Hosting a Hasgeek meet-up: venue guidelines

Hasgeek’s meet-ups bring together practitioners — developers, data engineers, architects, systems programmers, and others working on specific technical problems — for focused, community-driven conversations. Meet-ups are typically 2-3 hours duration, and draw 50 or more attendees; for narrowly focused topics, turnout is usually 20–30.
As a general rule, expect 25–35% of registered participants to show up in person — so if a meet-up has 100 registrations, plan for 25–40 people. Meet-ups are held on weekday evenings or on Saturdays (mornings or post-lunch), depending on the city and community preference.

This page is for anyone considering hosting a Hasgeek meet-up at their space, or for confirmed venue hosts preparing for an upcoming event. (Guidelines for workshops are covered separately.)

Hosting as a partnership, not just a venue arrangement

When a Hasgeek community approaches a company or organization to host a meet-up, it is not a request to borrow a room. It is an invitation to be a partner in the meet-up.

This means the venue host is expected to do more than provide a space. They bring their own practitioner community — employees, teams, and ecosystem contacts — into the room alongside the Hasgeek community. The meet-up becomes a meeting point of two audiences, which is what makes it valuable for everyone in it.

In practical terms, this looks like:

• Shared audience aggregation: the host organization shares the event with its internal teams and external networks, and encourages participation beyond just providing a room.
• Content contribution (optional but encouraged): host organizations with relevant technical expertise are welcome to propose a talk, demo, or workshop module through meet-up’s editorial process. Content goes through the same peer-review and curation process as all other submissions — this protects the community’s trust and, in practice, makes the content land better with a practitioner audience.

How hosting works

If a Hasgeek community approaches your organization to host a meet-up, there is no hosting fee. The community is bringing its audience to your space; in return, you provide the venue and help aggregate your own audience for the event.

If your organization wants Hasgeek to bring a specific audience to your space — for example, to increase visibility among data engineers or ML practitioners in your city — that is a sponsorship arrangement, not a venue hosting arrangement, and involves a separate conversation. Write to us at sales@hasgeek.com to discuss.

In both cases, the operational requirements for hosting are the same.

What hosting involves

Hasgeek handles programming, speaker curation, registrations, and livestreaming. Here is what we need from the venue host:

Space and capacity

• A room or open area that can seat the expected number of attendees with clear sightlines to the presenter, and chairs for all attendees. For most meet-ups, plan for 50+ persons; for narrowly focused topics, 20–30 is more typical. Hasgeek will confirm expected turnout when finalizing the meet-up.
• The space must be available for setup at least 1 hour before the event start time, and for pack-up for at least 30 minutes after it ends.
• Attendees must be able to enter and exit freely for the duration of the event. Walk-ins are a normal part of how Hasgeek meet-ups work and must be accommodated.

AV and technical setup

Hasgeek brings its own recording and livestreaming equipment to every meet-up. For this to work, the venue needs to provide:

• A projector and screen, with an HDMI connection that reaches Hasgeek’s console. (Note: wireless screen-sharing options such as AirPlay are not compatible with our setup, and USB-C-only connections are not supported. Speakers should be informed to bring laptops with HDMI output.)
• Two collar mics — for the speaker and the moderator.
• Two hand mics — to circulate among the audience for questions and interaction.
• A sound system that connects to the mics and the projector.
• Stable power supply (UPS-backed preferred) and reliable WiFi for the duration of the event. WiFi access is needed for the speaker and emcee in case they need to show videos or live demos.
• If the venue has its own sound system, it must be compatible with Hasgeek’s audio equipment — either by accepting an XLR input from Hasgeek’s mixer, or by providing an XLR or ¼" output to it.
• A dedicated table at speaker height, which also serves as a podium if a separate podium is not available, and a separate table and chair for Hasgeek’s console — positioned so it does not block the audience’s view but is central enough to reach all cables (power, projector, camera, audio).
• A venue technician present for the full duration of the event, responsible for the projector and sound system working correctly for both the in-room and the online audience.
• A whiteboard and markers, if requested by the speaker. Confirm with meet-up organizer in advance.

If Hasgeek needs to deploy its own technician to resolve issues with the venue’s equipment, this will be billed to the venue separately. Hasgeek is happy to share a technical checklist in advance so your team can prepare.

Recording and livestreaming

All Hasgeek meet-ups are recorded and livestreamed. By confirming as a venue host, you confirm that:

• The space may be filmed and livestreamed without restriction for the duration of the event.
• You have the right to permit filming in the space (for example, no third-party lease restrictions that prohibit recording).

Videos are produced and owned by Hasgeek. Links are shared with venue hosts and speakers for resharing from their own channels.

Check-in and entry

• Please share clear details about entry, parking, and building access 7–10 days before the event, so we can include this in attendee communications and send reminders.
• Hasgeek will share the attendee list (names only) 24 hours before the event, with a final update 3–4 hours prior for late registrations. Attendees will be asked to show a valid ID at check-in.
• The venue’s admin team or assigned volunteers will manage check-in, including walk-ins. Walk-in attendees sign in with their name and contact details on an attendance sheet.
• After the event, the attendance sheet must be returned to the Hasgeek team for our records.
• Hasgeek does not share attendees’ personally identifiable information (PII) with venue hosts without explicit attendee consent.

Facilities for participants

• Drinking water throughout the event.
• Clean washrooms, with sanitary napkins available in the ladies’ bathroom.
• Venue hosts are expected to provide drinking water for attendees.
• Tea/coffee and/or a light snack (such as samosas or sandwiches) is welcome but optional. Alternatively, the meet-up organizers can arrange refreshments through sponsorships or by collecting contributions from attendees.

Volunteering opportunities

Hasgeek’s events are community-run and rely on volunteers for roles such as ushering, emceeing, photography, speaker coordination, and live social media updates. We encourage venue hosts to share these opportunities with their teams — it is a good way for your colleagues to engage with the community and build skills in running events. Hasgeek provides guidance and training for all volunteers.

What Hasgeek provides

• Full programming: speaker selection, talk curation, editorial review, and rehearsals.
• Event page on hasgeek.com, including all registrations and attendee communications via the Updates tool.
• Recording and livestreaming equipment and operator.
• Promotional communications to the Hasgeek community: email, social media, and the event page.
• Acknowledgement for the venue host on the event page.

Before confirming as a venue host

If you are considering hosting, check the following first:

• We have a room that can seat 50+ people (or 20–30 for a focused topic) with clear sightlines to a presenter, and chairs for all attendees.
• We can provide a projector and screen with HDMI output.
• We can provide collar mics (x2), hand mics (x2), and a compatible sound system.
• We have a technician available for the full duration of the event.
• We have stable power and WiFi.
• We can allow filming and livestreaming without restriction.
• We can manage attendee check-in and accommodate walk-ins.
• We have drinking water, clean washrooms, and sanitary napkins available.
• We can provide tea/coffee for attendees.
• Building entry and parking details can be shared with attendees 7–10 days in advance.
• We are willing to share the event with our internal teams and external networks to bring our own audience.

If you can check all of the above, write to us at sales@hasgeek.com with the name of your organization, your city, the approximate capacity of your space, and the type of topics your organization works on.

This page applies to Hasgeek meet-ups. Requirements for workshops are covered separately.