How to Organize a VLCM Meetup

Have you met with any VLCM members yet? If not, please make it your goal this year. Our network is growing every day; for illustration these were the member counts as of December 2016 (much larger since then):

  • New York City: 103

  • France: 38

  • Toronto: 23

  • Brazil: 20

  • India: 20

  • South Africa: 12

  • Czech Rep: 11

  • Turkey: 11

  • China: 10

  • St. Louis: 8

  • Sydney: 8

All it takes is these steps:

  1. Identify the members in your area from our LinkedIn directory.

  2. Reach out by LI email (no need for Premium account if in the same group; also covered in the networking guide).

  3. Either organize a group meetup or meet one-on-one with people with whom you connected the most.

  4. Show up and let the magic unfold—new friends, new ideas, new business connections, etc.

I have organized such meetups in San Diego (where I live) and while traveling to Washington D.C. and Chicago (where I used to live.) The Chicago meetup happened when I was traveling there for the Christmas holidays in 2016. We met at one of the favorite Chicago vegan restaurants, and had 8 wonderful attendees and riveting discussions.

A group photo from the Dec. 2016 VLCM meetup held at a diner in Chicago, IL. Members (from left to right): Peter Kim, Laurie Styron, Darina Bockman, Francesca Sadi, Sheila Ostermiller, Natasha Mathew, Sumeet Mahajan, and Jana Kim.

PS I’ll confess to one thing which I am sure you will relate to. Several times during planning, and even on the day of, I had thoughts of canceling and just enjoying an easy do-nothing evening instead. My advice: push through the fatigue and go anyway. You’ll thank yourself for it. Our people networks determine to a large extent our success in life and personal happiness, not to mention the implications for vegan advocacy.