Rebuilding meetup communities
IndyHackers has been around for a long time, and things have changed quite a bit in that time.
In the early days - ten or more years ago - Meetup.com was still a relatively new platform and I can’t recall which came first, the phrase or the platform.
But it created nodes of the tech community, largely around programming languages and platforms - but also through entrepreneurship and weirder things like table top games or knitting.
IndyHackers has always been, to a degree, a hub for these meetups … and community of communities.
In the years since its inception, we’ve seen these communities fracture and dissipate.
A lot of that was triggered by the global pandemic forcing us behind computer screens even more than usual.
We’ve repeatedly seen a desire - through community surveys and event attendance - that we hunger for an excuse to get out from behind our screens and see each other face to face.
Over the coming months, we’ll be looking at ways we can help meetups - established or new - build or rebuild their community.
So, if you run a meetup - or have an idea for a meetup - let us know how we can help you.
And, if you’re feeling stuck behind a screen, go to a meetup.
Maybe one of these …
Meetup of the Fortnight
The April edition of IndyPy will showcase leading-edge tools designed to supercharge your development workflow. From uv, a blazing-fast Python package manager, to Aider, an AI-powered coding assistant, you'll see firsthand how to eliminate bottlenecks, simplify setup, and code smarter. Don't miss two hands-on talks packed with live demos and actionable takeaways.
Join us either in person or remotely for our hybrid event!
IndyPy - Developer Tools Showdown, Tue, Apr 15, 2025, 7:00 PM | Meetup
The April edition of IndyPy will showcase leading-edge tools designed to supercharge your development workflow. From uv, a blazing-fast Python package manager, to a liv
Upcoming Events
Indy Game Developers Social Hour - April 11 6:30-8:30pm
Code and Tea - April 13 4pm
Fishers Code and Coffee - April 15 7-9am
Indy.js - April 15 7:00pm
IndyAWS - April 15 7:00pm
IndyPy - April 15 7:00pm
Indy Virtual Code and Coffee [Online] - April 16 8-10am
Carmel Code and Coffee - April 17 7–9am
Downtown Code and Coffee - April 17 7-9am
CoderDojo Indy - April 19 11am
Broad Ripple Code and Coffee - April 23 7-9am
Is there an event you would like to announce here? Let us know at newsletter@indyhackers.org and we’ll get it added to the calendar.
New on the Job Board
The IndyHackers job board is free to companies and the community. Our goal is to help as many community members as possible land jobs they love at companies based here in Indiana, growing the community of hackers throughout the state.
If your company is hiring, post your job here.
If you’re hunting for a job, the full job board is here or you can follow along in #jobs in our Slack. Or: Just reply to this email with what you’re looking for.
One Last Thing
A bit of housekeeping for the bottom of the newsletter this week.
First, we successfully migrated our community Slack from a legacy free plan to an official paid plan. We’re luckily qualified for non-profit pricing, but for a community as large as ours, it’s still a decent chunk of change.
We’re fortunate to have existing sponsors that can make this work for a while, but we’re still looking for a sponsor specifically for our Slack community. Please get in touch if your company would like to engender more than a bit of goodwill with the hackers of Indiana.
On the meetup front, a few things that are on mind:
Tuesday is packed, as Indy.js, IndyAWS and IndyPy are all on the docket. A community member or two noticed that and lamented that they can’t make it to all three. I’m pondering what we can do to better coordinate meetups to avoid that sort of scheduling collision.
Several meetups back in the before times had regular topics and talks - sometimes plural in the same meeting! Often, meetups today can lack speakers or topics. My theory is that drives down attendance and interest. What can IndyHackers do to find, build or promote speakers and topics?
Nothing imminent on any of these things yet, just musings of my own.
Hope you’re having a fantastic Friday - or whatever day it is that this makes it to the top of your inbox.
There’s no rush on that, by the way.
Nobody brags about Inbox Zero on their deathbed.
#EatArbys
Chris Vannoy, Indy Hackers Board President
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