The story of The Marketing Meetup

You know that feeling when…

You walk into a networking event and everyone’s trying to sell at you.
Your job title feels more important than who you are.
You leave thinking: there must be a better way.

That’s exactly why The Marketing Meetup began.

In 2016, Joe Glover was a young marketer in Cambridge, looking for a place to meet his peers and learn about the craft he loved. Layered into this was the fact that Joe was a nervous networker. Walking into rooms full of strangers was intimidating, and everyone just seemed to want to sell stuff. If you weren’t deemed worthy of selling at, people moved on without getting to know the person they were speaking to.

Feeling like there was something missing here, Joe started the ‘The Marketing Meetup’ – putting on the first event in a canteen in Cambridge.

While it started as a hobby, quickly, the group gained traction with other likeminded people.

Things continued to grow and take new, unexpected directions in the most lovely way. Today The Marketing Meetup community is over 51,000 people strong with a following of 200,000+ with 200 events this year, free (or with a donation ticket) to access because of our amazing sponsors.

Just like the scale of the events our speakers profile has grown too. Our audience regularly hear from Oscar nominees, disabled rights champions and marketing heroes such as Mark Ritson, Rory Sutherland, and many of the world’s best known marketers.

All this is wrapped up in events, our podcast, annual conference, newsletter and a community to connect and educate marketers from across the world.

From a canteen to today – it’s been a long and lovely journey. That being said, we’ve never lost sight on the most important thing: doing everything we do with kindness in the pursuit of making you a better, more confident and connected marketer.

So, how much reach does TMM have?

And who's in the community?

We’ve welcomed marketing legends and fresh new voices alike, including those below.

Big names, yes - but also everyday marketers doing remarkable work.

Things we hold close to our hearts

Listening.

Ever get that nagging feeling someone is trying to sell to you, or simply thinking about the next clever thing they are going to say while you’re talking at a networking event?

Yep. Us too. We thought it was annoying so we actively encourage everyone who walks through the doors of the Meetup to build a genuine human relationship with their fellow community members first, before thinking of business later.

Saying hello.

Networking events are reeeeeeally intimidating for a lot of people.

So we’ve tried to create an environment where saying hello to a new person or someone stood by themselves is totally normal and seen as a good thing.

‘Hello’ really is the hardest word in networking.

Being positively lovely.

We know it’s twee. But, we really mean it.

Being positively lovely comes down to the idea of looking after each other.

A lot of this should be obvious, but The Marketing Meetup is a place where we encourage you to put the needs of the people in front of you first.

We’ve found people end up getting a lot more in return when looking to help others first.

For Partners 🤝

We’re proud to work with partners like Frontify, Tracksuit, Planable, and Cambridge Marketing College.

Why do they choose us?

We reach an engaged community of tens of thousands of marketers.
We create trust-filled spaces where brands can show up authentically.
We focus on adding value, not noise.

Partnership with TMM isn’t a logo on a slide. It’s about being part of something.

Find out more about our partnership options.

Where we want to go

From a canteen in Cambridge to a global community – and we’re still just getting started.

If you’re a marketer looking to learn, a leader wanting fresh ideas, or a partner who believes kindness belongs in business – there’s a seat here for you.

Pull up a chair. Say hello. Welcome to The Marketing Meetup.