PUTTING TOGETHER A SUCCESSFUL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

By Richard V. Francaviglia and J.D. Britton

Local History Notebook, January / February 1990

The Purpose of Meetings

An important activity of any historical organization is its monthly, quarterly, or annual membership meeting. Like other activities, such as publishing, designing exhibits, and creating public and youth/school programs, meetings require much effort to ensure their historical content and appeal. Meetings should be informative and entertaining, and they should provide the opportunity for the membership to meet face to face to share ideas and to interact socially.

Meetings should provide historical organizations a chance to hear from their members, and to show what they do best--collecting, preserving, and presenting the past. Because local history groups are the historical consciences of their communities, they provide a broad range of activities to ensure that their communities' pasts are not lost or forsaken. Meetings are among these activities in that they are educational and reach out to-and have a meaningful impact on-a large public audience.

Good meetings do not just happen--they require advance planning and preparation. This is extremely important since historical organizations are competing with so many attractions for people's attention--movies, sporting events, concerts, theatrical performances, to name a few. Failure to develop a well-crafted meeting invites disappointment. Therefore, we suggest enlisting the support of a dynamic planning committee consisting of several well-informed and creative members of your historical organization. In earlier to develop a historically meaningful and entertaining meeting, one normally follows several steps:

1. Conceiving
2. Planning
3. Tracking
4. Rehearsing
5. Meeting
6. Evaluating


Conceiving the Meeting

Ideas for a good meeting are initiated before actual planning begins. The ideas may either come to the planners as a flash or be the result of much careful thought. Sometimes the light is turned on by one individual, but more often it involves teamwork. A committee may brainstorm an initial idea and then develop it into a workable meeting theme. For example, in developing the "History and Education" theme for this year's OAHSM annual meeting, the annual meeting committee presented a number of ideas on educational activities, such as public programs, exhibits, publications, and working with schools.

A committee can also help expand on a bright idea to broaden the meeting's appeal to ensure that it covers all of its members' interests. A committee assures that the idea is in harmony with the goals and purposes of the organization serving the history needs of the entire community. This is extremely important since the future growth of the organization depends on reaching all potential members--not just the current members. That is to say, a good meeting idea can help you attract new members such as:

• Business leaders
• School teachers
• Rank and File
• Students
• Doctors/Lawyers
• Minority groups
• Politicians
• Ethnic groups

Ideas may become themes that you can use to attract new members. For example, in order to encourage support from the local business community, you might center a meeting around the themes of examining the significance of merchants, industrialists, and the work force in building your community. The celebration of this theme might well attract a lot of outside interest in all the activities of your historical organization.

Besides developing ideas and a team, you will want to be thinking about a budget. How much money do you have, or have to raise, in order to host a successful and meaningful meeting. You will want to plan the meeting's budget very carefully and keep track of it throughout the entire process of holding the meeting. Be sure to account for facilities, maintenance, speakers, and printed materials such as invitations and brochures.

Staying within the budget will assure that your meeting will not become a financial embarrassment for your historical organization. However, a well-planned and budgeted meeting can generate funds if you build in money raising activities such as silent auctions and book and gift sales.

Planning the Meeting

Once you work out an idea, it will need to he developed into a meeting agenda format. Planning translates ideas into action. An important first step is the actual program design – how will it be structured? For example, will there be a keynote speaker, entertainment, workshops, meals, tours, and awards that recognize volunteers or contributors? Remember that your meeting serves several purposes and should strike a balance between business and pleasure. A meeting usually consists of the following:

• Business--presenting members with written or verbal reports and electing new officers.

• Education--reaffirming the importance, the contributions, and the excitement of being involved in history-related activity.

• Entertainment--offering an enjoyable and memorable experience with like-minded associates.

• Communication--spreading the word about the good and important things your organization does in the community.

Because planning involves the nuts and bolts--the actual logistics--we recommend that you ask several questions:

• What will happen? What activities need to occur to make the meeting take place? (List them individually.)

• Where will it happen? What location or facility is available in your community? Have you reserved it? Is it large enough and are the acoustics such that an audience can hear a speaker or business report?

• When should things happen? Are you sure that your meeting does not conflict with other important activities in the community?

• How will it happen? Have you thought out each step to ensure that all the components of the meeting are going to work together? Timing is important: Does everyone who is involved in planning or conducting the meeting know when he or she is supposed to assist?

At this point in the planning, it is a good idea that your committee develop a calendar or schedule to assure that you are giving yourself enough time to do everything that needs to be done before the meeting occurs. Give yourself leeway for any particular duty that needs to be accomplished in case something unforeseen develops. A speaker may not be able to make the meeting or a caterer may have gone out of business. Also, build in contingency plans and be prepared to act on these unknowns. Plan in advance.

Experience has shown that a good annual meeting often takes as long as a year of planning. Monthly or quarterly meetings may not take nearly as long, but give yourself adequate time to develop these.

Tracking the Meeting

In order for the meeting to be successful, it will be necessary to make sure everyone and everything associated with the meeting is coordinated. Develop and stick to a schedule that tracks the following:

• Business--have all the reports been written, printed, and copied, nominations made and publicized to the membership, and budgets been prepared and ratified?

• Education--have all speakers been provided with written information about the meeting time and location? Have you prepared for all their audiovisual needs? Have special exhibits, displays, or presentations been prepared?

• Entertainment--have the facilities been prepared--cleaned and decorated? Have dinner or lunch menus been made and theatrical or musical activities been arranged?

• Communications--have you publicized the meeting--sending news releases to radio, television, and newspapers and contacting all members as well as non-members? Have the invitations, brochures, and other announcements been well written and proofread? Has the committee made an attempt to invite prospective new members.

These are monumental tasks. Tracking a meeting requires as much coordination as is needed by the military to win a battle. Although some luck may be involved, you can be sure that teamwork will go a long way toward assuring a victory. Have you assigned the right people to the right jobs, and do you have a way of assuring that they know what is expected of them at particular times? Some historical organizations find a large calendar, with plenty of space to write in, or an extensive checklist, to be useful when orchestrating large numbers of individuals and activities. Also, consider the timing for the business meeting, elections, speakers, breaks, and lunch or dinner.

Rehearsing the Meeting

Think of the stress of doing a performance without ever rehearsing and you can see why doing a dry run for your meeting (especially an annual meeting) is a good idea. Have you visited the meeting location from time to time? Have you put yourself in the position of a speaker to see if all the technological aspects, such as lecterns, lights, and microphones, work? Do you have an extension cord and three-pronged electrical plug available? Have you tasted the food that the caterer will prepare? Are the chairs comfortable (or too comfortable)? Can you hear a speaker from the back of the room? Have you or one of your committee members ever seen or listened to the evening's entertainment or are you taking someone else's word for its quality?

Cold food, rooms that cannot be darkened, burned out projector bulbs, faulty microphones, undependable help, inaccessible thermostats, and late publicity have short-circuited or marred many an otherwise good meeting. Have you done your best to assure that these gremlins will not creep into your meeting?

Doing the Meeting

Within reason, if you have done all your homework, the meeting should practically run itself. But just because the planning is over, the tracking done, and the dry run has been successful, does not mean that you can fully relax--a good host or hostess never does. The committee needs to be actively involved at this time, assuring that everything is functioning as planned.

Be sure that someone is in charge of each major area and that each committee member feels free to notify or inform the others of any problems under his or her supervision. Also, try to find a balance between enjoying the meeting and staying on your toes. It is your meeting. You have worked hard to make it happen, and you owe it to yourself to enjoy it and have a good time with the people you have attracted to it. At the same time remember that you and your board members are ambassadors for your historical organization. All the best planning and smooth operation of the meeting will not matter if everyone is rigid and unapproachable. Instruct your board members to circulate, greet members and non-members, shake hands, welcome, and converse with everyone present.

Evaluating the Meeting

Most people have mixed feelings about evaluations because they take time to conduct and because they invite criticism. Evaluations, however, are an important and essential ingredient to any meeting--monthly, quarterly, or annual. As good restaurant owners, retailers, and service people will tell you, they are constantly aware of praise or criticism, making mental notes of how to improve service. Therefore, it is a good idea to ask people at the meeting how they feel about it. Be especially aware of people who look confused, bewildered, or angry--and ask if you can help.

Another, more formal way to evaluate the meeting is through the use of a written form or questionnaire. For historical organizations, questions normally include the following:

• What did you enjoy most--or least--about the meeting?

• Did the meeting serve the historical interests and needs of the community?

• How were the facilities?

• Were you provided with an adequate amount of time to plan to attend the meeting, and were the announcements informative and attractive?

• Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for improving our next meeting?

For the most part, the feedback you obtain from evaluations will be positive and helpful. If someone is critical, do not take offense. View his or her evaluation as constructive criticism. Your meeting committee can probably take advantage of some of the remarks to prepare even better future meetings. There will always be someone in the crowd that you cannot satisfy. Again, do not take offense. Remember, you have done your best. The important thing here is that your historical organization has made its best attempt to address the needs and interests of your community.

Within a reasonable time following the meeting, it is imperative that you thank all the people who made the meeting possible. Do not overlook the good job done by the caterers or any other outside group that may have helped you look good. Do not fail to praise them for their efforts. You may want to depend upon them for assisting with later meetings. Also, write thank you letters to all the volunteers who assisted you. Their work is absolutely essential, and you will certainly need them again.

Be sure to pay all bills and honoraria (if applicable) in a reasonable time--normally within ten days. In most cases, outside speakers do not volunteer their time and effort, any more than people in the theatrical or musical worlds. Because they will probably have spent many hours drafting a speech or creating an audio-visual program, you may wish to compensate them with a free dinner or lunch, mileage (about thirty-one cents a mile), room expenses, and/or a fifty to one hundred dollar honorarium.

A final thought. Now that your committee is back together writing notes of appreciation and paying the bills, take the time to set up (if applicable) the next year's meeting committee. Also, take the opportunity to review the evaluations and solicit ideas for the next meeting. This may seem premature, but remember the sooner you start planning, the better your next meeting.

Summary

Your meeting is one of the most important communication links you will have with your members and your entire community. It reaffirms the importance of history and your educational mission in the community. It also gives you a chance to connect with non-members and businesses that may find an interest in history and historical organizations. Meetings provide you a chance to combine business and pleasure, and to work with a team of valued members of your organization.

Richard Francaviglia is head of the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office, and J.D. Britton is community history specialist for the OHS Local History Office.

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selections of subjects and authors is based on inquiries to the Local History Office and on the editors' determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reference inserts are copyrighted 1990 by the Ohio Historical Society. Reprints are available; please specify volume and number. For further information, contact:

Local History Office
Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43211
Phone: (614) 297-2340
Toll-free: (800) 858-6878
Fax: (614) 297-2318
oahsm@ohiohistory.org



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