Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Topic for 4/28
TDaniel
>Our topic this week is "Helping your turning club to grow". Several of us discussed this at the SSS last week-end. For a club to be able to grow to the point of being able to pay for people to do demos you have to reach 30 to 40 active members and have some good fund-raisers. We'll have some proven ideas to help you make this happen. Join us at about 9pm eastern for general discussions and "howdies" and we'll start the topic at 9:30.
Re: Topic for 4/28
Hal Simmons
>Here are some questions that might be helpful as we discuss this topic:
1) What clubs are represented, e.g., name of club, city, st?
2)In terms of years, can the club be considered a young club with a constantly growing membership or a mature club with a relatively steady membership?
3)How many members are in the club(s)?
4)In general terms, what is the club's mission statement?
5)What events are / have been scheduled to back up this mission statement?
6)What is the average pay for demonstrators at your club?
7)How many nationally recognized demonstrators vs. local demonstrators does the club invite over the course of a year?
8)What is the percentage of beginner vs. advanced turners in the club(s)?
I belong to two clubs, e.g., the Chattahoochee Woodturners which meet in Belmont, GA, and the Georgia Association of Woodturners which meet in Atlanta, GA. The Chattahoochee Woodturners has been in existence since about '96 and the GAW has been in existence much longer that that. The Chattahoochee (CWT) has about 80 members and the GAW close to 150. In both clubs the mission statement is mostly about education, e.g., providing tools and opportunities to young turners so that they can develop their turning skills to higher levels. In addition to monthly demonstrations, the CWT has just helped sponsor the Southern States Symposium in Gainesville, GA. Attendance at that event was 300+ and featured national demonstrators included Trent Bosch, Al Stirt, Binh Pho, and Gary Sanders. Next year (Apr 29, 30, May 1, 2005) promises to be even bigger and better. The GAW sponsors a symposium in Helen, GA each Sep, again featuring national turners and lots of rotations. In addition, the GAW has sponsored all day demos and hands-on opportunities with turners such as Cliff Lounsbury, Al Stirt, Dick Sing, Ray Key, and George Hatfield. In addition, about 10 different classes are offered througout the year to members at a reduced price on topics covering techniques and projects. The average pay for a demonstrator is about $165. The GAW tries to schedule as many national demonstrators as the budget will allow, and the CWT tries to schedule about 4 national demonstrators each year. It's hard to gage the percentage of beginner vs. advanced turners in each club, but there seems to be new, inexperienced turners at each meeting.
Hopefully, this will help initiate some discussion on tonight's topic.
Re: Topic for 4/28
TDaniel
>Hal, I just saw your post after the night's discussion; sorry about that!