►
From YouTube: Why we love virtual meetups
Description
GitLab Hero Bethan Vincent chats with John Coghlan, Senior Evangelist Program Manager, about her experiences with virtual meetups.
If you would like to learn more about how GitLab supports virtual meetups, visit our virtual meetups page: https://about.gitlab.com/community/virtual-meetups/
Join our global virtual meetups group: https://www.meetup.com/gitlab-virtual-meetups/
Plan a great virtual event for your community using our virtual meetups checklist: https://about.gitlab.com/community/meetups/checklist/#planning-a-virtual-meetup
Or connect with our community team to plan a virtual GitLab Meetup by opening an issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/community-relations/evangelist-program/general/issues/new?issuable_template=meetup-organizer
A
B
Thanks
John
for
having
me
so
I'm
Beth,
Amundsen
I'm,
the
marketing
director
at
net
cells,
which
is
a
product
development,
consultancy
based
in
York
here
in
the
UK.
Hence
my
accent
and
I'm
involved
in
a
number
of
different
communities
in
tech
and
in
marketing
and
before
the
pandemic,
I
used
to
do
a
lot
of
going
to
events
and
traveling
to
go
to
events
which
was
really
nice,
but
obviously,
we've
had
to
flip
to
this
online
world.
So
I'm,
a
member
of
women
in
tech,
York
I,
also
run
the
product
hunter
Yorkshire
meetups
as
well.
A
B
Both
isn't
it
as
an
attendee
and
an
organizer
and
I
think
what
I've
really
loved
about
the
recent
period
is
that
I've
managed
to
go
to
more
events
and
I
ever
was
able
to
before,
because
I
don't
have
to
travel.
You
know,
I
can
just
sit
with
my
pajama
bottoms
on
in
the
evening
and
meet
people
from
all
around
the
world
in
a
way
I
never
could
before.
So
for
me
personally,
this
has
actually
been
really
exciting.
B
A
That's
awesome:
we've
noticed
that
too,
with
our
events
like
the
global
participation,
regardless
of
which
gitlab
group
is
organising
the
event,
is
really
exciting
to
see
and
I
think
you
know
definitely
one
of
the
things
that's
special
about
the
virtual
meet
ups.
Is
there
anything
else
that
you
found
that's
been
kind
of.
You
know
either
driving
some
of
the
success
of
those
events
or
just
interesting
things
about
the
events
that
you
think
are
advantages
over
in-person
events.
Definitely.
B
A
Great
I
love
that
you
know
I
think
when
I
think
about
the
inclusion
aspect,
a
lot
of
times,
I'm
thinking
about
you,
know
kind
of
what
you
mentioned
earlier,
which
is
you
know
without
the
travel
it
becomes
easier
for
folks
to
participate.
So
if
you're
a
parent
and
you
normally
would
have
to
go
home,
you
know
after
work
to
take
care
of
your
family.
A
Now
people
might
be
able
to
find
time
to
tune
in
while
they're
at
home,
and
also
you
know
kind
of
what
you're
saying
is
actually
aspects
of
diversity
that
I
haven't
really
thought
of.
So
thanks
for
pointing
those
out
I'm
curious.
Is
there
anything
that
you
would
recommend
for
folks
who
are
organizing
the
meetups
to
keep
in
mind
when
they're
planning
the
events
to
make
them
successful
both
for
the
organizers
and
for
the
community
members
who
are
participating?
Yeah.
B
Definitely
I
think
we've
got
to
the
conscious
of
the
fact
these
events
can't
be
read
only
and
I
mean
read
only
in
the
sense
that
you're
just
sitting
there
consuming
the
content
as
an
attendee.
You
know
when
you
go
to
an
event
or
a
conference.
Part
of
the
joy
of
it
is
actually
the
interactions.
You
know
the
chats
you
have
at
coffee
time
and
all
of
that,
and
if
you
put
on
your
event
in
the
way
that
you
just
expect
people
to
kind
of
be
there
and
just
listen
and
that's
all
they're
going
to
do.
B
That's
the
only
interaction
they're
going
to
have
I
think
that
that
does
a
disservice
to
your
event,
but
also
you're,
not
replicating
the
good
parts
of
in-person
events
as
well.
So
really
think
about
how
you
can
foster
interaction,
whether
it's
through
breakout
rooms
on
zoom',
that's
a
really
useful
feature
actually
or
just
if
you're
running
a
slightly
smaller
event.
You
know
with
20
people
or
less
consider
having
introductions
at
the
beginning.
You
know
that's
something
that
I've
been
doing
in
events
I've
been
running
or
part
of
or
kind
of
leading
on
and
actually
to
understand.
A
Awesome
yeah
that
could
be
something
that
would
be
cool
to
carry
over
to
in-person
events
too
right
like
giving
people
more
space,
you
know
to
kind
of
share
who
they
are
and
why
they're
coming
to
the
event,
so
you
have
something
to
keep
in
mind
as
we
hopefully
in
the
future,
get
back
to
personal
events.
Maybe
we
can
take
some
of
what
we've
learned
with
these
virtual
events
and
and
use
that
to
make
in
person
that's
better.
A
B
I
think
zoom
is:
is
the
market
leader
for
a
number
of
reasons,
I
think
it's
very
accessible
for
people.
That's
another
thing
to
think
about
I!
Think
working
in
tech.
We
all
you're
a
very
affable
platforms.
You
know
we
find
very
easy
to
use
that
if
you're
trying
to
include
people
from
outside
the
kind
of
text,
fair
you've
got
to
understand
that
all
of
this
is
so
new.
B
You
know
I've
been
using
zinging
for
about
four
years
now,
but
my
mom
has
just
started
to
use
it
in
the
last
three
months
and
she's
found
it
very
intuitive,
but
some
of
the
other
platforms,
she's
really
struggled
with
so
part
of
thing
inclusivity,
is
making
sure
your
tool
set
is
inclusive
as
well.
So
that's
just
something
to
be
aware
of,
and
there
are
alternatives
other
than
zoom
it's
just
in
my
experience.
It
has
been
the
best
for
the
type
of
events,
I'm
learning,
yeah.
A
Let's
get
learned,
it's
been
fun
like
or
interesting
with
our
virtual
events,
because
at
gitlab
we're
such
power
users
of
zoom
for
the
first
few
events,
when
we
were
talking
about
going
into
breakout
groups
and
things,
we
didn't
provide
a
ton
of
instructions
on
how
that
kind
of
flow
would
work,
and
we
found
that
participation
would
drop
off
a
lot
when
we
kind
of
moved
into
those.
And
so
after
the
first
you
know
event
or
two.
A
We
started
providing
a
lot
more
detailed
instructions
on
how
to
use
chat,
how
to
use
breakout
rooms,
and
some
of
the
other
features
that
we
use
to
kind
of
increase
the
networking
during
our
events-
and
we
found
that
part,
the
more
you
kind
of
tell
people
how
to
use
things
and
encourage
that
use
the
right
way.
The
better
participation
we
got
so
I,
definitely
echo,
regardless
of
which
tool
you're.
Using
make
sure
that
you
share
with
folks
how
you
want
them
to
use
that
and
give
them
information
on
how
to
do
that.
B
And
I
think
another
thing
to
that
as
well
is
obviously
an
in-person
events,
you're
much
more
likely
to
have
a
code
of
conduct,
but
I
think
it's
just
as
important
to
have
one
that
governs.
You
know
the
use
of
social
spaces
online
and
actually
you
you've
got
to
protect
people.
Obviously
we
know
from
social
media
and
everything
that
happens
on
there.
A
B
Definitely
I
think
if
you're
caught,
if
you're
apprehensive
of
giving
an
online
event
and
meetup
ago
just
try,
it
I
think
you'll
find
that,
especially
if
you've
got
a
long-running
event
series,
your
audience
are
probably
you
know
almost
dying
to
come
back
and
engage
with
people,
and
if
you
remember
that
engagement
is
the
core
of
what
makes
a
good
event,
you
can
do
things
quite
innovatively
as
well.
So
don't
just
think
you
have
to
run
an
event
and
it's
you
know,
houses
have
some
presentations
and
then
maybe
have
some
time
for
a
chat.
B
Afterwards,
you
could
do
you
could
do
ice
breaking
games.
You
know
you
could
do
all
the
stuff
we
might
do
actually
in
meetings.
You
know
with
new
teams
and
things
like
that.
You
can
bring
that
into
events
and
that's
a
really
fun
way
of
getting
people
engaged
making
sure
you
know
it's
interactive
content
at
the
end
of
the
day
and
also
it's
just
fun.
It's
like
they're,
interesting
use
of
the
technology.
B
A
Great
advice,
Thanks
and
thanks
for
your
time
today,
Beth
and
I'm
very
grateful
to
have
you
in
our
community
and
sharing
your
insights
and
for
folks
are
watching
the
zoom
video
I'll,
put
links
to
all
of
our
meetup
planning
resources
in
the
description
of
this
video
so
check
those
out.
If
you
want
to
get
started,
planning
virtual
events
for
your
community
thanks
Bethan.