What to consider when starting a Meetup.com group?

March 11, 2009 12:12 AM

What should I know before starting a Meetup.com group for Hearts?

I am considering starting a social group for Hearts (the card game) on Meetup.com.

Is Hearts too unusual to find enough players (minimum of 4) in Toronto?

I have nowhere to host the game - is playing cards in restaurants, cafes or bars allowed?

What are your experiences with this website?

Any safety tips? General advice?

posted by cranberrymonger to human relations (3 comments total)

In a city of Toronto's size you should have absolutely no issues finding 4 people to join a Hearts Meetup group. Throw up a sign in a local game shop or something and you're all set. I'm sure you've looked already, but there are already a ton of big Meetups in Toronto for topics a lot more obscure than Hearts:
http://www.meetup.com/cities/ca/on/toronto/groups/

Playing cards is almost always fine in cafes, bars and coffee shops -- there are a bunch of groups in NYC that do it -- but it can't hurt to ask the manager just to be sure.

In terms of general advice, most questions you'd want answered are probably covered in the Organizer Center.

Full disclosure: I used to work at Meetup.com.
posted by rachelv at 5:53 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]

I would imagine you could have some luck starting a Hearts meetup group. While the numbers on waiting lists tend to be misleading, since a lot of people put themselves on and then lose interest, there are 36 people already on the Hearts waiting list.

Some places that are particularly meetup friendly in Toronto, and would almost certainly be fine with you playing cards, as long as you're not gambling:

The Central near Honest Ed's. Has a couple of rooms upstairs that can be reserved. Right on subway.
Fiddler's Green on Wellesley. Terrible food, but you can usually reserve one of the upstairs rooms and they'll let you do whatever without bothering you much. Right on subway.
Tequila Bookworm on Queen West. Is welcoming to game players and has small upstairs rooms. Great, though pricey food.
Yellow Griffin on Bloor West at Runnymede. If you end up with a larger group, has an upstairs party room that's free, though popular, so you'll have to reserve in advance. Right on subway.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:47 AM on March 11

Wow, Organizer Centre... that's an extremely comprehensive listing of information specific to Meetup.com... I feel a fool for not noticing it but thank-you for pointing it out, rachelv.
posted by cranberrymonger at 7:18 AM on March 11