Local Bitcoin meet-ups are an important way to build community and to help people who haven't yet learned about the value and importance of Bitcoin to begin their learning journey. We believe that every Canadian should have access to a local Bitcoin only meet-up close to where they live. If you are a Bitcoiner and don't yet have a local meet-up in your area (see list of current meet-ups across Canada) we encourage you to start one. It's not as complicated as you may think. We can help!
The hosts of other local Bitcoin meet-ups will tell you that it just starts with an idea, a place to meet, and a goal of connecting with others. It always starts small. It won't start though unless someone starts it. So, just get started!
If you are already connected to other Bitcoiners in your area, pass the idea by them. Perhaps you can agree to co-host the meet-up. However, one person alone can start a meet-up and keep it very simple to begin with. This can be as simple as identifying a time and place, and sharing an open invitation for others to join for food, beverages, and conversation. No agenda is even needed to begin with. Again, just get started.
Ideally, find a convenient location which you can continue to patronize for future meet-ups. You may have a local restaurant or cafe that is willing to carve out a space for you if they know it will help bring in some business. You may even start having the conversation with them about accepting payments in Bitcoin. A good starting point is also talking to servers about accepting tips in Bitcoin. That's the point after all, isn't it -- to help provide more people exposure to Bitcoin and to normalize its use. You don't necessarily need to meet in a restaurant or cafe though. A public library space, a park, or another public venue can also serve the purpose. First and foremost, it's about the people!
Give your meet-up a name and write up at least a few sentences about what the purpose is. This may seem self-evident to you, but not to others who aren't yet familiar with Bitcoin. We also recommend including in your note that this is a Bitcoin only meet-up (not crypto) in order to avoid any confusion. You can also include a note that anyone interested in the meet-up and who has not yet learned much about Bitcoin can visit the Bitcoin Coalition of Canada for some first information. This may also help people to see that this is part of a much bigger movement across Canada and globally!
Find a place or two to advertise the meet-up. We highly recommend setting up a meet-up group profile on MeetUp.com which you can continue to use as you host new events for the meet-up. Ideally, it would be great if you could create an account for the meet-up group on X/Twitter which would help increase visibility and enable us to also help promote your meet-up.
Make sure to update your MeetUp.com account with details when you plan a new event and send out notices on which ever social media platforms you decide to use.
Continuity is key. Don't overwhelm yourself with huge plans right from the start. Just get started and plan to host the get together at regular intervals. This could be once per month or even every second month to begin with. Once you begin to put out the signal that your meet-up is happening, people will start to take notice. It may just take them a bit of time to get it to align with their schedules or (for people brand new to Bitcoin) to work up the courage to come out and learn about Bitcoin. Regular frequency of meet-up events will give everyone a target they can aim for.
If you are considering starting a new meet-up we can help. Reach out to us at admin@bitcoincoalition.ca, on X/Twitter, or on Nostr. We can talk through ideas with you, connect you with other local meet-up hosts, and possibly even connect you with a corporate partner that may be able to give you efforts a boost. Just reach out!
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