This month's newsletter is being sent a little earlier than usual so that everyone has time to find our new homes before we finally move off Meetup, which will happen at the beginning of April. It's also a long one since it has details of everywhere that you'll be able to find out what we're up to from now on.
Moving off Meetup
For the past 6 and a half years, the Stirling Knit 'n' Natter group has been organised on Meetup.com and is how almost all of our members have found us. However, over that time, Meetup has become more expensive and its focus has been shifting more and more from making friends to making money.
As a result, from the beginning of April, we will no longer be organising events through Meetup. Instead you can find details of what we're up to on Ravelry, Facebook, Eventbrite, What's On Stirling and, most importantly, this newsletter! See below for more details.
This week, I will individually contact anyone who has paid in advance for meetups and has money that hasn't been used yet. However, you will either get:
- A full refund of remaining money. If you only attend in-person meetups, you'll get a full refund (either via PayPal or in cash, if preferred). If you attend online meetups, you can also have a full refund, or
- A discount code to put towards a new online subscription. See below for full details of the subscription options, but I'll send you a code for the value of your remaining money that you can apply to your first subscription.
Other news
Woolly Good Gathering on 5 April: this will be the last event that we organise through Meetup. I'll contact everyone who has RSVP'd shortly to make plans.
Easter plans: we will be meeting online on Easter Monday (21 April) as usual.
Friars Wynd reminder: at some point, the back door to the hotel from the car park will be locked all day (instead of just at night) but the manager will share the code with me so that we can continue to still use it. I'll share the code when I get it (and when it changes periodically) but, if you have any problems getting in, you can phone the number on the sign by the back door, let them know that you're there for the knitting group and they'll give you the code.
Happy crafting!
Susan
Moving away from Meetup - where to find out what's going on in future
[For more details about why we're moving and how I've picked our new homes, check out February's newsletter.]
Some key points about our move
- We'll keep meeting on Monday evenings (UK time) and alternate in-person and online events.
- This newsletter will continue in something close to its current form (and will always be free) so you'll always be able to find out what we're up to from it. All current and previous newsletters are available on this page and future ones will be added to it as they're sent out.
- Our other new "homes" are optional extras. You're welcome to join/follow us on any or all of them but there's no obligation to do so and you won't be missing any info if you only subscribe to the newsletter.
Attending in-person meetups
These will be free from April onwards and we'll keep meeting at the Friars Wynd. You can check which dates we're meeting on in any of the locations listed below, through this newsletter or use the link at the bottom of this email to download a calendar file (.ics) to add to your Google, Outlook or other calendars. There's no need to "RSVP" anywhere, just turn up on the relevant dates!
If you have paid in advance for in-person meetups only and have money left, I will contact you shortly about a refund. This will either be via PayPal or in cash, next time I see you.
Attending online meetups
These will cost either £1.50 per event (via Eventbrite), or £5 per quarter or £20 per year with a "subscription" via our newsletter provider, Kit. (I don't want the cost to be a barrier to anyone joining us though so please get in touch if cost is a problem. There are group funds available for subsidised subscriptions.)
If you sign up for an event through Eventbrite, you'll get an email with a link to your "ticket" that has the Zoom link that you'll need to join. You'll also be able to download calendar invites to add to your Google, Outlook or other calendars.
If you subscribe, you will receive an email each month with details of that month's online events and the Zoom links to access them. You'll also be able to download calendar invites to add to your Google, Outlook or other calendars. Subscriptions will auto-renew until cancelled but you can cancel at any time and you'll keep receiving the monthly emails until the end of your subscription period.
If you have paid in advance for online meetups and have money left, I will contact you shortly about either arranging a refund or sending you a discount code to the value of your remaining money that can be applied to a new subscription.
For now, we will still be meeting via the usual Zoom link so you can also bookmark that and join directly that way. However, if the link changes in future, you will need to either have subscribed or sign up to individual events via Eventbrite to get the new link.
As a reminder, the money that I collect for online meetups will be used to cover our Zoom subscription, which currently costs around £160 per year. Part of your payment will also cover the transaction fees charged by Eventbrite and Kit. Any "extra" money collected will be group funds and used to subsidise future events, subscriptions, etc.
Where else to find out what's going on
Ravelry: Future events will be listed on the group overview page, and you're welcome to chat in our forum. You can also share projects and stash items with the group so that we can see what everyone is up to.
Facebook: Please follow / like / share / comment / review as you see fit! I won't be using Facebook's "events" functionality but will post regularly with our meetup dates for the upcoming month and any other news.
Eventbrite: Our upcoming in-person and online events will be listed on Eventbrite. In-person events are free but online events will be £1.50.
What's on Stirling: Our upcoming in-person events will (hopefully) be listed on What's on Stirling as free events. I've submitted the listing but it's not live yet.
If you have any feedback on these changes or anywhere else that you think we should have a home, you can reply to this email, email me at susan@yellowgingerdesigns.co.uk or we can talk about it at a meetup.
Other dates for your diary
Events in bold are those that we will definitely be attending as a group and there will be more details in future newsletters. Other events are listed for information but let me know if you'd be interested in attending as a group. Similarly, email me at susan@yellowgingerdesigns.co.uk with details of other crafty events or exhibitions in central Scotland and I'll add them to the list.
Our April meetups
- 7, 21 April: Zoom. (Subscribe for the Zoom link and calendar invites.)
- 14, 28 April: Friars Wynd, Stirling. (Download calendar invites.)
