And now I am the new guild President. :shock: Of course anyone that says yes can have the job. :lol: Any guild presidents are ex presidents here that can give me some good advice?

Congratulations! I stopped at Vice President several years ago. It is a good feeling to be able to help in some service position! :lol:

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be wonderful at it!!

Sharon

Congrats to you, you'll do fine. I would'nt mind serving in a guild but I work out of our town 7 months of the year so maybe someday.

Congratulations Madame President :!: I hope this is a postitive experience for you and your guild. :D

good for you! What excitement!

Congrats...should we bow at your feet now? Hope you have a good time!

Congrats!! Do you get a "white house" to live in too? lol
I'm sure you'll do fine!

Bellaboo, I can't give any specific advice about your guild, but my hubby is in a different kind of group, captain of that for 11 years, and now president of another part of it.
I would try to delegate as much of the work and ideas that you can. People love to help. That's the motivator right there. I have seen, that if people think of something as an activity, they just sigh to themselves, and think, oh boy, I don't know...one more thing on my plate...but, if they think someone needs their help?...well, I have room for just 1 more, if it is going to really help someone.
It helps them too. t lets thIem know, that what they do matters. I think you have that brand new, what have I gotten myself into? feeling.
Take a deep breath, and just let other ppl know that they are very important to the success of the whole group, each and every one.
One person cannot do it alone, but they will let you, if you don't speak up, and light a fire under their hiny's. :wink:
You will do fine! Really. :D

Been there done that. If you have no problem with public speaking it should be a breeze. Most guilds have committes set up and they pretty much run themselves. The only problem I encountered was putting up with an occasional know it all who thought I should follow "their" agenda. My daytime guild has a monthly pot luck. I was standing in line to fill my plate when a member acosted me and suggested that we have the quilt show which was opening the next day professionally judged. Of course she was qualified to do the task.
Since my other guild had done that very thing just once I knew how much time and trouble as well as expense it was and caused. I think my reply was something like what a wonderful idea for the "next" show.
Ironically Mimi Dietrich who is one of the founding mothers of that guild was horrified when I asked her opinion of the idea. We did not have the show judged and I survived my year as president.

Good luck with your new position Madam President.

mpspeedy is right, lots of it, just runs itself.
My hubby is a real ppl person, and when they asked him, if he would take the position, he said, "I'm not sure I know how. You guys let me know what to do, and I'll get it done."
There usually is no shortage of suggestions, but he is ok with that, and, they are 'really' ok, with it, cause they just wanted somebody to be the...fill the slot, so to speak. He is not a bit shy, though. When he doesn't like something, he'll just say so.
I am the only person he doesn't say "so" to very often. :wink:

I recently became guild president (I was vice pres. but the president quit because we did not have by-laws and things weren't moving along like she wanted them to be). We are an informal group and that's how they wanted it to stay. So, I joined to have fun and learn from the others and that's my atmosphere to operate under. I have implemented segments to get people talking and joining in. I do not want a business meeting that is dry and no fun. We all have good ideas on fun things to do, so as president I will go the extra mile to make them happen, then say, I put in my time for my ideas now it's someone else's turn.

A comfortable atmosphere equals more people talking, equals making friends, equals a fun quild that does things together. Show them how easy it is to contribute and be a part of the group instead of a wall flower. I have a segment "for what it's worth" and we openly mention things we have learned, new products, websites, those hints are why we get together...to learn form one another.

I also have the show and tell quilts left out on display, so during refreshments we walk around and talk about the quilts etc and get talking to people we might not have met before. It's a nice ice breaker.

We also wear nametags, which really helps in getting to know everyone

My opinion is that quilting groups are friendship groups, and it help us grow. Everyone is welcome, just like this site!

Good luck