Originally Posted by memereof8
This is one of our many issues. She and another member have been talking very badly about our guild and other members at workshops (other than ours); at quilt shops, and at a local quilt show. We are losing members because she is very intimating. We also was asked to please stop whistling when she wants attention. And it is a loud whistle. We can't figure out why they are staying because they do not take part in anything the guild does.
Throwing them out of the guild is only going to escalate the "bad press" you get from these women.
There are plenty of "followers" that like to be part of a group and yet never participate or pull their own weight. I like the idea of giving them something to do for the guild - kind of a "put up or shut up" thing. If they fail at it, you have a good reason to oust them. If they succeed at it, there's a good chance they'll change their attitude.
Not sure how to handle the whistling thing, other than to possibly come up with a more formal and rigid method of group participation ("talking stick" or Robert's rules or something). An obnoxious "solution" would be to hand everyone in the room a whistle (or a vuvuzela) and then everyone will use it to get attention.