Thank you all for your ideas.
Bkay,
I've thought about having a presentation or having a fair like setup. Will discuss the pros & cons of each with the other members. I think the fair type setup will give guests a better chance to ask questions. My first 6 months I had no idea what most of the programs were about. Everyone else knew what "brown bag" was but I didn't. That's why I don't want just a list of programs but explanations and examples. What are the sleeping and eating arrangements for retreat? What do you do on retreat? Why would anyone want to go?
I agree with the idea of answering "what's in it for me?". I thought if as we talk to members we ask them about what they are looking for and then point out the parts of our guild that would fill that need for them. Also, some testimonials of what the guild means for each of us - fellowship, learning new techniques, sharing ideas, etc.
We meet at 7:00 pm. The location and time of the meeting aren't changing for now. When there was hinting of that about a year ago I spoke up and said for some of us, this is the only time we can meet unless we change to weekends. I'm one of those full time day workers. That's why I don't want to see this guild dissolve.
One reason for waning membership is older people not being able to drive at night. Another reason is personality clashes. I've been a member less than 2 years and feel that the guild has improved in the behavior department this year. I almost want to reach out previous members to day "under new management, please try us again"
We've tried to address the one member who rubs everyone the wrong way. Some local quilters have said they will not attend while she is a member. That's whole different issue.
I do like the idea of having someone standing to greet people. We meet at a church hall, using a side entrance and walking through the kitchen to our meeting space. I plan to get someone to stand outside and direct guests. Then once they are walked in, someone signs them in, gives them a name tag and hands them over to a guide. Of course, much of that may need to change the night of the meeting based on the number of guests we have.
The current president recommended we not have a regular business meeting that night. If we must, it will be kept under 10 minutes.
When I pitched my idea at the recent meeting I said "we must all be on our best behavior that night and be good sales people. We need to SELL the guild."