[mancerayder]

You say you mean to go and then 99.99% of the time you don't. When I mean to attend a meetup, I RSVP "Yes". I presume you do too. If you can't make it, please be courteous and release your "yes" RSVP so that people on the waitlist can get in and so that the organizers can plan more accurately. If you aren't likely to make it in the first place, please don't RSVP "yes" for the off-chance that you feel like going - please wait until you know you are going for certain to update your RSVP.

A good organizer knows this is statistical. Only a certain percentage of people show up in any given 'open' social meetup event. I've been going to these for years and the organizers tend to account for that. I'm surprised programmer-organizers wouldn't be even more keen on the statistical and probability aspect of organizing headcount.

[jaredsohn]

Fortunately, I haven't experienced any situation where a lot more people actually show than is expected due to the 'overbooking' and then when someone essential shows up (perhaps a speaker) they have to drag someone out to make room :)

[aaronchall]

We have never asked people to leave, to my knowledge. We usually have businesses hosting us, so we are well below the fire-code head count limits, while still maxing out at what the business is comfortable hosting a head count at.

We have had to turn people away at the door.

This is very rare, and I hate to do it.

(If it looks like we need to, I try to make an announcement before everyone shows up so we aren't turning away dozens of people a quarter of an hour after the start time. I have only done this a couple of times.)

[jaredsohn]

I've been to meetups where this happened and while it isn't ideal I've usually received a warning that I should show up early.

I was talking more about telling somebody already inside that they have to leave because they were randomly selected (and using the police to force the issue if needed), similar to what recently happened with United.

[aaronchall]

Yeah, we haven't pulled a United yet, and, barring enforcement of the code of conduct, I don't intend to ever do that. :)