Originally Posted by Vanuatu Jill
I went to my first guild meeting last night, Marcie Baker from Alicia's Attic (Colorado) was guest speaker. Since I have never been to a class or guild meeting before, or to a quilt show for that matter, I really enjoyed it. I only wish I had more money with me-I would have loved to buy a couple of the tools/notions she had! Anyway, there must have been about 100 people there! I didn't meet anyone, unfortunately. I sort of felt invisible, and I'm a bit shy, so I find it hard to introduce myself. Anyway, I tried! It would be nice if guild members were a little more conscience of new people attending, to try and make them feel welcome. I'm glad I only paid as a guest for the night.
This was exactly my experience in my former guild. I attended every meeting for six months and was barely spoken to even though i had volunteered to do publicity and brought snacks, participated in show and tell, etc. When I complained anonymously on a public forum, not mentioning the guild by name, someone recognized me and THAT got their attention--and not in a good way. We parted company after that. (They denied my complaints, saying it wasn't true, but they sure recognized themselves easily enough!)
I'm sorry it happened because I enjoyed everything else about the guild. The people were the only fly in the ointment. There are other guilds in my area, but I've been shy about trying again. Once bitten . . .