At the end of 2014, Frank Jones took over the organizer role at the Raleigh SEO Meetup. Unfortunately, this transition of leadership came at a time when several sponsors were already facing financial difficulties. After losing 50% of the group’s sponsorship support – we moved our meetings to the local library and eventually returned to restaurants and bars throughout Raleigh.
Rather than seeking a return to expensive meeting spaces, the Raleigh SEO Meetup has begun an endeavor to setup meetings with multiple locations. To begin with, you can setup a viewing party at your home or office and watch the live feed from our meetings. At the same time, we monitor Twitter so remote viewers can ask questions and get answers during the live event.
At the end of 2015, the Raleigh SEO Meetup embarked on a partnership with the Internet Summit which allowed us to begin making connections with internationally recognized SEO experts. Our meeting in November featured Rand Fishkin, and boasted 185 attendees.
In 2016, the Raleigh SEO Meetup hosted their first annual conference and it was a huge success. This year, we booked Eric Enge as the keynote speaker. The whole process of planning and hosting the conference was setup as a minimum-viable product, and we learned a lot along the way. This is a tradition which will become a regular event for the Raleigh SEO Meetup.
Our annual conference is held in May and we host a blockbuster meeting with one nationally recognized speaker each November. In addition, we have a holiday party each December which is entirely focused on socializing with other members and networking – no presentations or speakers.
