Guild meeting hospitality
 

Am looking for ideas for a way to share the responsibility of donating "treats" for the social time at guild meetings. Last year it seemed that not many wanted to bring a snack in and was wondering how this is handled in other guilds. Thanks

The guild I belong to has a monthly sign up and everyone signs up for at least one month.

Simple solution: If not many want to bring snacks, discontinue the snacks.

My guild has never served them, and we meet at 10am. In our case, often groups of members go out to lunch together after the meetings. It seems to me that finger foods and fabrics/fibers/quilts don't mix well anyway.

Jan in VA

My Guild has snacks at the monthly meeting. I understand it used to be done by alphabet assignment, but now its an email a week before asking for volunteers. For the 2 sewing days a month people voluntarily bring something to share for snacks and lunch. We have about 70 members, and it is commonly the same core 20 or so that do much of the organizing, setting up, etc. I think it would be better to have a signup or lottery system, with an email or phone reminder as my garden club does. I usually bring healthier snacks as an alternative to the constant brownies and cakes. Most of our members are 55+ and don't cook much any more so they really go calorie crazy trying to impress the group.

No snacks at our meeting. We do get a ticket when we get there and there is a drawing for some door prizes.

The guild to which I formerly belonged had you bring the treat the month of your birthday. If you missed that month you were expected to bring it the next month. They had at least 100 members in attendance each month so this was not a problem. I always had a feeling that there was someone keeping tract but it wasn't obvious.

We didn't bring snacks on a regular basis as it was held in the library conference room. Sometimes someone would bring a treat but it was totally up to them.

My guild meets from 10AM to 3PM. We bring our lunches and celebrate birthdays once a month. ( We meet twice a month). We have one member who likes to bring desserts and usually brings a cake for the birthdays. When she can't, another member will pitch in.

Not a guild member, but if there is some resistance to snack duty, why not take a vote. You may find the majority don't want to bother with them

how about a hospitality fee? Give folks an option of either bringing a dish to pass, or paying a fee. Have a sign up sheet and those that do bring food can draw from the hospitality fund.

One of my small guilds used to do refreshments before the meeting. Two people would sign up to be the hostesses for each month and they were responsible for bringing all the snacks and usually water or tea to drink plus the plates and napkins or whatever you needed to eat the treats and then they cleaned up after. Pretty much every body took a turn eventually.

if a majority of the members want snacks to be provided a majority should be willing to share the responsibilty
there are a number of ways to (pass around the responsibility)
you could pass out numbers as people come through the door- then with the guild calendar in hand randomly draw numbers from a hat- whom ever has the corresponding number would be written down for that meeting- ect until the calendar is filled- then reminders would need to be sent out - maybe in the newsletter/agenda - the secretary would probably be responsible for that- if anyone had a problem-could not participate she could let (whom ever) know so a new number could be drawn to replace her month....there are lots of different ways to deal with it- or if not that many people care about snacks- forget about them-

I'm in charge of refreshments at the night meeting and always bring something. I don't mind bringing a dish. It's a chore to get other people to sign up to bring food. They don't want to bring anything (not all members are like that but a majority are)....but they want to eat. If there is no food brought then they can do without...I wish they would just do away with refreshments.

Lynn

We just send around a sheet once or twice a year and people sign up (2 for each meeting). However, many of us have discussed the fact that we don't need or really want refreshments that late in the evening (we meet at 7 p.m.) and I am hoping we will vote not to have them anymore.

Long ago our guild used to have snacks at the meetings, but it was decided that we really didn't need them, and now only bottles of water or soda are available for $.50 each.

We have a sign up sheet at the beginning of the year. You pick a month and put your name down. At the end of each meeting a reminder is announced to remind the Hostess's they are hosting the following month, works great and no complaints.

we do not have snacks or treats at our business meeting or work meetings, unless it is an all day sew or quilt retreat, then we pot luck it. If someone wants to bring a snack in, then it is their choice.

Pass around a sign-up sheet for the year. If there is a month when no one signs up, then there are no treats. No begging. No threats of not having treats if no one steps up to sign up. No whining. No judgments. Must keep the message positive or people sometimes are just not responding because they don't like the mean-sounding voices begging.

Then again, maybe the economy has just finally hit some folks and buying snacks is just an unwanted expense.

We meet 10 am to 3 pm and everyone brings a sack lunch. Anyone can bring a cake, cookies, pot of soup whatever to share. No obligation so we always have several who bring something to share at every meeting.

We do the Birthday month - you bring in something the month of your birthday- we are a very small group 12 members so others bring in extras so it is not a problem usually :)

As both a member and an occasional speaker at guild meetings I believe treats at meetings take up valuable time.
I was scheduled to be part of a "round robin" type demo event recently. There were 4 stations set up to demo and we were to have 20 minutes for each demo. Refreshment time was so long that we only had 10 minutes for each demo...The only situation in which it seemes to work is when the refreshments are scheduled 30 minutes before the meeting and program. I personally believe it takes time and effort that could be better spent. If you are having difficulty staffing the time and getting the refreshments then perhaps it is time to discontinue. If I were in charge and had difficulty I would just tell the officials that due to the situation I could no longer do it. If the groups really wants it then someone else will step forward. Now having said all this.....there is one group whre I occasionally speak and give workshops that always has a delicious assortment of Chocolate Chip cookies just for me......

our guild does treats but really do we need to eat just because we are there for 2 hours? i think this is why it is so hard to control weight, every place we go we have to eat!!

Thanks for all your comments.

Our guild also uses the birthday system -- you bring treats the month of your birthday. A few months are low on birthday girls, so the December birthdays are asked to help out, since December is a pot luck lunch where everyone brings food.

During the meeting break, the birthday girls for the next month meet to decide who brings what.

Dayle

My guild has about 100 members. We bring in treats the month of our birthday. Some months we have a lot of treats and some months not so many, but it works.

I keep thinking I'll join a guild - but seems there is this kind of stuff I'm not interested in. So will just keeping thinking about it.

Our meetings start at 6:30, and some members arrive right after work with no time to eat. The snacks seem pretty important, under the circumstances. They're on a buffet table and people file past soon after arriving. I haven't noticed it as intruding on the meeting in any way. Snack duties are assigned by alphabet and that seems to work out fairly.

My old guild put out a list in January for the year. Snacks were 'assigned' to all members by month. Three members per month were responsible. i.e. Jan, Betty and Joan had January....Pam, Judy and Treva had February....and so on...take the number of members...divide by the number of months....and assign away. If you weren't going to be at guild on your assigned month, it was YOUR responsibility to trade-off with someone....

Neither of the guilds I belong to do snacks. One meets at a LQS so I don't think snacks have ever been discussed. The big guild has a 'social' period from 6:30 - 7, and the program starts at 7. I think there an ice-cream social in the summer and a holiday party in December. For our all-day workshops, we brown bag it. Works quite well.

Cheers, K

My guild asks members who have a birthday to bring the treats for their birthday month. It seems to work well and I think most members participate.

Our Guild only brings goodies if we have special guests. Otherwise, Coffee and Tea only!

My guild (about 55-60 members at most meetings) publishes a list at the beginning of each year of "hostesses" designated for each month. There might be some trading or substitutions during the year, but the list is pretty much stable. The month you are a hostess, you coordinate with the rest of the group on food items and quantity. It's a breakfast buffet but there are always desserts too!

And each hostess brings a goodie bag (up to $10 value) for the door prize drawings. Members who join during the year don't have to be on a hostess team until the next calendar year. Officers and charter members are exempt. I was on the March hostess team and it was fun....except for getting there early.

There's lots of friendly competition over baked goods, etc. And some darn good food each time.

Why do you need snacks?

We don't do snacks at our meeting, but then it's 7 pm, so we've all just come from dinner at home.

I belong to two guilds and we sign up for a month at both....works out good....one is a luncheon and one is just snacks at night. in Sept we have our "birthday" party and its either an odd (1-3-5) or even (2-4-6) who supply the dishes...

Exactly........why.........wish the guild I belong to would do away with the with snack thing....who needs the calories or to waste time at the meeting. There is a resturant dinner before the meeting for anyone who wants to attend and we are all grown-ups who do not need to snack continualy......would save time on cleanup also.

MY guild does not have snacks at all at our meetings. We meet once a month for an hour and then on our full day work day no snacks are expected. On occasion some one brings something in but we bring it out at lunch time. Snacks are a gracious addition to an evening or meeting, but it no one wants to bring them, I would let it go. Either their eyes will be opened and they will pitch in or maybe no one really wants them (or needs them).

I like no snacks.
I think people don't need to be eating every time they think about it.
The group I belong to has snacks, I come from work and can never bring something. Sometimes I plan to come and then can't, etc. When I do show up, and did not bring anything, I don't eat either. Seems fair, though I don't mind if others don't bring and eat. I am not particularly over-weight, I just figure a little discipline is good for me. Plus I'm a vegetarian and know I love sweets too much. I need to just walk away sometimes...

Our AM group does not have snacks and our Pm group has a sign up sheet

our guild meets 2 times a month starting at 10 am. we have a sign up sheet at the beginning of our guild year and everyone is expected to sign up at least once. We have 4 people do it together. everyone arrives between 9:15 and 9:30 for visiting and snacks. many members go to lunch also in groups and shopping. We have a night group also we do not bring snacks at this group. We have a hospitality chairpeson that reminds us when it is our turn and our reponsibility to get a replacement if needed or switch with someone.
hope this helps