Your first meetup doesn’t need to be ambitious. Its real job is to signal that the OSPO exists and to start finding your people—one modest, friendly event does that.
Plug into the Network’s events first¶
Before planning anything of your own, point your community to what the Network already runs:
All-Campus Virtual Meetups: first Thursday of every month, co-hosted by a rotating campus—anyone across UC can join.
Coworking & Office Hours: casual drop-in sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays where you and your community can show up anytime.
Workshops: the Network runs workshops on open source topics like licensing, governance, and contribution—some in collaboration with CURIOSS.
See the events calendar for what’s coming up. Because the Network has the virtual side well covered, your own first meetup is a chance to do the one thing it can’t do for you: bring your local community together in person.
Make it in person¶
For a first meetup, we suggest meeting in person—it’s where local relationships actually form. A room, a time, and something to eat go a long way; many campuses run a bring-your-own-lunch format and provide cookies or coffee.
Good first-meetup formats¶
Pick one and keep it simple. Many of these work best as a structured first half followed by looser, open discussion—the same shape the All-Campus Virtual Meetups use:
“What can your OSPO do for you?”: a short, friendly intro to what the OSPO is and how it can help, with plenty of room for questions.
A fireside chat: an informal conversation with a local maintainer or open source figure your community would want to meet.
Origin stories: invite a few people to share how they got into open source—low-prep, and a great icebreaker.
Favorite tools: everyone brings a lesser-known open source tool they love. No presentation required.
Lightning talks: short slots for people already doing open source to show what they’re working on.
More involved formats—a hands-on workshop, a faculty panel on growing open source—are great once you’ve got some momentum, and the Network’s workshops are there to lean on in the meantime.
Who to invite¶
All roles and experience levels are welcome—students, staff, faculty, researchers, and research software engineers. Don’t overlook the people who write code for research but don’t think of themselves as “programmers”: the biologist with analysis scripts, the social scientist processing survey data. They’re often your most natural community, and the least likely to already know you exist.
A few practical tips¶
Pick an easy time: noon works well across the Network and tends to dodge teaching conflicts.
Capture sign-ups: put out two QR codes—one linking the Get Involved page on ucospo.net, so attendees meet the Network and can join Slack, and one linking your own mailing-list signup. Your attendees are your most engaged audience.
Reach out to Laura (community manager) to help plan your first meetup, cross-promote it across the Network, and talk through what’s worked on other campuses.