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How to plan a local event that gets RSVPs – and attendees

Written by: Adrienne Kmetz Tags: community

Published: May 18, 2025

Top things we've learned so far about planning a local event: 

• Be consistent when possible across timing, format, location
• Make great content, be prepared, and repurpose it
• Elevate it: Give folks a reason to come 
• Food is always appreciated
• Keep the success metrics reasonable – "new relationships" is the ultimate goal, not just attendees
• Give partners a reason to sponsor with value that goes beyond numbers
• Do your marketing due diligence: Create a landing page, calendar invite, and emails for reminders and follow ups

As we get back into the saddle organizing in-person events for The SEO Community, we're wondering:

What gets you out and into the real world?

To get more insight into hosting events that people RSVP to – and show up for – I spoke to Mary Kate Mack of seoClarity. 

Mary Kate is a connector, and you can tell in her warm, welcoming vibe and the way she made sure to give me all of her best tips – "What else?" she said in between ideas.

• _{Stay tuned – we'll wrap these tips and more into a Playbook for how to host your own SEO event in your city.} 

Mary Kate has been building relationships professionally for seoClarity for years.

So it was no surprise that she noticed a gap in local SEO events in the Chicago area and pitched her team to start one.

First, she asked herself what the ultimate goal was. "I wanted to help SEOs in our area build new relationships and connections." 

But since we're all learning how to love getting out and about again, she knew the events needed to be worth the time and effort of traveling across a city. There's inertia when we all just want to work through lunch, or zip home after work. 

"I started with a series of three events that I thought people would be interested in," she told me. 

Themes you can start with, and repeat

1. A "state of search" style presentation, because the industry is always changing and new perspectives and predictions are always coming out. 
2. A panel of experts, which engages other related or complementary/adjacent voices in the area, and gives you a chance to co-market the event. 
3. Something that's trending, like AI generation, that can facilitate good discussion in a meetup style. 

Plan an event worth attending

"I want to put on an elevated event," Mary Kate says. And that doesn't mean fancy – it means fun, lively, impressive.

It may not seem important, but the atmosphere, content, and little details are the difference between an event worth going to, and an afterthought. 

"And it's not too expensive to find things you can reuse," Mary Kate suggests: 

1. Flameless tea light candles 
2. Tablecloths 
3. Music 
4. Signage and collateral 

Get the timing right

It doesn't matter if you choose to host the event after work hours or during work hours as a lunch-n-learn.

"The key is consistency." Once your audience learns when and where to show up, it's a lot easier to get them back at the "same time same place" next month, and to make new friendships that make this industry a little more enjoyable. 

Similarly, monthly is a good cadence for in-person meetups. That's 12 events to plan in a year, after all. And you may want to skip the winter if you're in a particularly cold place, as you'll never know what the weather holds. 

"Webinars are great in the fall" Mary Kate recommends as a way to segue out of a summer of in-person events. 

If you're going to splurge, food is where

"Was the pizza good? Definitely do it again?" Founder Noah Learner asked the 32+ person crowd at a recent Campfire Chat live interview in Denver with Cindy Krum. 

Everyone threw "thumbs up" into the air. The pizza was a hit.

"Anything else?" he asked. A bit of silence. 

"We're learning as we go," Noah likes to say. 

Great content will make or break it

We can all tell when a webinar or talk is phoned in, or repurposed one too many times.

"The content is so important," Mary Kate says.

To make sure she's going deep and providing information people want to know, she recommends trying a few different things, like: 

1. Create one amazing, well-researched and organized training. Record it in advance so that folks can reference it again online and you can easily turn it into a virtual event. That way, you can save energy for doing the fun part live: The banter with the audience. 
2. Create exclusive content for those who came to an event that you can share before and after the event. 
3. Tap into experts in your organization and interview your partners' experts. Make sure you're delivering new information and insights that aren't well-worn. 
4. Bring in a mix of panelists that span new voices and those with bigger audiences so you aren't just focusing on the big names. And sometimes, even a big name can't outcompete a snow storm. 

Do your marketing due diligence

1. Make a landing page for each event that you can use as the main shareable link. 
2. Send out a calendar invite with a day-before reminder. 
3. If you aim to partner with a sponsor or complementary organization, make sure they have enough brand awareness to have some logo recognition and ability to support the event with shares. 
4. It's okay to have a "moonshot goal" in terms of attendees, but remember that new connections and relationships is the ultimate goal, and that organically leads to more opportunities for exposure and meaningful collaborations. 

Interested in hosting an event of your own? Let us know and feel free to share feedback with us on how to make The SEO Community IRL events a place to be.