Meetups

Free meetups for people who run online stores.

Text Connects hosts free meetups for local e-commerce and Shopify store owners in Boston, Stamford, Orlando and Danielson. Practical talks on running and managing your store, real questions from real stores, and time to compare notes with people doing the same work.

Find a meetup near youGet notified about 2027 dates
Cost
Free
Format
In person, some online
Locations
Boston · Stamford · Orlando · Danielson
Hosting since
2018
Registration
Eventbrite

Locations

Pick the one closest to you.

Each location has its own page with upcoming dates, venue details, and slides and notes from past meetups.

  • 01Boston, MA

    Boston

    Evening meetups for Shopify merchants around Boston, usually at CIC in Cambridge: short talks, real store questions and time to meet other owners.

    Next
    2027 dates coming soon
    Past meetups
    6
    Meetup group
  • 02Stamford, CT

    Stamford

    Talks and Q&A for Fairfield County store owners, from inventory and SEO to branding and site speed.

    Next
    2027 dates coming soon
    Past meetups
    2
  • 03Orlando, FL

    Orlando

    Our Florida group for Shopify merchants in and around Orlando, meeting in person and online.

    Next
    2027 dates coming soon
    Past meetups
    3
    Meetup group
  • 04Danielson, CT

    Danielson

    Hosted at the Text Connects office for Quiet Corner shops that sell online, in store, or both.

    Next
    2027 dates coming soon
    Past meetups
    1

Upcoming

Next on the calendar.

  1. 2027 TBA

    2027 dates are coming soon.

    Boston · Stamford · Orlando · DanielsonVenue and time posted with the date.

    Nothing else is scheduled for 2026. We're booking at least one meetup in each location for 2027 and will post dates here as soon as venues are confirmed.

    We'll email you when dates are set. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Or join a group: Boston ↗ · Orlando ↗

What to expect

How an evening runs.

  1. 01 · 6:00 pm

    Arrive and meet

    Grab a drink and a seat. Talk to the people at your table about what's working in their store.

  2. 02 · 6:30 pm

    The talk

    One focused topic on running a store: shipping, email, product pages, apps, reporting. Practical, with examples you can copy.

  3. 03 · 7:15 pm

    Open questions

    Bring a real problem from your store. The room and our developers will take a swing at it.

  4. 04 · 8:00 pm

    Wrap up

    Slides and handouts go up on this page after the meetup, so you don't need to take notes.

Past meetups

Talks, slides and notes.

Open any meetup to download what was shared. Slides, handouts and recaps are posted when we have them.

11 meetups since 2018

2025

1 meetup
  1. Danielson, CT

    Build your e-commerce sales channel

    Tarr Park, 200 School Street, Putnam, CT 06260
    Details

    For local shops adding online sales: the platforms available, how they connect to what you sell in store, and setting up buy online, pick up in store.

    Agenda

    • E-commerce platforms and how they connect to your store
    • Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) walkthrough
    • Questions
    Eventbrite

2024

1 meetup
  1. Boston, MA

    E-commerce growth strategies: live store reviews (online series)

    Online
    Details

    Five 45-minute online sessions, every other Tuesday from September 10 to November 5, 2024, reviewing attendees' stores live: UX, design, SEO and conversion.

    Sessions

    • September 10
    • September 24
    • October 8
    • October 22
    • November 5
    Meetup.com event

2023

2 meetups
  1. Boston, MA

    Shopify store audit, live

    Online
    Details

    A live-streamed audit of a real attendee's Shopify store: theme customization, app integrations, functionality and performance.

    Meetup.com event
  2. Boston, MA

    Shopify Meetup Boston: SEO for revenue and customer experience

    CIC Cambridge, 245 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
    Details

    Back in person at CIC Cambridge: SEO that grows revenue rather than rankings, and what customer experience looks like at scale and in e-commerce.

    Agenda

    • Welcome, badges and networking
    • SEO for revenue: grow your business, not just your rankings — Dale Bertrand
    • Customer experience at a Fortune 500 company
    • Customer experience in e-commerce — Justin Porter
    • Breakout sessions and closing thoughts
    Meetup.com event Eventbrite

2021

1 meetup
  1. Orlando, FL

    Orlando Virtual Shopify Meetup

    Online
    Details

    A casual online meet-and-greet for Shopify store owners in the Orlando group.

    Meetup.com event

2020

1 meetup
  1. Orlando, FL

    First Orlando Shopify Meetup

    7450 Augusta National Dr, Orlando, FL
    Details

    Our first in-person Orlando meetup: a small group of store owners on growing sales in 2020.

    Agenda

    • Page speed and Shopify performance — Justin Porter
    • Email marketing — Tim Kipka
    • Handling chargebacks and fraud — NS8
    Meetup.com event
Show all past meetups (11) Hide earlier meetups

2019

3 meetups
  1. Boston, MA

    Shopify Meetup Boston: link building, BFCM and store operations

    Boston, MA
    3 files

    SEO link building, Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales strategy, and keeping store operations and backups in order.

    Agenda

    • SEO link building — Dale, Fire&Spark
    • Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales — Debra and Maddie, Digital Retail Partners
    • Store operations and backups — Justin Porter
    Recap

    Materials

  2. Stamford, CT

    Shopify Meetup Norwalk: design, SEO and site speed

    Norwalk, CT
    Details

    Three talks for Fairfield County merchants: the science of digital design, how e-commerce SEO changed in 2019, and Shopify store performance.

    Agenda

    • The science of digital design
    • How e-commerce SEO has changed in 2019
    • Shopify store performance considerations — Justin Porter
    Recap
  3. Boston, MA

    Shopify Meetup Boston: customer experience

    Boston, MA
    2 files

    What customer experience means for an online store and how to put it into practice with Shopify apps and processes.

    Agenda

    • Introduction to customer experience — Anthony Bannister
    • Implementing customer experience in the Shopify ecosystem — Justin Porter

    Sponsored by Fire&Spark and ShopClerk

    Recap

    Materials

2018

2 meetups
  1. Boston, MA

    Boston Shopify Meetup: SEO case studies and holiday prep

    CIC Cambridge, 5th floor café, 1 Broadway, Cambridge, MA
    Details

    An evening at CIC Cambridge on e-commerce SEO and getting ready for the holiday season, followed by breakout sessions to get questions answered.

    Agenda

    • 6:00 Networking
    • 6:30 Welcome — Dale Bertrand
    • 6:40 E-commerce SEO case study — Kara Tardif
    • 6:55 Isaiah Bollinger, Trellis
    • 7:10 Holiday season SEO — Dale Bertrand
    • 7:25 Breakout sessions
    Meetup.com event
  2. Stamford, CT

    Shopify CT Meetup: inventory, audiences, SEO and branding

    Stamford, CT
    4 files

    Four short talks for Connecticut Shopify merchants: getting inventory under control, Facebook lookalike audiences, e-commerce SEO for 2018, and building a brand.

    Agenda

    • Inventory basics, a case study and suggested apps — Justin Porter
    • Lookalike audiences — Drew Frayre
    • E-commerce SEO for 2018 — Dale Bertrand
    • Branding — Katie Klencheski, SMAKK Studios

    Sponsored by Chimaera Labs

    Recap

    Materials

Questions

Before you come.

Ask us something else
01 Who are these for?

Anyone who runs or works on an online store: owners, marketers, operations. Most people in the room sell on Shopify, but you don't have to.

02 Is it really free?

Yes. Registration on Eventbrite is free. It tells us how many chairs to set out.

03 Is this a sales pitch?

No. We're a Shopify agency and won't pretend otherwise, but the talks are about running your store, not hiring us.

04 Do I need to bring anything?

A question from your store, if you have one. A laptop is optional.

05 Where do I find slides from a past meetup?

On each location's page under Past meetups. Open the meetup to download its files. If something's missing, ask us and we'll send it.

06 Can I present or host one?

Yes. We're always looking for store owners, app partners and local businesses with something useful to share or a room to share it in.

Have something worth sharing?

Present a talk, host a meetup at your space, or sponsor the food. Tell us what you have in mind and which location you're near.

Tell us what you'd talk about