How to Host a Meetup & Lightning Talk Event for Beginners: Timetable, Recruiting, Day-Of, and Retro

First-timers hosting a tech meetup or lightning talk night for an outside community use this beginner host board to run the whole event. Page 1 sets the topic, audience, scale, and venue and widens LT topic ideas; page 2 builds the timetable and speaker slots; page 3 locks in promo channels, the speaker call, and attendee guidance; page 4 sets the day-of roles and flow, then wraps with a KPT retro. The task board has 3 columns - not started, awaiting check, and done - with 4 parent tasks in page order, each with 3 subtasks, all starting unassigned with no due date, so split them among your team first. Working through the pages in order takes you from recruiting speakers to promotion, running the day, and the retro, even your first time. Co-edit under limited sharing; a standalone public copy of the timetable can be embedded on your announcement page. Handle sign-ups through your usual service and note just the headcount here.