Need Suggestions-Societies & Clubs

[angelwingsaviary]

Hi everyone. I need some warm hearted and effective suggestions.

I just accepted a position to head the Finch Society of Georgia. For better or worst, now that I have accepted, I intend to do an excellent job of it.

We have a very active bird community here, and my efforts will be rewarded by the members participation.

We have shows and competitions and monthly meetings, and such..., however, I would like to get people more involved and provide the help and information they might require.

Here comes my plea:
I would love to get my birdboard.com friends to share with me, if:
-You are or have been a member of society or club, or
-You are or have been a club president

What are the things that you have encountered in your club that was either wonderful, informative, hated, loved, got bored to tears, or use it everyday.

What are the best ways to bring the fanciers together and keep them interested.

What would you want to see more, and what would you think needs to be avoided.

Any help or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

[Tiki]

I am a member of Parrot Society of Australia and formerly in the Cockatiel Society. What I dislike about clubs is when they get too political and stop focussing on the birds. I rarely go to meetings unless there is a really good guest speaker on a subject that interests me or I need to buy supplies. Most clubs here are more breeder focused rather than pet/Fid focussed. I would be more acitve in a Fid-focussed club where everyone else is as crazy about birds as I am! Bored to tears-the minutes and officer reports--OMG I can barely stay awake for those!

[Freedomoflight]

My club is really pet focused, but has breeder aspects. Its really nice, we have different speakers each month, with a "major" speaker once a year, like mark bittner, mattie sue anthen, etc. We also hold a bird expo once a year, and have booths at local gatherings, like animal related events in parks, etc.

[Kevin]

How many members you have in your club as of now?

[angelwingsaviary]

Thanks everyone, for the great suggestions. Please keep them coming.

I have no idea, as of yet, how many members I'm going to have. The finch club has been in existance for quite sometime, but the last president has been moving out of state. The shows and the events are ongoing, but not much more activities. I will know more, by the next few days.

I am planning to create a Yahoo group for the local club members and post all the paperwork on the board. This way, we don't have to actually read the minutes at the meetings. ( Great suggestion)

I am also gathering nice articles to make a booklet for the current issues.

I have to think about the speaker issue, but meantime, I will get each member to bring a topic to the meeting and vote on the future topics.

So you see, the hints are working,... keep them coming. ...
PLEASE... and.... THANK YOU....

[Lynjupiter]

I belong to the Florida West Coast Avian Society. I am vice president. We have found that potluck suppers help get more members attending. The problem is getting people to volunteer to help with dinner.

We have found an avian vet speaker boosts attendence by over 25% or more. This month's topic is radiology by Dr. Bonda. I expect a large attendence.
Behavorists are another big draw.

We have also found advertising in the classified ads ( bird section) of our local newspaper has helped boost membership. I would say we get about one new person a month thanks to the newspaper.

It is hard to get big name speakers unless your club has a lot of money , or one lives nearby.
Lynda

[Freedomoflight]

My club? 200, I believe............
we also have a yahoo group to keep us updated on events and trade info in between monthly meetings. Its really nice, actually.