I'm sorry, who exactly is this "dis/allowing" party we all of a sudden are supposed to be subjects of? Or else what? Less than 5 people is not enough of a future marketing opportunity for them, or something?
The MeetUp organisation seems to have a less than sustainable business plan, no matter how hard they keep trying. Recently they have added a bunch of "privileges" for paid up members, but I'm not about to pay up since the only MeetUp that I was interested in that got a start in Melbourne was for Slashdot and that eventually faltered and seemingly died because those who were acknowledging each month dropped below 5.
Notwithstanding that experience, I have signed up for Xanadu, and might well sign up for a couple more that that process drew my attention to, but I don't seriously expect that any of them will get close to the required 5, which, BTW, I think is more a naive idea of what a viable minimum might be than an essential component of their business plan. From experience with similar groups that have hung together for more than 20 years, the actual practical minimum is 2.
In the unlikely event that Xanadu were to get the numbers in Melbourne, and even if I am way overdue to catch up with Andrew Pam, I would have a problem anyway because 2nd Wednesday clashes with the very viable Melbourne Perl Mongers which is one of my current two monthly commitments.
Based on the somewhat sad history of Melbourne Slashdot, my advice to any group which ever reached critical mass via MeetUp would be to immediately jump ship and set up their own free board somewhere to organise their own future meetings. Both the times and the venues MeetUp has offered us show zero sensitivity to local cultural norms.
Tony Smith Meme Media http://meme.com.au/ 0405 499 718 03 9807 0017