Meetup Events And Groups Scraper

📋 Overview

A high-performance web scraper for extracting comprehensive event and group data from Meetup.com. This actor enables market research, community analysis, event aggregation, and lead generation by collecting structured data from one of the world's largest community platforms.

⚡ Quick Start

Method 1: Advanced Start URLs (Recommended)

{
  "useAdvancedStartUrls": true,
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=es--Barcelona&source=EVENTS",
    "https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=gb--London&source=GROUPS"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerStartURL": 200,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Method 2: Simple Form Input

{
  "useAdvancedStartUrls": false,
  "city": "Barcelona",
  "countryCode": "ES",
  "source": "EVENTS",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

🎯 Key Features

• Dual Scraping Modes: Extract both events and groups in a single run
• High Performance: Parallel processing with optimized selectors
• Data Quality: Clean, structured JSON output with comprehensive fields
• Flexible Configuration: Two input methods for different use cases
• Cost-Effective: ~$0.50 per 1,000 events/groups
• Reliable: Built-in error handling and retry mechanisms

🔧 Configuration

Proxy Requirements

⚠️ Important: Use DATACENTER proxies for optimal performance. While residential proxies are available, datacenter proxies provide significantly better speed and reliability for scraping Meetup.com.

// Recommended proxy configuration
{
  "useApifyProxy": true,
  "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
  "apifyProxyCountry": "US" // Optional: specify country
}

Input Methods Comparison

Feature	Advanced Start URLs	Form-Based Input
Control	Full control over search parameters	Limited to basic search
Multiple Locations	✅ Yes	❌ No
Source Detection	Automatic from URL	Manual selection
Custom Filters	✅ Yes	❌ No
Ease of Use	Moderate	Simple

📊 Data Extracted

Event Data Structure

{
  "eventId": "311944258",
  "url": "https://www.meetup.com/friendsbyframe/events/311944258/",
  "title": "King's Cross and Coal Drops Yard Christmas lights",
  "hosts": "Paolo and Jeff",
  "group": {
    "name": "Friends by Frame Photography Group",
    "rating": "4.6",
    "reviews": "103 reviews",
    "image": "https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/3/b/7/a/thumb_251835226.jpeg?w=96",
    "url": "https://www.meetup.com/friendsbyframe/events/311944258/attendees/"
  },
  "dateTime": "2025-12-14T15:30:00Z",
  "location": {
    "venue": "N1",
    "address": "Upper street · London"
  },
  "image": "https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/d/1/d/b/highres_531233723.webp?w=3840",
  "tags": ["Digital Photography", "Photography", "Street Photography"],
  "description": "Join us for a festive photowalk...",
  "socialMediaLinks": ["https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ek2mMMZioqu19CJJPoQal4"],
  "phoneNumbers": [],
  "price": null,
  "availability": null,
  "waitlist": false,
  "reservationDate": null,
  "type": "event"
}

Group Data Structure

{
  "url": "https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-reactor-london",
  "name": "Microsoft Reactor London",
  "coverImage": "https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/a/2/clean_525182978.webp",
  "rating": "4.3",
  "memberCount": "22,793",
  "location": "London, United Kingdom",
  "about": "Whether you want to get started with AI...",
  "organizers": {
    "mainOrganizer": "Microsoft Reactor",
    "otherOrganizersCount": 7,
    "organizerPhoto": "https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/e/5/c/d/highres_318898829.jpeg?w=96"
  },
  "socialMediaLinks": ["https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkm6luGCS3hD25jcEhvRMIA"],
  "phoneNumbers": [],
  "visibility": "Public group",
  "type": "group"
}

🚀 Usage Examples

Example 1: Scraping Tech Events in Multiple Cities

{
  "useAdvancedStartUrls": true,
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--San%20Francisco&source=EVENTS&categoryId=292",
    "https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--New%20York&source=EVENTS&categoryId=292",
    "https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=gb--London&source=EVENTS&categoryId=292"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerStartURL": 500,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": []
  }
}

Example 2: Researching Fitness Groups

{
  "useAdvancedStartUrls": false,
  "city": "Los Angeles",
  "countryCode": "US",
  "stateCode": "CA",
  "source": "GROUPS",
  "maxItems": 300,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

💼 Use Cases

Use Case	Benefit	Data Fields Used
Market Research	Analyze event trends, pricing, and popularity	title, tags, price, dateTime, location
Lead Generation	Identify potential partners and customers	hosts, group.organizers, socialMediaLinks
Event Aggregation	Build event calendars and directories	all event fields
Community Analysis	Understand group dynamics and growth	memberCount, rating, reviews, organizers
Content Creation	Generate "Top 10" lists and local guides	title, description, image, tags

📈 Performance & Cost

Metric	Value	Notes
Processing Speed	~100-200 items/minute	Depends on proxy type
Cost per 1,000 items	~$0.50	Based on Apify platform pricing
Concurrent Requests	Up to 5	Optimized for reliability
Success Rate	>95%	With proper proxy configuration
Data Retention	Unlimited	Export to JSON, CSV, or databases

🔍 Advanced Configuration

URL Parameters for Advanced Start URLs

When using Advanced Start URLs, you can leverage Meetup's URL parameters for precise filtering:

// Basic search with location
`https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--New%20York&source=EVENTS`

// Search with category (Tech = 292, Business = 378, etc.)
`https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--San%20Francisco&source=EVENTS&categoryId=292`

// Search with radius (in miles)
`https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--Chicago&source=EVENTS&radius=10`

// Search with date range
`https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--Boston&source=EVENTS&eventStart=thisWeek`

// Group search with member count filter
`https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=gb--London&source=GROUPS&minMembers=1000`

Custom Field Mapping

The scraper supports custom field mapping for integration with your systems:

// Example: Custom field mapping configuration
const customMapping = {
  eventFields: {
    externalId: 'eventId',
    name: 'title',
    organizer: 'hosts',
    // ... custom mappings
  },
  groupFields: {
    externalId: 'url',
    memberCount: (data) => parseInt(data.memberCount?.replace(/,/g, '')),
    // ... custom mappings
  }
};

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

Issue	Solution	Prevention
403 Forbidden errors	Switch to residential proxies	Use datacenter proxies initially
Missing data fields	Check selector updates	Monitor Meetup.com DOM changes
Slow performance	Reduce concurrent requests	Use datacenter proxies
Duplicate entries	Implement URL deduplication	Use proper crawling strategy

Error Handling

The scraper includes comprehensive error handling with:

1. Retry logic for failed requests
2. Fallback extraction methods (Cheerio + Playwright)
3. Partial data capture when full extraction fails
4. Detailed logging for debugging

📄 Output Formats

JSON Output Structure

// Main output structure
{
  "metadata": {
    "runId": "abc123",
    "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "itemCount": 150
  },
  "data": [
    // Array of event/group objects
  ],
  "performance": {
    "totalTime": "5m 30s",
    "itemsPerMinute": 27.3,
    "successRate": 96.7
  }
}

Export Options

• JSON: Full structured data (recommended)
• CSV: Simplified tabular format
• Excel: Spreadsheet with multiple sheets
• Webhook: Real-time data delivery
• Database: Direct integration (PostgreSQL, MongoDB)

🤝 Support & Customization

Need Custom Features?

This actor can be customized for specific requirements:

• Custom field extraction: Add specific data points
• Advanced filtering: Implement custom filters
• API integration: Connect to your CRM or database
• Scheduled runs: Regular data collection
• Geographic expansion: Add new regions/languages

Contact

For customization requests or support:

• Email: business@aitorsm.com
• Documentation: Apify Platform Docs
• Community: Apify Discord

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