Defamation League and many others who are contributing to our library of ideas for making change.

Meetup exists to create welcoming spaces where people can connect. We look forward to seeing the positive impact from these Meetups when those connections happen.

Find a #Resist Meetup near you or start your own.

The post Meetup to #Resist appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

People go to Meetups so they can do more of what’s most important to them. By coming together around shared interests, we move our lives forward, and we make our towns and cities stronger, healthier, happier places— getting closer to Meetup’s vision of a world full of real community.

In an election season marked by unprecedented discord and disunity, Meetup members continued to show up and welcome strangers, regardless of their politics.

Tomorrow, it’s time to show up at the voting booth.

Meeting up proves how powerful we are when we are together, and so does voting. We believe that everyone should have a voice in their community, and voting is one of the most important ways to make that voice heard.

If you’re not sure where to go to vote, gettothepolls.com has all the information you need.

The post Vote appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

We’re taking the next step to improve our apps for iOS and Android by making it easier to find Meetups for all the things you’re into.

A few weeks ago when we relaunched our apps, we introduced a new browsing experience that exposes the breadth and depth of the Meetup network, and connects more of our members to the right experience for them. Now we’re building on that foundation by adding a new tab that offers another way to find Meetups.

The upcoming release makes it easier to see:

• All the upcoming Meetups in your Meetup groups
• The Meetups you’ve said you’re going to attend
• Your past Meetups
• An at-a-glance view of what’s happening in your city

For longtime Meetup users, you’ll see that this upcoming release has a familiar look. In the weeks since that launch, we realized that Meetup members missed the calendar view that had previously been available in the app. We always planned to make it easier — and we’re grateful for the advocacy of devoted members and organizers who shared how important this was to them.

Today, this functionality is available in beta. Next week, we expect to make it available to all of Meetup’s app users.

If you want to join our beta program so you can offer us feedback on the app, follow the instructions below:

— Android: Opt in to become a tester here.

— iOS: Sign up here.

The post An easier way to browse Meetups appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

Today we re-launch Meetup with beautiful new apps for iOS and Android.

Everyday in thousands of cities, Meetup expands possibilities for our members by offering access to worlds. But it wasn’t easy enough to find the Meetups that could change your life. How can we help you train for a marathon, practice a language, get into tech, write a play, learn to cook, hike a mountain? How can we help more people have the life-changing experiences that happen when they meetup to do things they want to do in life?

• Shows what you’ve been missing — what’s new, trending, or happening soon
• Makes it easier than ever to join and start a Meetup
• Exposes the breadth of Meetups available in 24 categories
• Seeds Meetups around what people nearby are interested in

  

Expect more good things in the apps in the months ahead, and for the new Meetup to be on the web, too. (Apps were the priority because they had a lot of catching up to do.)

The post Meet the new Meetup appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

by jennifer gergen
Design Director, Brand & Identity at Meetup

Starting today, we’ve got new apps and a new look — bright, bold, energetic, and yes, a little quirky — that captures Meetup as we’ve always known it. For the first time, our outsides finally match our insides.

The swarm and our new look

There are lots of reasons to love Meetup’s nametag logo, but one important reason to ditch it. The nametag represents the most awkward moment in the entire Meetup experience — the moment you have to say hello to a complete stranger.

We didn’t make the same mistake with our new branding (created by renowned design firm Sagmeister & Walsh). Now our logo represents why Meetup exists in the first-place — to bring people together to do the things that matter most to them. We call it the Meetup swarm, and it’s created when individual dots unite to form the “m” symbol. We love the dynamism of the animation, and all the possibilities it inspires for our product design.

Each Meetup group is a different swarm, made unique by the people who join it and the interests they share. The new Meetup visual identity is inspired by this concept — a brand built by the crowd. In the same way a crowd changes and grows with the people who join, Meetup is constantly evolving with our members. A company like ours can’t upgrade our branding without giving everyone in our community the chance to participate.

So, coming soon, each Meetup group will have an easy way to pick a symbol, customize it, and make the Meetup swarm their own. We hope our members and organizers love the new look as much as we do, and that it helps create great looking signs and swag, making it easier to find each other in real life.

Beyond the swarm, all the elements of our new branding system capture the spirit and energy of millions of people meeting up to do what they want to do in life. This includes the bright color palette, the duotone photo treatment, and a set of unique photos created for each of Meetup’s categories (featuring Meetup members as models).

Our new apps

The best way to experience our new look is on our apps for iOS andAndroid. The new visual identity is launching at the same time as a total overhaul of our apps. We’ve redesigned them to expose the best Meetups for our members, and to simplify the experience so that it’s easier than ever to join, RSVP, and start a Meetup.

The post Meetup Rebrand appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

At the outset of the redesign, we challenged ourselves with a dream assignment: imagine you’re creating Meetup from scratch and build an experience that lays the foundation for the future of Meetup. This was a rare opportunity to create a cohesive end-to-end experience designed to serve member and organizer needs.

The Questions:

The most important step at the outset of a project like this is formulating the right questions since each answer introduces constraints that shape the final outcome.

First and most importantly, the team decided to focus on the Meetup apps for iOS and Android. We’re not delivering on the core promise of Meetup if we’re not using location information and notifications to enrich and enhance the in-person Meetup experience. People want and expect a great Meetup app, and our team was ready to realize the possibility of Meetup as a mobile first product.

Beyond the first clear-cut decision to design mobile-first, the team probed to understand member and organizer motivations and behaviors. We conducted an expansive research phase including user research with our members and organizers, stakeholder interviews, and a company-wide survey to solicit input.

Starting the design process:

The research phase concluded with a design-led offsite involving representatives from every team. We worked in small groups to dream up product solutions to address the different phases of the member journey. In an afternoon, those dreams became paper prototypes, and that same evening, we visited Meetups all over New York City to get real-time feedback from members and organizers.

With some new insights uncovered, we could crystallize why people are drawn to Meetup, and what our app could uniquely deliver.

An Answer We Could Build On

We learned that people love Meetup for the variety it offers, and ultimately because a Meetup group becomes an outlet for the things that matter most to people. That can include learning a new language, writing that screenplay, running a faster mile. Meetup offers access to worlds by expanding possibilities for our members.

When we mapped this project focus to the member and organizer journey, it was clear where we had the biggest opportunity. Whether you’re a new member, or someone who’s been on the platform for years, there’s something(probably many things) in our network of Meetup groups that would capture your imagination. How could we expose the best Meetups for each person? How could we get more people to join, and go, so they can have the kind of life-changing experiences that happen when people pursue what they’re into? It’s obvious why this is important for our members. But it’s equally important for our organizers, too, because it helps them attract more engaged members to their groups.

So with this redesign, we aimed to expose the breadth and depth of the Meetup network, and unlock the best of Meetup by connecting more of our members to the right experience for them. The new Meetup:

• Shows what you’ve been missing — what’s new, trending, or happening soon
• Makes it easier than ever to join and start a Meetup
• Exposes the breadth of Meetups available in 24 categories
• Seeds Meetups around what people nearby are interested in

Download for iOS and Android today and find Meetups you’ve been missing.

The post Meetup Redesign appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

We pride ourselves on building the company we want to work for. In recent years, the team grew, we took on more ambitious projects (check out our new apps!) — and we realized it was time to better define our core values so we could clearly express what kind of company that would be.

Codifying the values became an ambitious project in itself. But on the other side of it, we ended up with a strong point of view about how we work together and what characteristics matter most when we hire new Meetuppers.

If you see something that moves you, leave us a note.

A — Always go for maximum impact on lives.

POSSIBILITY > STABILITY
We like stability, but we like the possibility of impacting more lives even more.

SCALE > EDGE
We like to care for everyone, but we like scaling and simplicity even more.

LIVES > MONEY
We like money, but we like making money in ways that strengthen the network even more.

B — Be brave & bold.

FOCUS > SPREAD
We like to take on a lot, but we like doing fewer, high priority things well even more.

ACTION > PRECISION
We like precise measurement, but we like acting when measurability is not possible even more.

PUSHY LOVED ONES > POLITE PEACEKEEPERS
We like not annoying people, but we like confidently encouraging people out of their comfort zones even more.

C — Change the company.

COURAGE > COMFORT
We like our routines and ways, but we like always improving even more.

RISK & EVOLVE > PROTECT THE PAST
We like what we’ve got, but we like making the Meetup of tomorrow even more.

SYSTEMIC FIX > ONE-OFF FIX
We like fixing things, but we like systemic fixes (small and big) even more.

D — Debate & decide.

SPEAK UP > HARMONY
We like harmony, but we like the better ideas that come from people speaking up even more.

ACTION > CONSENSUS
We like consensus, but we like action even more.

COMMIT > KVETCH
We like defending our opinions, but we like being open and recognizing when it’s time to commit (or switch teams) even more.

E — Empower everyone.

UNLEASH POTENTIAL > CONTROL PEOPLE
We like having power, but we like distributing power even more.

OWNING > WORKING
We like people who show up, but we like people who step up even more.

DECENTRALIZED > CENTRALIZED
We each like caring about everything, but we like clear roles and responsibilities even more.

F — Futurize.

BUILD FASTER TOMORROW > BUILD FAST TODAY
We like launching, but we like investing to launch faster in the future even more.

GROWING ROOTS TOGETHER > LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG
We like hard work, but we like working hard sustainably even more.

REPUTATION > WINNING BY ANY MEANS
We like winning, but we like integrity even more.

VISION-LED >FAST-FOLLOW
We like fitting in today, but we like inventing the future even more.

M — Meetup!

TOGETHER > ALONE
We like heroic individuals, but we like rabid, amazing, caring teams even more.

EXPERIENCING > THEORIZING
We like talking about community and Meetups, but we like living it even more.

FACES > SCREENS
We like avoiding awkwardness, but the best things happen when people meetup.

The post Revealing Meetup’s core values appeared first on The Meetup Blog.

For most people it’s enough to just see the most-buzzed-about show on Broadway, but for the die-hards of the Hamilton Sing Along Meetup, that’s only the beginning.

After the live show ends, the Hamilton score takes on a life of its own in the minds of those who hear it. “It’s just brilliant. It’s brilliant.” the Meetup’s organizer, Ed, gushes as he conveys the catchiness of the melodies, the complexity of the lyrics. He briefly recalls not being a fan of hip hop before seeing the show, but then breaks spontaneously into a verse, rapping, “this is not a moment, it’s a movement world. The hungriest brothers with something to prove went,” and then he laughs.

“It happens a lot,” he says.

The inaugural Meetup happened on a Friday evening in a Manhattan apartment belonging to Ed, who played the entire Hamilton score from start to finish on a baby grand piano in his living room, while the 17-or-so members in attendance meticulously belted every word.

For members, the Meetup offers an opportunity to experience the musical personally, over and over again. “I consider myself to be an experiential person. I like experiences,” Ed says. “This is such an in-the-moment thing. There are very few activities where when you’re doing them, you can’t be doing anything else. Playing music is like that, and I thought, ‘imagine having a room full of people doing that.’”

What’s something you’ve experienced that you wish you could relive again and again?

The post We went to the very first Hamilton Sing Along Meetup appeared first on The Meetup Blog.