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Meetup.com Ends Free Meetups
jalefkowit writes "It was nice while it lasted... massively popular social-organizing service Meetup.com has announced that from here on out, they will be charging a $19/month fee to the designated organizer of each Meetup registered with the service. Regular users (those other than meetup organizers) can continue to use it free of charge, though they suggest that some organizers may wish to split the cost with their members. Users who paid for the Meetup+ service get the fees waived for one group of their choice (if they're not organizers, they can pass this benefit on to someone who is). Here's more information about the move and why they made it."
(This is slashdot, no one needs to read TFA. However, in the interests of not being completely retarded, I will acknowledge that I jumped the gun on that FP - since Meetup is for group gatherings. Oops.)
Based on what I've heard, Meetups are usually fairly popular - I don't think many organizers will have a problem with the fee, and I hope that the company has success with this business model. However, I can see a potential for one-off or irregular meetups to fall by the wayside with the monthly payment structure. I hope they'll have a package structure as well, where you can buy "X" number of meetups and use them at your own pace. Having never used this service, I'm not sure if their range of services are suitable for a package-based option, but I hope they would be.