A woodwarking group is being started in the Philadelphia area that includes a range of people from hobbyists to professional teachers. All indications say that the 20 +/- people that have joined are very ambitious and excited about this new opportunity. Our first meeting is in a few weeks and I was wondering if I could get some input on what other people like or dislike about their clubs.
How long are your meetings? What is the ideal number of people at a meeting? How structured are your meetings? How structured is the group (do you have a mission statement?) Do you have one person presenting one skill or multiple people presenting different skills? Do your meetings and presentations last too long or not long enough? What did your favorite night include? What skills could be considered too basic and what is too highly skilled? What am I forgetting?
Thanks,
Matt
Replies
I am a member of Diablo Woodworkers of Northern CA. We meet monthly from 7 pm to about 9:30. We have a structured agenda for these meetings, with general announcements, then Show & Tell, followed by a 1 hour presentation by a speaker. The speakers are usually from outside the club, and we have a variety of subjects that can be quite interesting.
A very active group also in the community and local schools. We are doing toys for hospitals, display cabinets for the county jury room, flag cases for military and other services, rebuilding high school shops, etc.
There are about 70 to 80 people that show each meeting in the Adult Education Center in Walnut Creek. You can see our website at diablowoodworkers.com.
Tim
PERFECT! It sounds like you guys have a lot on the menu. That's exactly what I'm looking for. Much appreciated.
Matt
Matt,
Could you please forward info re the WW group. I am in Philly.
Thanks, Todd.
The name of the group is Montgomery County Woodworkers' Guild. The following address will lead you to the group's page.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MCWW/
We at the Long Island Woodworkers Club (http://www.liwoodworkers.org) meet once a month, and we have several special interest groups that also meet once a month. They are a turners' guild; a scrollers association and the 100 Toy Gang, that specializes in making toys for children's hospitals and charities.
We give various demonstrations at our monthly meetings, plus we hold several saturday seminars that is for hands on work throughout the year. We just held two, one on sharpening--where everyone brings things to sharpen and what you sharpen with, and we spent the day sharpening, demonstrating, and having a great time. Also one on bandsaws.
We also host an annual woodworking show. The club started with 9 people and now must have about 300. Of course we don't get everyone to come to every meeting, but we have lots of fun, and we do a lot of teaching, and are also involved with teaching woodworking to kids. It just sort of builds slowly, and a friend tells a friend who passes it on. Lots of luck with your club; it's not that far from ours, we love communicating with other clubs.
It looks like you must have a group that works solely on the website. Well done! Thanks for the input. We'll use your group as a model. Thanks.
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