The ‘world’s biggest tech meetup’ is back in DC

The last time we heard from DC Tech Meetup was in 2019 (let that one sink in for a minute).

It was a pre-Covid world in which organizers were recovering from a webpage hack and offering us some tips on making events inclusive — both in late 2019. The meetup group was a staple of the DC tech and startup scene, dating back to its origin in 2011, before it went dark around the start of the pandemic. Now, a group of local leaders are bringing it back.

Before the webpage was deleted as a result of the hack, DC Tech Meetup organizers said the group had over 40,000 members. In these Before Times, each meetup had a theme, hosted demos from local companies, offered an open mic portion and followed everything up with a networking happy hour. At one point, the meetup was recognized for having 1,100 people RSVP — with 700 of those people actually showing up — and heralded by Inc as the World’s Biggest Tech Meetup.

In the cultural precipice of late 2019 and early 2020, coorganizer Kevin Morgan told Technical.ly the group was experiencing some leadership changes, had to move from the MLK Library during its remodel and, well, we don’t have to tell you what happened in that March.

Now, the group is looking at a resurgence, with its first meetup in years scheduled for June. Morgan and coorganizers Katie McKenzie from ThinkNimble, Kaitlin Moran from Logicboost Labs and Kiel Chesley from NJ3Q have been working for the better part of a year to rebuild the meetup, he said. It’s also being relaunched as an initiative of the DC Tech & Venture Coalition, which Morgan cofounded.

The first event is on the calendar for June 7 at Cleveland Library, though the goal is to return to MLK Library and rebuild what the community has been missing.

“About a year ago, I was added as a coorganizer and I started getting emails from people saying, ‘Hey, we love DC Tech Meetup, we miss it, when is it coming back?'” Morgan said.

The organizers plan to use the same format from before, demoing built products and capping with a happy hour. Currently, he said there are about 160 responders, and he and the team would love to build it back up to 1,000-plus over the next 18 months.

The DC Tech Meetup is a community staple, Morgan said, that helps all kinds of founders and technologists grow and scale. So, for now, organizers aren’t looking to make any huge pivots or radical changes but will be open to community feedback to see what’s needed.

“We want to make sure that we’re re-energizing and building on the foundations that people well over a decade now built,” Morgan said. “We want to build on that and make it stronger and bigger.”

But the resurgence, he said, also plays into a much larger growth plan. In the post-COVID(ish) world, the ideology and daily life of cities like DC is changing. He hopes that rebuilding the meetup will offer a place where the tech and innovation economy can be part of that shaping and growth, and writing the next chapter for not only the meetup but the district itself as a leading tech and startup ecosystem.

“The people that participate in and show up and are part of DC Tech Meetup also have a very strong voice in helping guide not only what we do immediately, but also what the future of our city looks like,” Morgan said. “We have a real chance to build something amazing.”