Yakoob on 24/10/2007 at 08:05
Greetingess!
I am currently a sophmore at my college, where I founded a computer club (anything to do with technology, really) last year. Last year was pretty crappy... we hosted 3 campus-wide lan parties (getting some 20-25 people, not bad for a 300-people campus), but that's where our successes ended. It was basically me and my other friend doing everything, while our member activity was practically nil (generally they'd never show up to club meetings and if hosting an event they said they were interested in, they still wouldn't show up to).
This year, we decided to change our focus from the "ololo video games kekekeke!" to the "learn how to use stuff like photoshop/flash/premiere etc." We have more members, and our activity is higher... but still not quite where I'd like it to be, and I can see a repeat of last year coming. There are certain issues I am noticing (that I also encountered in my other leadership endavours), but before I get to that, here's a breakdown of our meetings so far this year:
Meeting 1: 11/13 people showed up. Pretty good! We spent the hour talking about administrative stuff, letting them know of our plans for the year and asking for suggestions. Overall, it was a bit... silent? People are so reluctant to give ideas or speak up in general. For example, if I suggest we do a small, club-only lan party everyone's like "yeah, that's awesome," but when I ask them what games they would want to play, they just stare at me blankly (and if I choose something and host it, half of them don't show up). There are those vocal one or two, but everyone else pretty much just sits there and stares, and unless you ask them specifically they wont utter a word (I noticed this in almost all of my other group leadership attempts at my school too).
Meeting 2: 6/13 people showed up. We talked a few admin stuff (which went much faster in such smaller grouped) and watched a good 40 minutes of Red Vs Blue. People seemed to enjoy it and laugh here and there out loud.
Meeting 3: The first "Photoshop" class (something not everyone in the club was entirely interested in): 5/13 showed up (1 of those who confirmed they would be there was not). We went over the basics of photoshop, made people do some exercise, they seemed to follow pretty well.
That's it so far. The first noticable issue is the declining number of participating members. On top of that, one member has expressed to me that she finds the meetings sort of awkward, and can't really think of anything to say to change that. I am guessing more may feel the same way, hence the reason for their silence / not showing up.
So basically, me being a ****ty leader, I figured I'd come here and ask for some advice from those more experienced. What can I do to make my club work better?
There are two things that I thought I need to tackle.
1. The "awkwardness." I have a feeling that this is felt by a certain portion of our members. I am in no position to judge, but it feels to me like some members are sort of the typical, not-the-most-sociable geek types who like anything to do with computers, and then there are the more-sociable-like-to-have-fun type of people who share the interest in computers and thus joined the club (the same person that remarked about the awkwardness also mentioned she has a "different style" than others). Being somewhat of a loner geek myself, I can easily cater to the first group, but I am struggling to spark any interest in the latter.
2. Lack of fun and bonding meetings. Something just for enjoyment of our members. At the same time, I think it needs to be something more active; simply watching a movie for an hour would mean the members just sitting in silence staring at the screen which a) some people probably don't want to waste thier time on and b) it does little to actively "bond" the group.
And I think this is the main issue here - we, as a club, don't have a real sense of bond or unity, and I think that the members not so vocal / not showing up may feel like the club is more of a chore, than a fun passtime. All the other big and successul clubs seems to be composed of close friends; most members of our club never really hang out or talk to each other outside of the club. At the same time I don't want to do any lame and forced "ice breakers" (we already had that "go around the room and talk about yourself" the first meeting).
Another thing that may be an issue is the seemingly broad scope of our club - basically, we do not have any single goal (as opposed to various dance / performance clubs on my campus). Perhaps it just seems like we're not going anywhere, hence the low motivation? We are going with the "learn xyz" as our goal this year, but the problem is that not everyone is interested in each one of those; I recall that, out of our total 13 members, the biggest number of people interested in single thing (photoshop in this case) was 6, so that isn't even half of our club. I had an idea to "produce" something together as a club (a simple machinima in style of Red vs. Blue) which would hopefully motivate the people but, again, I am not so sure if they, with such low level of investment into the club, would actually do they work they're supposed to, to get it done (I recall having a 10 people group projec to make a movie last year, and even the first step of writing the script was an utter nightmare, with no one wanting to contribute basic ideas for the plot - do people really have no sort of creativity they want to express, really?)
This is not my first learning experience, and I am noticing some patterns (mainly, seeming lack of motivation expressed by the silence of members as I mentioned), which I am trying to understand and learn to deal with. So any suggestions for what to do, as well as general leadership / social theory comments and tips are highly appreciated.
Tonamel on 24/10/2007 at 08:28
Disclaimer: I have never led such a group, nor have I ever even been in one.
I think you had the right idea with the LAN parties, for this reason: It was the club running something for the greater community. The other activities seem very insular from your descriptions. You might think about making your activities more open to the public, so that the club becomes more of a producer of things rather than a consumer. You could have your Photoshop tutorial, and those that aren't interested in Photoshop could work on a tutorial for something in their area of interest. Maybe charge a small fee ($1-$5) for non-members to attend, and use the proceeds to hold larger events, like the LAN parties.
Basically, get the members doing something, rather than just waiting for you to provide it to them.
Yakoob on 24/10/2007 at 08:37
Quote Posted by Tonamel
I think you had the right idea with the LAN parties, for this reason: It was the club running something for the greater community. The other activities seem very insular from your descriptions.
That, however, is the point. Last year we were all about the community, and as a result our club membership suffered immensly (not to mention the actual lan parties didn't pay off very much, seeing as those who attended said they wouldn't join our club and didn't really donate money to us either).
Quote:
You could have your Photoshop tutorial, and those that aren't interested in Photoshop could work on a tutorial for something in their area of interest.
But if they work on stuff on their own, then that defeats the point of being in the club, dunnit?
Quote:
Basically, get the members
doing something, rather than just waiting for you to provide it to them.
Oh yea, definately wanna do that (hence why I mentioned the machinima idea, maybe you didn't notice it since I edited it in).
addink on 24/10/2007 at 09:08
*Same disclaimer as Tonamel*
though I did work with a lot of groups that required inspiration to see the fun of the stuff I was trying to teach them.
Indeed giving people some responsibility yields a better return than taking care of them. Some people will try to duck the responsibility but you might ask yourself if those are the kind of people that are going to contribute anything.
You might also try expand the impact of the activities. For instance offering website design and support to other clubs, benefits or events. That way the members' work will actually be on display in the community, the risk of public humiliation is always a good incentive to try harder.
Also divide and conquerinspire: When approaching a task don't walk a single path. Split the group in subgroups and have each come up with ideas, discuss the ideas with the whole group and try to keep some ideas of each group, so every member will feel like they (or the group they belong to) already won/achieved something. In later sessions mix up the groups so it doesn't lead to frustration if one group happens to have more talent on board.
-
Something totally different:
Does your college offer funding?
In my experience most do have some kind of scheme to encourage out of class activities. If there is some funding involved, the results (and possible public humiliation) of your club's work could have a larger impact.
Plus people usually enjoy spending money, as long as they don't get any poorer.
EDIT: Also, spending other peoples money does increase the sense of responsibility.
Stitch on 24/10/2007 at 14:38
Get drunk together.
henke on 24/10/2007 at 14:57
Concise and solid advice. :thumb:
Selkie on 24/10/2007 at 19:00
Quote Posted by Stitch
Get drunk together.
I'm sad that it took a whole 4 posts to get to that. :nono:
I was gonna leave it at that, but here's some ideas I've picked up during the few years I've been lying to my parents about getting a degree:
SO: Get some funding (if they argue, just point out how much money the football team gets in a week and accuse them of neglecting more esoteric interests). Next, pimp yourselves out at a freshers' fair or similar as a general computing/internet/games/heywe'recoolandjusthappentobecoolwithcomputers society. Crucially, get campus emails off people, cos that way you can send out entertaining newsletters and generally kick people into action. Oh, and by entertaining newsletters I don't mean you have to be the next Chris Rock or anything, just stick a link to some random (but, again, mass-appeal) YouTube video or something else on the end. Cheesy I know, but you want people to remember your newsletter and you DON'T want them to be scared off by excessive nerd/fanboy humour or similar. Naff 80s music videos with big hair are a staple here.
[wrote this late, and it might be best left til you've actually got a decent set of regular members, but read on anyway] - As for getting people more involved in general, POWER is a great way to do it. Get a proper executive, with a president, secretary, social sec. etc etc. If you've got the membership, have elections, if not then just appoint initially. Make sure everyone has an idea of what their responsibilites are (i.e. just rip off the structure of one of the other clubs), hold a few exec meetings (read uni-subsidised pissups) a term and be sure to take minutes so you actually have a coherent plan.
Back to more current matters:Having gotten your nice big mailing list, take the whole bunch of them out on an extended bar crawl, preferably with some sort of exceptionally stupid (but, given your membership, easy to conform to) fancy-dress code. Announce it via your newsletter (see why we got that list?), and if interest seems lacking, send out a few subsequent emails to everyone answering some (bogus) questions re times, dress code, whatever as long as it's related to the bar crawl. You don't have to be too specific, just sort of "Right everyone, Rachel wasn't sure about [where we're headed, where we start, whatever etc etc], so just to explain we're meeting at blah blah blah... Can't wait to meet you all again, SEE YOU THERE!" This'll give the impression that there's going to be plenty of people there, it's going to be a great night, the usual stuff, and should help to persuade the undecided to come along, which really seems to be one of your fundamental problems. ;)
Oh, and detail: Do NOT suggest a video-game-themed one, cos it's a) nerdy and would hence scare off the broader audience you're aiming for, and b) would generally require lots of effort in costuming, which would scare off the unconfident and unmotivated core demographic.
Anyway, sorry for the extended reply, but there you go. Now I want updates! :thumb:
PS and don't for god's sake start using words like Machinima - that's the membership equivalent of Kryptonite and will without a doubt decimate your society. Oh yeah, and whilst the technique above may sound a bit... unethical, it works and should help both to get the cool kids ;) to appear and also to prise the Oxycutem brigade out of their beanbags and onto the streets. And try to get the two to mingle - team-based drinking games with prizes are good for this cos it forces people to mix.
Nicker on 24/10/2007 at 20:40
Sadly, people are programmed to gain the most advantage from the least effort. Happily you can use guilt, rewards, flattery and even inspiration to get their help.
Since you started things they are automatically assuming you are in charge. That gives you at least two options, take charge (make decisions and organise others to carry them out) or create a decision making infrastructure.
Trouble with the latter is that the job of organising the jobs becomes the biggest job. The trouble with the former is resentment - but if the events happen and everyone enjoys them, then resentment tends to turn to relief (that they didn't have to make the decisions).
If someone complains about your benign despotism, give the crown to them, until they tire of it.
Sometimes monarchy is the best choice.
Yakoob on 24/10/2007 at 21:45
@Selkie
We're not allowed to send mass email newsletters. so nay.
Also, bar crawl sounds like it has absolutely nothing to do with the club, so I kind of don't see the point of that... sure I want activity in my club, but activity in the things we actually came together to do.
@Nicker
I agree wholeheartedly and I am taking the despotism route (though I do not consider myself as such, considering I ask people for opinions and thoughts on each step). But, my point is, I am not quite sure what exactly I can do as a despot to spurt member activity and interest. I am thinking about jumping straight to creating something (the machinima idea) and see how that works out.
Starrfall on 24/10/2007 at 22:12
Quote Posted by Yakoob
1. it feels to me like some members are sort of the typical, not-the-most-sociable geek types who like anything to do with computers, and then there are the more-sociable-like-to-have-fun type of people who share the interest in computers and thus joined the club... Being somewhat of a loner geek myself, I can easily cater to the first group, but I am struggling to spark any interest in the latter.
2. Lack of fun and bonding meetings. Something just for enjoyment of our members. At the same time, I think it needs to be something more active; simply watching a movie for an hour would mean the members just sitting in silence staring at the screen which a) some people probably don't want to waste thier time on and b) it does little to actively "bond" the group.
A bar crawl is EXACTLY the kind of thing the second type would like. It's also EXACTLY the kind of thing that would be active as well as bonding. If you're struggling to spark more interest in that group, you need to seriously consider getting out of your own non-social geek mindset and having some fun.
