HBX brings together a diverse group of students from a range of countries, ages, and backgrounds to learn about business on our interactive online platform. Much to our delight, students have developed a strong sense of community throughout the program, and some have taken it upon themselves to organize in-person meetups in cities like Boston, London, New York, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur!
We asked one of our past participants, Bethany Larsen, to share some tips and advice for anyone planning an in-person meetup:
1) Use Facebook
Create meetups as events on your cohort's Facebook group. It's the easiest place to access the majority of those in your cohort. Even if you aren't "friends" with everyone, anyone who sees the event posted on the HBX group page can opt-in to attend.2) Send out invitations early
Make sure to tell others in your cohort about the event as soon as possible! Everyone is busy and schedules fill up quickly. Sending out invitations at least three weeks in advance is a good rule of thumb.3) Choose a central location
Big cities are best, as are places near public transportation. Otherwise, it isn't very likely that enough people will be in the same area and able to meet at a given time.4) Choose a fun activity
Going out for drinks or dinner is fine as long as it's in a place that isn't too loud, but it can be awkward if you're not a natural conversationalist. Some students also use meetups as a study group or a way to further discuss course concepts!5) Timing is important
Depending on who is in your area, you'll need to be conscious of the time of the meetup. Weekends tend to work better than weekdays with work schedules. Weekend afternoons are also better for anyone traveling for the meetup as attendees have the time to get home not too late.
6) Just do it!
If you want to attend a meetup and don't see one in your area, host one! There really isn't a formula for planning meetups. It seems like all of the meetups in my cohort were thrown together by people who saw there were other students in their area and just wanted to get together.
It's a bit intimidating, but everyone is nice and is probably eager to meet you too. They're just waiting for someone to take the initiative, so be that person!
To see more examples of past meetups, check out our post here!
