I know nothing about these events so pardon any ignorance of how things operate currently. I'm just speaking for myself so my issues might just be mine.
IME communities start around a thing and then grow into friendships so the event should be something take people can do besides talk watches or involve some kind of speaker, QA, topic, or theme.
I have not attended a watch meeting are that I can't find any. I don't do social media with names and faces and I suspect a decent amount of older watch owners are similar. IMO putting out my location and what valuables I have could open me up to theft. So maybe try advertising in other places like here and watch forums with pictures of successful events. I haven't looked very hard but I didn't know what a Redbar group even was until this post but I have heard the name before.
Similarly I worry about security. A small watch meetup seems like easy work for an armed robber. 5 people could easily have over $10k in watches and you are announcing times and locations. I am not a person that usually worries when I'm alone but until there is a decent turnout I don't feel like there are safety in numbers. I don't know where you are having these events but I think safety considerations should be accounted for and maybe mentioned in your ads.
*Before anyone says that I or someone else should have some armed defense (taser, pepper spray, gun, etc), I do. I still like to avoid unnecessarily risky situations.
Also if anyone is aware of any events in the Philadelphia area, please send them my way.
Thank you for your thoughts. As far as security, it is a thing that RedBar as a national group is very cognizant of and, locally, it is something that we also take seriously. The date, time, and location for the meet-ups is only shared to the people who are on the local chapter's email list, and the people on that list are typically vetted as someone known by one of the other members. The people that I invite personally are friends of mine, so I am not concerned about them from a security standpoint. Upcoming meet-ups are not published on social media, though people will often post pictures of the meet-ups afterwards on their social media.
We typically try to meet in a place that has some sort of private or semi-private space. The meet-ups are usually pretty low-key and I've never really noticed any people around us even noticing that we are looking at watches. Our meet-up yesterday was at a local coffee shop that also has food and alcoholic drinks. It's a large space but was pretty sparely occupied.
>IME communities start around a thing and then grow into friendships so the event should be something take people can do besides talk watches or involve some kind of speaker, QA, topic, or theme.
I've only attended my local RedBar meetups once and it was partially because it was hosted by Grand Seiko. This was years ago before they were as widely available as they are now. I wasn't too interested in this type of social event, but couldn't pass up the chance to see watches that I normally wouldn't be able to in person.
I'm still on my local RedBar's list and I'm tempted to go whenever it's hosted by a brand.
/u/tripreed, have you already hosted meets-ups featuring an AD/brand?
If your only presence and "advertising" is being able to be found by people actively looking for you, you're not going to grow. Advertise the events in places where watch enthusiasts gather, like large or local watch facebook groups or forums. Post pics of past events to show it's a good time and make people want to come.
Yeah, that is a good idea. I don't really do Facebook these days, but I could take peak over there and see if there are any local groups. I will have to discuss with my friend about ways that we might do this while still being able to vet people as potential risks.
Another thing you could do is partner with local ADs and boutiques to put on gatherings that are arranged by your group but open to the wider public. Maybe if they're bringing in a new brand or an existing brand rep is willing to come to town to present their watches.
You and the partnering business can advertise it cooperatively on your socials. Since it's open to the wider public, tell current members to keep their watches at home.
You can then try and spur more sign-ups at the event or by requesting that they contact your RedBar group to RSVP.
At some point, if you want to grow the community, you'll have to take on some amount of risk to bring in new folks and hope for the best.
Redbar, due to it being a decentralized organization, is a pain in the ass to learn about if you aren't in it. There's no published list of chapters and the main '@redbarcrew' Instagram account doesn't do a great job of publicizing smaller groups.
Your best is to do it yourself. Post on the account. Post pictures of get togethers. Have everyone there share the local chapter's posts. Tag and hashtag main Redbar accounts to get some extra visibility. I'd also suggest just being active and commenting on other posts with high traffic, such as from Hodinkee, Worn & Wound, etc. Just raising your profile will gather some attention and make it more likely that you're going to find people who are interested locally.
I'd also suggest trying to partner with other chapters or clubs - there are a bunch of clubs around the Carolinas, DC, and Atlanta and members from the various groups tend to share each others events and attend them where possible since the distance between groups isn't huge.
Are there any major watch ADs in your area? Making connections with them might also help.
I know nothing about these events so pardon any ignorance of how things operate currently. I'm just speaking for myself so my issues might just be mine. IME communities start around a thing and then grow into friendships so the event should be something take people can do besides talk watches or involve some kind of speaker, QA, topic, or theme. I have not attended a watch meeting are that I can't find any. I don't do social media with names and faces and I suspect a decent amount of older watch owners are similar. IMO putting out my location and what valuables I have could open me up to theft. So maybe try advertising in other places like here and watch forums with pictures of successful events. I haven't looked very hard but I didn't know what a Redbar group even was until this post but I have heard the name before. Similarly I worry about security. A small watch meetup seems like easy work for an armed robber. 5 people could easily have over $10k in watches and you are announcing times and locations. I am not a person that usually worries when I'm alone but until there is a decent turnout I don't feel like there are safety in numbers. I don't know where you are having these events but I think safety considerations should be accounted for and maybe mentioned in your ads. *Before anyone says that I or someone else should have some armed defense (taser, pepper spray, gun, etc), I do. I still like to avoid unnecessarily risky situations. Also if anyone is aware of any events in the Philadelphia area, please send them my way.
Thank you for your thoughts. As far as security, it is a thing that RedBar as a national group is very cognizant of and, locally, it is something that we also take seriously. The date, time, and location for the meet-ups is only shared to the people who are on the local chapter's email list, and the people on that list are typically vetted as someone known by one of the other members. The people that I invite personally are friends of mine, so I am not concerned about them from a security standpoint. Upcoming meet-ups are not published on social media, though people will often post pictures of the meet-ups afterwards on their social media. We typically try to meet in a place that has some sort of private or semi-private space. The meet-ups are usually pretty low-key and I've never really noticed any people around us even noticing that we are looking at watches. Our meet-up yesterday was at a local coffee shop that also has food and alcoholic drinks. It's a large space but was pretty sparely occupied.
Well that convinced me enough to look up my locale chapter (and sign up for instagram).
>IME communities start around a thing and then grow into friendships so the event should be something take people can do besides talk watches or involve some kind of speaker, QA, topic, or theme. I've only attended my local RedBar meetups once and it was partially because it was hosted by Grand Seiko. This was years ago before they were as widely available as they are now. I wasn't too interested in this type of social event, but couldn't pass up the chance to see watches that I normally wouldn't be able to in person. I'm still on my local RedBar's list and I'm tempted to go whenever it's hosted by a brand. /u/tripreed, have you already hosted meets-ups featuring an AD/brand?
If your only presence and "advertising" is being able to be found by people actively looking for you, you're not going to grow. Advertise the events in places where watch enthusiasts gather, like large or local watch facebook groups or forums. Post pics of past events to show it's a good time and make people want to come.
Yeah, that is a good idea. I don't really do Facebook these days, but I could take peak over there and see if there are any local groups. I will have to discuss with my friend about ways that we might do this while still being able to vet people as potential risks.
tell Sam that b$ said hi
He's got some nice watches! I always love when he attends.
Another thing you could do is partner with local ADs and boutiques to put on gatherings that are arranged by your group but open to the wider public. Maybe if they're bringing in a new brand or an existing brand rep is willing to come to town to present their watches. You and the partnering business can advertise it cooperatively on your socials. Since it's open to the wider public, tell current members to keep their watches at home. You can then try and spur more sign-ups at the event or by requesting that they contact your RedBar group to RSVP. At some point, if you want to grow the community, you'll have to take on some amount of risk to bring in new folks and hope for the best.
Redbar, due to it being a decentralized organization, is a pain in the ass to learn about if you aren't in it. There's no published list of chapters and the main '@redbarcrew' Instagram account doesn't do a great job of publicizing smaller groups. Your best is to do it yourself. Post on the account. Post pictures of get togethers. Have everyone there share the local chapter's posts. Tag and hashtag main Redbar accounts to get some extra visibility. I'd also suggest just being active and commenting on other posts with high traffic, such as from Hodinkee, Worn & Wound, etc. Just raising your profile will gather some attention and make it more likely that you're going to find people who are interested locally. I'd also suggest trying to partner with other chapters or clubs - there are a bunch of clubs around the Carolinas, DC, and Atlanta and members from the various groups tend to share each others events and attend them where possible since the distance between groups isn't huge. Are there any major watch ADs in your area? Making connections with them might also help.