Guild member retention during covid
 

Our guild is looking for ways to encourage interaction other than through internet means. I'd love to hear what other groups are doing to maintain the personal interaction while socially distancing. After a summer break we will resume regular meetings through Zoom.

Looking forward to your responses.

We're still doing a block swap and a block of the month. There is a twist to the BOM in that anyone who wants to can join a lottery and mail a block to the month's winner. We're also doing a mystery quilt. Few people seem interested in Zooming.

We meet in an open area, a covered table area in the park. It's big and enough tables we can spread out. Some bring chairs and set where they want. It has worked great as our meeting are now mostly show and tell. No classes, demos, free table, etc.


My guild has 127 members with about 60 active members. So far not one has tested positive or have had any family members test positive. We had one member pass away since the shut down but it was another health matter. Several have had major surgeries, many are keeping their grandkids, and some still are working. We have sew groups in our guild that meet in smaller groups to have lunch and catch up with each other. It's not the same as is was but we aren't isolated.

The guild most of the members of my small group belong to is still meeting, formerly they met at a large senior center but that has been closed to them. Think they are out side in a church parking lot currently.

We are discussing what to do with the small group when the rain and cold start, we are currently meeting outside. In the old days we were shoulder to shoulder around a large dining room table. I don't know if one of the ladies will ever feel comfortable in that sort of environment again, even masked. Our hostess also needs to take extra precautions due to her husband's health. From my understanding, our group size would be allowed at the library when and if the meeting rooms open again, but that regular groups are discouraged and you can't reserve the room for more than 3 times at a time, with a limit on how far in advance they take the reservations.

We do have a local park with covered shelters and parking semi-nearby, that might help but it would be pretty miserable on a windy day, not to mention one of the ladies really isn't too walking stable over rough ground.

Last year/early this year I was thinking of renting the party room at the local bowling alley on a weekly basis, opening it up for craft night on my husband's league night. That's not allowed to us at the current time either and currently restaurants aren't allowed to sit people from different households at the same table so maybe we could get 6 in the room each at a table...

We meet in a church on the third Monday of the month. With respect to the church's requirements during this time, meeting are limited to 40-45 members, plus the essential board. To attend meetings, we must rsvp. There are no tables and chairs are arranged to meet social distancing. While there is a kitchen, we are not bringing in coffee or refreshments. For the time being, we have postponed block exchanges, fat quarter drawing and in house raffles. Show and tell is also different, limited to 4 or less quilts, wall hangings or runners. We submit a short description of the item and our activity director reads it, while the quilter hold up the quilt. Everyone must wear a mask and can bring their own beverage. If one needs to breathe some fresh air, they leave the room. The fun part is you never know what you will find on your chair. It could be a fat quarter, some charms, as in jewelry, or charm squares.

I don't belong to a guild but have a small group of about 6-7 ladies that used to meet in my house and now we have met in a park with social distancing. Everyone brings a lawn chair and mostly show and tell. At least it is a way to visit and get to see each other again.

Our regular meeting room will be available next month for groups of no more then 50. We decided to have a day and evening meeting. Half come during the day and half come at night so there will be less then 25 or so at each meeting on average. No classes or sew days planned. I doubt few of the elderly members will come to the meetings as most relied on car service to come before.

We've been doing Zoom since May and get about 30-45 of the normally active 90 in a guild of 160. While it does help keep us connected, it's not perfect. We do have many that won't Zoom but do spend time on FB so meeting is recorded an others watch that later. We did have a bring your own lawn chair/snack and join in the park in July. August was way too hot around here, but our President is trying to plan an Oct. Meeting outside too. We'll see how that goes--in the Midwest weather can be a big determiner. Our program chair has come up with some ideas that our guild-based as many presenters opted out due to Covid concerns (although our Nov presenter is willing to Zoom). She has also organized smaller groups in round robins for quilts that will be sold at our 2021 show (we are optimistic for vaccines!). Our regular meeting space is still limited to a # that can be at least 6' distanced from each other--which means less than 20. Question for OnebyOne--with your group limiting the # at each meeting are you assigning meeting times to some or turning #26 away at door or ?? We've talked about that but stuck on how to actually limit the meeting size.

At the last executive meeting, it was decided to suspend guild meetings until the New Year. Annual fees will be just over half the regular fee. Newsletters and BOM's will continue on a monthly basis. There are several reasons for not having actual meetings--only 50 people allowed in the whole complex, which would cause great uncertainty to the number of members allowed to attend. The necessity to hire a cleaner at the Guild's expense--as much as $50 for a single meeting. And many many of our members are seniors. We are erring on the side of caution.

Suggestions for keeping the 'flame alive' were more QBA classes--small groups learning a technique from a fellow guild member, people with similar interests meeting in smaller groups, a rather convoluted way of dropping off and picking up bags for our Bag Ladies round robin that has been on hold since last March. Many of the older members do not even have a computer so Zoom is hit and miss. We did have some speakers who offered video trunk shows. We'll see how that goes.

I am in two guilds. One is meeting virtually for meetings only. The church where we've been having our meetings has said we cannot meet in their parking lot or building. The other is letting us meet in the parking lot and it's working out ok for the time being. I really don't know what we will do when the weather gets bad.

It's a tough decision. Some members are dying to get back to normal and really miss sewing with friends. Others have been dealing with non-covid illnesses (cancer, knee surgeries) and don't want to risk it. I wish I had a better answer.

My quilting group of 50 plus has been Zooming twice a week for just time to sew together. We have had one mini retreat where we Zoom for a couple of hours then leave and check back in later in the day. This worked very well and we whooped it up with snacks, jokes and silliness much like our retreats. Not the same but better than whining. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/boy.gif We are planning another in October to replace our fall retreat. Our normal meeting place will allow us to use the space for less than 50 but that does not allow for any social distancing. Most members are not willing to meet shoulder to shoulder, me neither. We are mourning the loss of time together, holiday party, exchanges, our donation table and Saturday work days but we are willing to forego the meetings to keep each other healthy.

We have continued our block of the month and mystery quilts with no problem. The exchange block is a quandary of options to be determined. This is the perfect year for collecting memories of our COVID experience and 2020!

Our guild has 250+ members and 2 chapters - a Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Pre-Covid we met in a large church auditorium. We have now been doing Zoom meetings. The Zoom meetings still include the business reports, show & tell, education demo, and speakers. While I miss the in person contact and after meeting lunches, the Zoom meetings have benefits too. It's much easier to see/hear the education, show & tell, and speaker presentations. With the ability of the camera to zoom in, it's easier to see more detail on the show & tell and speaker trunk show quilts. It's also easier to hear the people talking, because in the auditorium meetings the presenter's voice sometimes got lost, even with microphones. I don't have to spend time doing my makeup, driving, parking, hauling my show & tell quilts to a meeting, etc. with Zoom. When the snow and ice of winter descend upon us, I'm sure I'll probably appreciate the Zoom meetings even more.

at this point I think our Guild will meet in the New year. Sad....

Our guild meets in a church gym. We wear masks and have the entire gym to social distance. It works out great! 1 person stays about 20 feet away from the main activity due to pre-existing health issues. We have Sew & Tell at a safe distance. The Gym space allows Demos on techniques to be done at safe distances.

Last month we brought an orphan block and told the story behind Why it became an orphan block. We were taught How to Tie a quilt. We played a word game from a print out. ( all new pencils or using our own pens).

One of my Guilds is slowly ramping up. The church where we meet is reopening. No food or drink but we can meet. Mostly show and tells of what we have all been doing. The largest Guild I belong to doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It has older members who aren't computer savy and don't care to be. I'll miss them, I don't think they will come back after this. I think it was an outing for them. They added so much to the group in their wisdom, experience, and beautiful quilts.

Ran into a quilting friend that lives about 40 miles away who belongs to 2 guilds other those I belong to. I am no longer doing shopping in my hometown as there is no mask mandate, so go to neighboring town. She said they had done extensive training on both iPad and PC for their guild via their FB page on how to use Zoom. And they've been having "sew days"--about 3 hrs of sew at your own home but have Zoom going so you can chat and show friends what you are doing--muting when you are running your machine. She said they are also doing workshops and have schedule Zoom speakers. She suggested checking on Global Quilting Network for information on presenters that are doing Zoom meetings.

I love how so many groups, and guilds and families are turning to on-line apps to stay connected remotely during this darn pandemic--of course not as satisfying as face-to-face, but I can't even imagine life without the online connections.