SigZag: An alternative to Meetup
Special Interest Groups need a pay-what-you-can option for meetings
As an early adopter of Meetup.com, I’ve started several local meetups and helped others do the same. My groups were Special Interest Groups with no budget and one or two leaders. I used to pay for the site out of pocket because the cost was reasonable. However, this year the price increased by 366.6%, which feels unreasonable.
Crowded house?
As a computer programmer, I often think "How hard could it be?" when I see a simple service failing. In-person meeting apps aren't great as a business model due to competition from platforms like Facebook. However, they can serve as a sustainable public benefit. My target market is small groups that have a core membership and want to organize meetings without relying on Facebook's free services.
Hosted & self-hosted options
A self-hosting option will be available for those who want complete control over their data. Additionally, a hosted option will be provided at SigZag dot com for users who prefer simplicity.
Revenue Model
This project is being developed for both personal and wider use, but it will not be actively supported. The goal is to maintain focus on my current job without distraction. A revenue model will be needed to cover inexpensive hosting, customer support, and minor enhancements. As the target market consists of small groups, a pay-what-you-can model is considered suitable, allowing groups to contribute periodically to cover service costs. Support at this level will be "best effort". For those requiring more reliable guarantees and who have the budget, a paid option will be established in the future. Prioritizing current steps is essential.
Features
This project will serve as a blog for Behavior Driven Discipline and involve client interviews. As the first client, I believe we need the following:
User accounts: Sign-in required for posting; public can view events without credentials.
Calendar of events: Any user can post events with ICal links for personal calendars.
Social media sharing: Integration with social media APIs; others use perma-links.
Groups: Create groups with unique URLs. Group creator is admin; membership levels include Followers, Members, Core, Admin. Meetings can be created at any level.
Moderation: Adhere to a code of conduct; use AI moderation if affordable, otherwise report-and-correct method.
Technical details: API protected by auth, RSS feeds for groups and calendar views to allow integration with other systems.
A self-interview will be conducted in a future blog post as the initial step in creating this app publicly. This may take the form of a podcast.