Promotion & Invitations

Invite templates, promotion channels, and honest notes on what worked and what didn't.

How you invite people matters more than what you plan for the event. If the invite doesn't reach the right person, or doesn't sound like something they want, the rest doesn't happen. Spend time here.

The one thing we learned

We ran our first event under two names. The first, Just Landed, was earnest and honest, and got almost no signups. The second, Spill the Mimosas, was playful and casual, and pulled people in.

Take: name your event for the vibe, not the mission. The mission goes in the description, not the title.

Invite copy that worked

Here's what our best-performing invite looked like:

Spill the Mimosas: a chill picnic for people new to SF

Did you move here recently? Same. Come hang.

A low-key Sunday afternoon at Dolores Park. Free. No app, no agenda. Just mimosas, a blanket, and conversations with people who get it.

📍 Dolores Park
🗓️ Sunday, June 21
⏰ 1–4pm
🥂 Bring yourself. We'll handle the rest.

RSVP below.

Adapt for your city: swap the park, the drink, the date. Keep the tone light.

Where to promote

What worked for us:

Personal DMs: the single most effective channel. People come when their friend asks.
Reddit: city-specific subreddits (r/AskSF, r/sanfrancisco). Post honestly, follow the sub's rules.
Instagram Stories: visual, casual, easy to share
LinkedIn: surprisingly effective for warm personal-story posts (see below)
Word of mouth: tell 20 people in your network directly, and ask each to tell one more

What didn't work for us:

Twitter/X: near-zero engagement despite consistent posting
Cold Luma or Partiful posts: the platforms are good, but you still need to drive traffic to them yourself

Sample LinkedIn post

Use this as a template. Adapt for your city and story.

I moved to [city] for love a few years ago.

I expected the hard part to be the move: the visa, the boxes, the time zones.

The actual hard part? Making friends.

Turns out I'm not alone. Millions of people relocate for love every year. There's no onboarding, no orientation, no “welcome to your new life” group chat.

This weekend, I'm hosting a small gathering: a low-key picnic at [park] for people new to the city. No app, no fee, no agenda. Just [drink], a blanket, and conversations with people who get it.

If you (or someone you know) recently landed here, come find us.

📍 [Location]
🗓️ [Date]
⏰ [Time]

[Link in comments.]

To-dos and not-to-dos

Do:

Post 5–7 days before the event
Repost 2 days before (a reminder)
Post the morning of (“we're here in 3 hours”)
Personally DM 15–25 people
Say what the event actually is, not what it “represents”

Don't:

Rely on one post to fill the event
Assume RSVPs mean attendance (they usually don't)
Use jargon like “community building” or “networking”. Say it in plain words
Post only on Instagram grid. Stories, DMs, and word-of-mouth do more