3.4 Organizing Kabissa Meetups

A Kabissa meetup is a face-to-face gathering of Kabissa members in a local community, organized and hosted by a member organization. This section of the guide to Kabissa Membership covers everything you need to know to get involved in hosting, organizing and participating in Kabissa meetups.

Please Contact Kabissa if you are interested in helping us to develop this program, or go ahead and join the Meetups Group.

What is the status of the Meetups program?

As of March, Kabissa is developing the Meetups program and reaching out to potential hosts to pilot test the concept by organizing some Meetups.

Members in those communities will be invited to participate when dates have been scheduled. Once we have ironed out the procedures, we will open up the program to all members wishing to host a meetup.

I really want to host a meetup!

Great! Check out the details below, and when you are ready to get started please contact us. Be sure to provide at least the following details:

Why should I participate?

Here are some very good reasons to get involved in Kabissa Meetups in your community:

• Ability to make a positive contribution to the mission of Kabissa in your community
• Promote your own organization's mission, values, and goals to other Kabissa members in your community and on the Kabissa website
• Meet, network and form partnerships with other Kabissa members
• Learn how to fully take advantage of the Kabissa website, including:
  • creating and maintaining your organization's profile on the Kabissa website
  • posting blogs, member news, events and resource listings
  • finding and contacting likeminded organizations through the website
• Receive the latest news on Kabissa projects, meetings, and events
• Opportunity to connect with other Kabissa members locally, nationally, and across Africa
• Local networking opportunities
• Potential for professional development

Why should my organization host a Kabissa Meetup?

There are lots of great reasons to host a Kabissa Meetup! But of course this role isn't for everyone - you will need to provide a space and refreshments, and be prepared to handle logistical work. But check out the numerous rewards above and beyond those already listed above:

• Be a Kabissa leader and mentor in your community
• Have an opportunity to develop and demonstrate skills such as teamwork, public speaking, communication, leadership, and collaboration
• Gain local, national and international visibility for your organization
• Nominate someone from your organization to be a Kabissa Ambassador

Why is Kabissa organizing these meetups?

We consider organizing meetups on the local level as the "low hanging fruit" in the challenging task we have to encourage and promote horizontal linkages between organizations in our network. Once people are meeting on the local level and sharing their experiences and priorities with each other, and with the network through their post-meetup reports, we are certain amazing things will begin to happen.

In addition, we are motivated by the knowledge that at face to face meetings, you will be able to teach each other things about utilizing the Kabissa platform and other innovative communications tools that would otherwise be impossible. We also hope to get insights into what we should be doing to improve the site and be a better partner to you.

In a nutshell, Kabissa Meetups:

• Support Kabissa's goal of strengthening horizontal linkages between organizations on the local level
• Ensure that more organizations are able to take advantage of Kabissa and understand how to use the site and our services
• Help to identify local techies/organizers involved in your community's civil society groups that are committed to serving you as Kabissa Ambassadors, connecting organizations in your community with other communities around Africa and with the Kabissa team

The role of the meetup host organization

• Provide space and refreshments (free of charge to participants)
• Coordinate with Kabissa and participants on pre-event activities including event registration form, invitations and meeting logistics
• Ensure that detailed meeting notes are kept and posted to the website afterwards, including if possible photos with captions
• Ensure that the next meeting is scheduled (if any is to take place)
• Ensure that one or more Kabissa Ambassadors is nominated

The role of Kabissa

• Kabissa maintains and moderates the Kabissa Meetups group on our site for people interested in sharing information and best practices about organizing Kabissa meetups
• Kabissa will create online registration forms for all meetups
• Kabissa will send your announcement by email to members in your community
• After your meetup has taken place, Kabissa will help you to post your meeting report and photos online
• Kabissa maintains and moderates the Kabissa Ambassadors group on our site, where we will welcome and collaborate with your ambassadors

Is there money involved?

Kabissa is providing no remuneration for hosting meetups, and also is providing no money for covering expenses to attend meetups. Please start small and consider this a grassroots action on the local level. If you have a budget for hosting and participating in events through your existing grants and income streams, so much the better. But please do not expect to charge fees to your colleagues to cover your costs.