I organize Hackers News meetup in Paris but I'm still not sure what's the best format. So I'm trying to understand how other meetups work. I'm curious to know what's the program of your evening? Lightning talks? Birds of feather?

Thanks!

General format for the 3 I've been to here in Tokyo is you pay a cover charge for food/beer/softdrinks. Then just casually mix and talk to people. No set program besides hitting a local bar afterward. Works really well and the guys put on a really good spread of food every time.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The events have been growing at a good rate, but we've still managed to keep a personal and friendly feel since the regular participants are a very focused group of business/technology enthusiasts.

We're always happy when new HN readers to come along though, so if you're on the fence, come along. Find me(Jay), and I guarantee you'll have a great time!

I am glad I will finally be able to attend this time! For several consecutive months now, this meetup was always scheduled sometime when I had another engagement.

How many people usually come to one of these meetups, and how many are regulars?

Any plan to organize such events in different places in Japan ? I am based near Osaka and it is impossible for me to be there in Tokyo on a Friday evening. Saturday would work better, or then a Kansai meeting...

Sure, I love Osaka - we do business with a company in Osaka, and I have a bunch of friends there.

I'd definitely be interested in setting something up there. I'll look into the logistics, and let you know.

In the meantime, sign up at hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp, and if we do organise something, I'll send out an email to that list.

Thanks for the reply ! Sounds good, I will sign up and follow up the news.

I am all for a Kansai meetup.

You might already know, but check out messa.in OpenCoffee events too. They are in Osaka.

I did not know about it. I will look into it. Have you ever joined any of the OpenCoffee events ?

Instructions say to register then email with a short bio and HN name. I had to fill in both of those during registration. Do you still need the email?

Good catch - these are outdated instructions from back when Doorkeeper didn't have this field. No need to send an email as well, I'll update the instructions on the blog post.

Sidenote: Doorkeeper.jp has improved a great deal in the last few months. Check it out for a great event management system.

Thanks for the praise Jason!

We've started this service in Japan, but have always had the international market in mind. If you're an organizer who holds regular events, we'd love to help you out. See http://www.doorkeeperhq.com/ or shoot me an email at paul@mobalean.com.