Taking the First Step: How to Lead a Local Neo4j GraphDB Meetup

I took over a local Neo4j meetup group in Washington, D.C. after Karin Wolok recommended it to me. I had no idea what I was doing but was excited and full of energy. The first meetup was a success despite some last-minute issues, including the absence of the scheduled speaker due to work commitments. We served pizza and drinks, introduced the group, presented an introduction to graph technology and Neo4j, and had a short workshop on Cypher queries. Despite initial concerns about being rigid and organized, we allowed for dialogue and questions during the presentation, which worked well. The meetup was enjoyable, and I learned that it's essential to have fun, don't put too much pressure on making everything perfect, use available resources, let others help you, and run meetups that interest you.