If you know me, you'll know I feel passionately about meetups and believe they can play an important role in your growth as a software engineer.

Personally, this passion of meetups was not easily won.

Below, I share my journey of how I went from meetup zero to meetup hero and highlight what worked for me.

But before we begin, what's at stake here?

Why even bother going to meetups?

The Benefits

I've experienced the following in some way, shape or form:

• learnt what the industry is excited about and not excited about
• been exposed to new skills / tech / techniques which have come in handy for my job
• met interesting people who share similar interests
• slowly built a network of industry connections
• learnt which workplaces are great and which are toxic
• by sharing my difficulties faced at work, others have helped point me in the right direction
• have been mentored and had the opportunity to help others
• my personal biggest benefit - finding my voice, learning how to communicate programming concepts effectively to others

So, a long, long time ago, in town called Melbourne...

In the beginning

I had just moved to town. I barely knew anyone, let alone others in the industry. I knew the tech scene was active.

I started by attending a single meetup, ALT.NET. I tried to maintain monthly attendance. It wasn't long before I gave up.

I rationalised, "why waste your time if you're not getting much out of this?".

Something crucial was missing!

When I looked around, the others seemed to be enjoying themselves? What the heck was I doing wrong?

The missing ingredient

When I attended I did not speak to anyone.

I ate my pizza and drank a soft-drink whilst trying to blend in to the carpet.

I didn't want to talk to anyone! What if they found out I was an imposter?!

Without knowing it, I had radioactive levels of imposter syndrome!

My missing ingredient: communication.

Slaying the dragon

Once I had realised this, I set myself a small but achievable goal.

Each meetup I would: talk to one other person.

This may sound silly, but once I had this challenge, attending meetups had now become a game!

Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost. I didn't stress over it! There would always be another meetup!

I realised that everyone is at the meetup for a similar reasons. We are passionate about software!

So passionate in-fact that we would happily sacrifice our personal time to learn and connect with others who share similar interests.

Slowly, over the course of a year I had come out of my shell.

No longer was I avoiding eye contact but I was actively looking to chat with people and discover more about them. I wanted to hear their stories!

So, what about you?

So that was my mountain to climb, but what about yours, dear reader?

Where are you on your meetup journey?

What could your goal look like?

• attend my first meetup
• talk to n people
• connect with n people on LinkedIn
• volunteer at a meetup - wow!
• give a talk at a meetup - amazing!
• start your own meetup - okay, now you're just showing off!

No matter where you are on your journey, the main takeaway is:

Set yourself a goal!
Simply attending is not enough.

Your time is valuable! If you go in with a plan, I assure you, you will walk away feeling a sense of achievement!

Fast forward to now

6 years have passed since that initial meetup.

Since then, I've met countless developers from all over town.

I've made new friends with similar passions and interests.

I've found mentor figures who have helped me grow in my career. I've also been lucky enough to pay-forward by helping some newcomers to the industry!

Currently I co-organise a local meetup named Dev(){CoP}. If you're based in Melbourne, drop in sometime!

What challenges have you faced going to meetups?

I'd love to hear your stories below!

And feel free to reach out to me directly with any meetup related questions! I'd be happy to help!