[BusinessWeek] Will Meetup Users Pay or Leave?

"In a mass e-mailing on Apr. 12, Meetup told its 2 million members that it's time for their groups to pay up. Starting May 1, organizers of each Meetup group, of which there are currently 54,000 that are actively managed, will have to pay $19 a month, though existing groups will pay only $9 a month for the rest of 2005. Organizers then can ask members to chip in. [...] It's hardly Meetup's first stab at making money. Since it launched in June, 2002, the site has tried to make money at least three different ways, from charging local meeting places for group referrals to offering individual memberships. The privately held company won't reveal revenues but concedes that no income source has really caught fire."