Planning My Next Meetup [hopefully not MIS] Adventure (Part 5)

After further review, I like the Meetup proposal I wrote last time. One concern is that its intensity may scare people off. I discussed this in the paragraph following the first excerpt here as well as the third-to-last paragraph here.

Another possible approach is to lighten it up by leaving specifics for an initial orientation meeting. I would then be using the website to get people in the door for a detailed PowerPoint (?) presentation. I might also be able to do some screening at the orientation by going around the room and having people answer a couple questions about what stokes their interest, past experience (if any), and available time for group work.

I can imagine one potential downside being attendance only by people for whom time and place is convenient. I can try and offset this by crafting an alluring pitch to encourage sign up. I can also offer the orientation different times in varied locations. Since the bulk of our activities will be online (something to explain at the orientation but not on the website per paragraph #2 of Part 4), I don’t want geographic distance to rob me of potential group members.

Here’s a rough draft for a revised Meetup pitch:

A pharmacist by training, I have been trading options full-time for a living in my own account for the last 11 years. I have been happy with my overall results, but I aim to be better.

My vision for this is like no other trading group I have seen in 15 years. Since prediction is an endeavor that sees professionals fail time and time again, we will spend little time discussing events pertaining to world economies or debating stock selection. Instead, we will spend our time planning actionable trading strategy to prepare us for whatever the market throws our way.

The sentence in bold is debatable. I think it is honest. If I want to make this more enticing, then perhaps I leave it out. On the other hand, perhaps leaving it in will give people more confidence by preventing them from misinterpreting the group as being something it’s not.

Planning My Next Meetup [hopefully not MIS] Adventure (Part 4)

After some effort, Meetup finally admitted that my group idea does not fit their guidelines.

Nevertheless, their ambivalent tone (first sentence of this first excerpt) makes me think the opportunity exists to start a group with some caution. I want to avoid obvious red flags such as the phrase “online work group” (see sentences 3-4 of excerpt just linked). I will avoid charging a large upfront fee (see here), which might be viewed as a product sale. I will omit reference to a selective interview process and small number of members, which may suggest limited revenue for Meetup.

The time has come to compose a rough draft of what I have in mind:

The purpose of this group is to teach, to analyze data, and to develop option trading systems.

My vision for this is like no other trading group I have seen in 15 years. Since prediction is an endeavor that sees professionals fail time and time again, we will spend little time discussing events pertaining to world economies or debating stock selection. Instead, we will spend our time planning actionable trading strategy to prepare us for whatever the market throws our way.

Planning My Next Meetup [hopefully not MIS] Adventure (Part 3)

Following my e-mail posted last time, Meetup responded:

     > Hi there, sounds like a great potential group! Many groups
     > cover metro areas, and not just a single city. Meetups should
     > be offline and in real life. but online meetings are okay as
     > long as they’re not the majority of the group’s events.

I was really describing multiple metropolitan areas (Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Lansing).

     > Perhaps you could have a Slack group for your online
     > correspondence and use Meetup to access our community
     > and gain new members, and plan in-person events?

I replied:

     > Thanks for your input.
     >
     > From what you describe, though, would this be acceptable for
     > Meetup? The purpose of this group is to learn and/or help each
     > other with their trading by working together on trades. Trading
     > really lends itself to screen sharing, screenshots, and other
     > things that can be posted on something like Slack, Yahoo! Groups,
     > etc. Most of our regular work would therefore be online. The
     > Meetups would perhaps be quarterly to allow us the chance to
     > visit in-person those people with whom we work every day. My
     > hope is that Meetup can bring us together in the first place.

Meetup replied:

     > While we’re not able to offer specific advice or coaching on
     > creating on your group, we recommend closely reviewing our
     > Meetup Group Policies to ensure when you create your group it
     > adheres to… [our] guidelines…
     >
     > Once you submit your new group, a member of the Community
     > Experience team will review the group for approval.

I felt like we were once again miscommunicating as described in the first paragraph of the excerpt here. Their initial response (second paragraph, above) clearly expressed a conflict, but they seemed to be encouraging me to go forward regardless.

I responded:

     > I’m not looking for advice or coaching. I’m trying to figure out
     > if my group meets your guidelines. You wrote, “perhaps…
     > [use]… a Slack group for your online correspondence and use
     > Meetup to access our community… gain new members, and plan
     > in-person events?” That is exactly what I would like to do.
     > However, the previous paragraph says “online meetings…
     > [cannot be] the majority of the group’s events.” That is
     > problematic since the group would mainly be a daily online
     > work group. Occasional in-person events would also give us
     > the opportunity to meet face-to-face people with whom we
     > have been doing daily work.
     >
     > I’ve been attending Meetups for over 10 years and I see
     > Meetup as the perfect tool for this. I looked at your
     > Standards document, though, and saw: “Be Local. Meetup
     > is intended for building local community. Meetup should
     > not be used primarily for scheduling online meetings,
     > conference calls, or WEBINARS ACROSS GEOGRAPHIES…
     > Meetup’s features should be used to build the group’s
     > capacity and create opportunities for meaningful connections
     > within a local community.” [emphasis mine]
     >
     > That also suggests this would not be a viable Meetup. As
     > mentioned in my initial inquiry, I feel the need to cast a
     > wider geographic net to find the few people who would really
     > be interested/benefit from a group like this.

Meetup replied:

     > The focus of a Meetup group would be in person interactions,
     > and at least 50% of the interactions should be local and
     > face to face.

Finally, a resolution! Meetup is not a direct solution for the kind of blended (online and face-to-face) group I wish to create.

Planning My Next Meetup [hopefully not MIS] Adventure (Part 2)

I previously discussed a potential Meetup model where members with sufficient expertise to present [advanced material] about option trading would have meeting/membership fees waived.

That concept, along with the rest of my thoughts from the last post, have gotten me thinking about trying to organize again. To that end, it might help to review my last attempt and why it was rejected.

I recently contacted the folks from Meetup online. I wrote the following:

     > I’ve had some fits and starts with Meetup in the past so I
     > want to go over my idea and see if it would be appropriate
     > per your community guidelines.
     >
     > I want to network with serious options traders (or those
     > interested to learn who would be serious about committing
     > time to work together) to create a trading team where we
     > consistently study simulated trades.
     >
     > This sort of community is badly needed. Independent traders
     > like myself operate in a very isolated landscape often preyed
     > upon by vendors of various types looking to profit under the
     > guise of trying to help and support us.
     >
     > Independent traders are uncommon (most with investible assets
     > hire professionals to manage their money). Option traders are
     > a fraction of the fraction, which makes them even harder to
     > find. I might have success in a big city like New York or
     > Chicago where the trading exchanges are. In Ann Arbor, Detroit,
     > or Lansing, though, I have found it to be really tough sledding.
     >
     > The group I envision will do most of its work online through
     > something like Yahoo! Groups, Slack, or GoToMeeting. I hope
     > to have daily online activity with trade monitoring and
     > creation. Disciplined, consistent participation establishes
     > accountability necessary to become a good trader.
     >
     > I would like to have a periodic in-person meeting to
     > actually see and shake hands with the people we’ve been
     > working with so regularly. This is where the traditional
     > Meetup comes into play.
     >
     > Initially, I would open the group online. I would then
     > like to interview each member to assess whether they are
     > serious and have something to offer. I want people to
     > either have expertise or time (which will eventually
     > result in expertise) they can commit to studying trades.
     >
     > If I can find 3-10 people then I will create a virtual
     > meeting of some sort to get us started. I would have
     > them pay a small fee (maybe around $50) to cover Meetup
     > expenses and/or anything else (including renting space
     > for periodic physical Meetups down the road).
     >
     > Finally, I would like to focus this on the Ann Arbor,
     > Lansing, and Metro Detroit area. This is bigger than a
     > city: [as discussed above] I feel the need to cast a wider
     > geographic net to have a real chance of finding interested
     > parties. It’s all within a 90-minute driving range, though,
     > which is hopefully not too large for members even at the
     > extremes to make a quarterly or semi-annual
     > face-to-face get-together.
     >
     > Any feedback would be appreciated!

I will continue with their response next time.

Planning My Next Meetup [hopefully not MIS] Adventure (Part 1)

Today I am “jotting down” some other related ideas to this blog mini-series I wrote last year.

Flashing back to the end of last year, I was aware that coming into 2018, I had some New Year’s resolutions that I aimed to fulfill. I was not happy with the progress.

With regard to work, my hope was to “get more involved” in 2018. I was thankful to have survived into my eleventh year trading full-time for a living, but I missed my pharmacy co-workers and patients (see fourth paragraph here). I had searched high and low for other full-time retail option traders but had yet to make lasting connections for a variety of reasons.

One way to become more involved would be to organize a group. As already described (in addition to link from the first paragraph, see here, here, and here), previous groups [planning] failed to bear fruit.

A different kind of group would be an educational experience for high schoolers (see third paragraph here). To this end, I reached out… but I will save this discussion for a separate post.

Here are some things that I know:

• Trading for a living is held in high esteem and described by some as the Holy Grail (e.g. trading from the beach to pay the bills without a worry in the world).
• I have searched high and low for other full-time traders with little success (e.g. fourth paragraph here).
• One trading guru opined: “people like to be spoon-fed strategies or trades. Better yet, just drop bags of cash in their lap as they sit on the couch watching TV.”
• Beginners in trading group attendance are often hoping to get free knowledge that will pay dividends.
• Most members of trading groups and forums lurk quietly without participating.

With regard to the latter, I think people who share advanced knowledge should be admitted to the group at no or minimal cost. Such a trading community currently exists. They broadcast weekly trade webinars. Anyone can attend for free, and for a monthly fee I am able to view any webinar in their entire collection on demand. If I present at one of their weekly meetings, then I get membership free for one year.

I like this model because while I believe everyone should contribute (i.e. second paragraph here), I do not wish to discriminate against beginners who are not yet able. Monetary contributions are different from sharing expertise, but they become quite important if you believe the organizer should (at least*) be partially reimbursed for expenses. Done this way, experts’ costs are covered by beginners in exchange for a sharing of experience.

I will continue next time.

* The extent to which I should be compensated as an organizer is an enticing topic for
   an entirely separate blog mini-series. As discussed in the second paragraph of the
   excerpt here, fees are as much for accountability as anything else. Honestly, if I knew
   the next group I create would be long-lasting and hit my objectives, then I would
   happily pay for it myself because my resultant trading profits would more than cover
   the expense (this is a potential marketing angle, too).