Llorekeeper's List: ViabilityClubs

Lions Club
"Some of the reasons for leaving that you can correct are:
a. Meetings that are boring and unproductive.
b. Projects that have no real meaning in the community.
c. New members don't feel involved or part of the decision-making process.
d. One or two people are running the club and it has to be done their way!
e. Very Cliquish!
f. And other reasons."

"A number of people have been given additional duties on their jobs and just don't have time to get away. As companies downsize, they have a number of vacancies and decide to leave four people's jobs unfilled and redistribute duties....Clapper said it's hard to get younger people involved because everybody is busy. Families also reduce flexibility..."These days when raising kids, they just don't have time...“We set a date, get a list of potential members, send out invitations then bring them in for a special event,” Miser said.
Optimists are making extra efforts to ask friends and neighbors to get involved during a service project then take it a step further by asking if they’re interested in joining, she said. “There are a lot of people that need to belong to a service group and do some good things for the neighborhoods and city,” Miser said. “We just need to remember to ask people to join us.''

1. Club is not doing enough to meet member’s fundamental needs.
2. Club is doing enough but current and prospective members don’t see it.
3. Club is not attracting those people whose needs can be met by the club.

"In common with other clubs, we were facing [financial] problems linked to an older membership and declining numbers. So our committee came up with the idea of staging an open day. We put a lot of time and effort last September into attracting large numbers to the club. We advertised on Radio Forth and undertook a drop of 4,000 leaflets in the local area by volunteers from the club. There was a round of golf for £12 which included a free buffet and a drinks voucher. For those who liked what they saw and wanted to join, we cut the entry fee in half on that day only...The open day idea worked for us, but it's not something you could do more often than once every five years. If you tried it, say, every two years, you wouldn't get anyone joining in the second year - people would just wait for the open day."

"1. Chamber of Commerce- Ask if you can place an ad in its newsletter. Also, perhaps the Chamber would welcome a presentation by a Toastmaster at one of its meetings. If you have a member of the Chamber in your club, and if you have the space, you might want to host a Chamber mixer.
2. Libraries- Submit extra copies of the Toastmaster Magazine to the library’s periodicals department. Remember to attach club contact information to the magazine. Inquire about the possibility of setting up a display at the library. You can include TI brochures, a poster with club information (don’t forget photos), and the Toastmaster magazine.
3. Employee Orientations- If yours is a corporate club, be sure that your club is mentioned during the orientation seminar, and try to get a brochure into the hands of those new employees.
4. Welcome to the Community Packets- New residents of a community often receive a welcome packet that contains promotional materials for the local merchants and organizations. Your club brochure should be in that packet.
5. Think Simple- Promotion doesn’t always have to be time-consuming or labor-intensive. You can effectively promote Toastmasters by displaying TM products at work (a mug on your desk; the last trophy or ribbon that you won on display); a bumper sticker or license frame on your car; wear a TI t-shirt. And of course, don’t forget to wear your Toastmasters pin."

"... hanging a poster on the bulletin board of the Art Gallery...
Often I've noticed that many Photography Clubs meet in an Arts building, so this can be very convenient. Not only is it a free meeting room, but it's in a well-located public place...You could also put an announcement in the local newspapers with the same information, so that a wider audience will be able to see it, rather than just the few that might notice the posters around town."

"Programs are the life-blood of every camera club, and providing stimulating and educational programs is never a simple task... While PSA and manufacturers of photographic products provide excellent programs, local assistance should be sought. Contact professional photographers, camera stores, art teachers, museums, other near-by clubs, and of course, make use of your own talented members... Competition between members is an important aspect of club life. Never lose sight of the fact that its importance lies not in garnering awards, trophies and honors, but in the incentive it creates for doing better work... Your club should engage in all possible outside competition. If there is a council or association of camera clubs in your area, join it. If there are other clubs within a reasonable distance, make arrangements to hold Interclub contests. PSA also provides competitions for its member clubs in many divisions."

First Type "The function of the club is simply to bring them together for the exchange of ideas comparison of results and mutual enlightenment on methods of procedure and technique together with such encouragement and enjoyment as springs from association with kindred spirits. There will be print exhibits lantern slide talks perhaps an occasional tea and certainly much fun and good natured banter but the most striking thing will be that everyone will take photography in an easy matter of fact way doing and appreciating good work without the terrible intensity of the fanatic..."
Second Type "...rigidly limits itself to the for which it is formed not striving for a closer bond among the members than the easy intimacy the modern business office the workers in which distinctly separate lives outside of business....this inclusive kind have been started maintained for a while on a basis of periodical evening meetings in some public hall but it is against human nature to try to keep the going in a healthy way on any such arrangement There are too many things going on...and when the first enthusiasm has off the attendance with so slight a basis cf association is pretty sure to dwindle. Having a hang out offsets this tendency to disintegration. Members get into the way of dropping in at rooms at odd times during the week and often get much out of talking with one or two others as would out of an entire evening meeting....a few members ... are trying desperately to keep the thing going by the force of own personalities which eventually tire... conditions get to this stage there is too much of the will required to keep one's interest up. This is my reason for feeling that regular quarters are practical necessity if the club is to survive. Members get the habit of dropping in at the rooms the club becomes a convenience in hours of relaxation rather than a growing tax upon the will."

"4. Tonight you will be abducted by aliens and removed from planet earth forever. You are allowed to take one hundred pictures with you. You have to take them this afternoon."
"I don't have experience with photo clubs, but I have taken a number of community college classes, and our weekly assignments were often the type you're describing. An instructor might tell us to photograph trees, or to photograph the rain, or to do multiple exposures. These were fun after a fashion, but what was more fun were group field trips. It was a blast when a few of us got together (or the entire class) and headed downtown to all photograph the same thing, or went to the train station together, or whatever. We were less self-conscious when we were in a group, felt more freedom to photograph other people, for example (which is a huge barrier for most amateurs), even if our "support" was all the way at the other end of the block. One of my favorite episodes occurred on an organized class field trip: we stopped in front of an antique store, and we all spent about ten minutes taking photos through the window. It was amazing how everyone got such different images from the same spot."

"For what it is worth. 4-H has a large resource book that anyone can use for ideas with photography clubs. It is headed at kids between 9 and 18 but could easily be adapted to any group. I teach from this curriculum and love it. It is also very adaptable from the large city to smaller rural areas. It should be available from your county extension agent."

"Past Guest Speakers"

"How does your camera club meet and combat the challenge of this seasonal lethargy? One way is to schedule a photo confabulation.
In Webster's Dictionary "confabulate" is defined as: 1. To talk informally or to chat. 2. To replace fact with fantasy in memory. How is this translated into a program? By making it a non-program."

"'Ready Steady Shoot' - like the cooking prog but 3 groups with three shooting positions and a set of random props at each. Each "round" involves shooting for 15 minutes using some or all of the props, then move to the next station and repeat. When each group has shot each position the images are printed off (make sure to bring a printer that can read all the cards used!) and during coffee they are stuck up for the after coffee critiques. "

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