How do I create an event for my Facebook group?

Facebook is full of nuances, I have to say. Groups versus fan pages, it can be tricky to figure out which is going to work best for you and your organization, and that's doubly difficult when Facebook keeps changing the rules too. The latest that I've heard buzz about is that fan pages for organizations are going to vanish entirely and people will be able to "like" organizations instead.

It's an interesting idea, but then there's the question of how do you have a relationship with an organization if you can't be part of their fan base, but that's something that's really impossible to ascertain when we don't know how - or if - this will be implemented.

Meanwhile, groups versus fan pages, I dunno. Seems like fan pages are kind of the way to go, but I recently created a Facebook group for a blogger meetup that I co-host here in Colorado because it seemed a more accurate description of what we wanted.

When we have meetings, I do set them up as events on our Facebook group, so I'll step through it and you'll be able to see how you can do the same.

First off, when you're looking at your Facebook group pages, notice the options on the left side:

Click on "Create Group Event" and you'll see a pretty comprehensive form:

I fill it in...

And click on "Create Event". Now you can add details:

Most importantly, though, go down a bit and you'll see the many options you have for the event and how people can interact with it:

Take your time with this and think through what kind of capabilities you want people to have. If it's a closed group, allow the Wall and more, but if it's a more open invite, you might want to minimize random commentary.

I added a photo of the restaurant that we're using to host the meeting, and once I click on "Save and Continue", I have the option of posting it to my own Wall:

Looks great! I click "Publish" and now I can invite specific Facebook friends to attend the event. More importantly, though, if you scroll down on that invite page, you'll see a rather low-key check box that's pretty darn useful:

Click on "Invite members of the host group", then click on "Send Invitations"...

That's easy. I just sent an event invitation to almost 400 people on Facebook, some of whom aren't even my friends: all they have to be are members of the group.

Oh, and one final thing. Here's how it looks on my Wall:

Pretty nice, eh? Now, create that invitation and have fun with your Facebook group!