Greetings from Behind the Electrified Pencil folks...
One of the many things that are important in fandom is feeling needed. While it's true that many
chapters have a "we welcome everyone" policy, how often does your chapter realize the
mistakes, the negatives and the things that make people feel UNwelcome, and you don't even
notice it?
The unfortunate answer to all of this is all too often. In the many chapter meetings that I have
attended in my five years in STARFLEET, something evil always rears its ugly head to envelop,
tarnish and destroy the things that make chapters great. It has many forms, but always provides
the same result: New people not coming back. Of the many things that can be listed in this
category, a few come to mind as absolute killers:
In-Jokes:
Something of a legend in STARFLEET Circles, In-Jokes can cause the downfall of a
great many new recruits' interest in your club. Finding something funny, that you and your
comrades have laughed about, joked about and poked fun at for YEARS, may just not be funny
(even when you explained it) to new or reasonably new people that are attending your meetings.
Think about it? You say something that makes a few people laugh, and everyone almost
invariably looks around to see who else is laughing, and the new people laugh because they feel
alienated if they DON'T laugh. Who in the hell wants to laugh at things you don't understand or
know about. Remember that even the most explicit description is not a cure all for this problem:
You may in fact show something about yourself, your crew, or your general nature with your
explanation that turns people off even more. They may falsely begin to realize that you have
either a sense of humor that doesn't jibe with theirs, a bigoted nature, etc. If you think about all of
this, leaving out those in-jokes, especially when you have new people present is something that is
good, and something that is better left to other arenas.
Bashing the Administration:
In every Meeting, there is a small buzzing insect that absolutely
destroys the credibility of your organization, your authority, and your ability to keep members:
It's called "Bashing your Parent Organization". In many cases, and there is not doubt there have
been many, criticism is a very sharp sword. It is NEVER more sharp than when dealing with new
people. While we all think that you can "constructively criticize" an administration in a general
meeting, you have to remember that to a new recruit, this looks like an insurrection against your
parent organization. If you have explained anything about the way that the structure of the
organization works, they will understand that there have been mistakes, and (in the cases that are
mostly complained of...) materials don't reach their destination after they are paid for, and that
the overall feeling is that "Mommy and Daddy organization are bad. There are actually many
levels of this dilemma but none compare to the person that has had the "nightmare experience"
in regard to a recruit status. Step outside yourself and any situation that you have had for a
moment: It's true that whoever this person that is telling this horror story has a legitimate point,
right? It's true that they have been wronged, right? How can you make this person's experience
HELP someone in a new recruits position WANT TO JOIN STARFLEET? If it's the "and it took
me five hundred years, bare naked in both directions, to get my Membership Materials" version
that I have heard from MANY PEOPLE in my Fleet Career, I have to say that it's not possible.
There can be NOTHING gained from someone like this spewing contempt and "I have been
wronged" during the middle of your general meeting. What that means is that its time to find a
way to thank the member for their input and constructively lead that person to another topic, that
will lead remotely to something that will want to make this person come back to your chapters
meeting.
Speaking Speculation:
This, like many of the things, that we talk about in this article, are
something that can lead to making your life better in general. How many times have you heard
someone say something negative about one of the folks in STARFLEET for some reason? Ok, a
bunch, right? How many times have you asked this same person to back up the information that
they are speculating?
Ahhhh: That's what I thought! This doesn't happen NEARLY enough. Case
in point.
A former Commanding Officer of mine (there have been four to date...) once told me that one of
the Academy people in Fleet was using monies incurred from Academy Classes to pay his
personal (rent, etc...) bills, and that the monies were not sent to STARFLEET. While this news
was shocking, and while if this was the case, we would be incensed, you have to remember one
thing: Where is the proof of this? When asked to provide this proof, the comment was "Well I
know (this person) well, and I don't doubt that it's true." While a profound statement (well, not
really) this means nothing. Other than attending a convention with the same person, and
circulating the "story" between the crew, other chapters and the like, this Commanding Officer
had no "proof" that anything was wrong and hence, was "speaking
speculation." If you think that driving your members away is easy by telling them that the
STARFLEET System wronged you, try telling people that the people that run Fleet are "stealing your money and playing bills."
Watch the dust rise from wherest those new recruits once stood.
The bottom line here is that you cannot and should not, provide information that you cannot prove
(either good OR bad mind you) to your crew, to your officers, or people in general. Get the facts
folks.
Ignoring the New:
You have just had someone new come in the door of your meeting/event, you
(maybe) introduce them, and then, during the rest of the meeting, this person is almost
completely ignored. This is where it's time to intervene folks. Many suggestions in this regard
have been mulled over during the years and one of the best that I have heard to date, is having
someone called the "Ship's Counselor". This person would be like a humming bird, and should
have that type of personality, that has ONE mission during the meeting: To go from person to
person during the meetings/events, making sure that all is well, with a particular focus on
the new folks. This will provide a sense of belonging, and belonging in this case means that those new
people will COME BACK to a place that they feel comfortable. Pretty cool, huh?
Assuming that your new members smoke because you do: One of the more uncomfortable
situations I have read from someone's submission here at the AREA is one involving smoking at
chapter events.
**DISCLAIMER: This is not a bash smokers column: Any messages sent to me in this vein will be
lampooned, and sent back with a caricature of you drawn from my dogs ass.
END DISCLAIMER**
Smoking:
People are free to smoke, and, as is evidenced by the proliferation of tobacco in America,
smoking is still popular among the habits that do bad things to our bodies. For those that need a
small piece of what the member feels like, I quote from an Email that I received not too long ago
from someone in Region 3, who attended a meeting and promptly decided that perhaps a different
chapter should be selected.
"...in Region Three and I wish to discuss smoking in chapters. Smoking, while a proven bad thing,
is alive and real in (Region Three). While looking at the choice of chapters, I visited many of the
candidates to see which might be the chapter for me. The second one that I visited was one that I
had read about in flyers and knew had a reputation for applying themselves. I attended a meeting
at (a place) and was surprised to see that they smoked during their meeting. Being new I felt that
speaking up against this would not bee a good thing because more than half the room was
smoking. After leaving I thought to myself: I wish that I had said something to these folks so that
they would have known I was uncomfortable, and immediately thought of the AREA..."
As you can see, while smoking may not appear to be a back breaker to everyone, it will quickly
scare away many that don't smoke. To quell this situation, make the smoking policies and norms
of your chapter known so that people can decide if they would like to be in that environment for
hours at a time before they make the effort to be come and be with your chapter.
Lastly (for now...)
Spewing Abbreviations:
I am an Interpreter for the Deaf in Real Life and as such I am the
repository of the many abbreviations and acronyms that have made their way
in to the human
mainstream. The many things above will destroy your new recruits interest in coming to your
meetings, but this one, will trounce even the most dedicated member, that likes coming to your
meetings, but needs things to be explained. Abbreviations (as you and I know) are prevalent in
STARFLEET circles and will instantly sever any link that you have to
crewmembers that are interested in joining your chapter because there is
no one on Earth that wants to be someplace,
listening to something that they don't understand, for long periods of time.
If you must use abbreviations, please be sure to explain what they represent during your talking
points so that people that are not familiar and are present can follow along and understand clearly
what you are referencing. This way they can catalog of the may references that you use and be
ready for the next meeting, function or outing and perhaps even help others understand what
exactly those millions of lettered-references mean.
Hopefully you can, armed with this information above, make your meetings outings
and functions a more productive environment for those that are new and they will bring two friends, and they
will bring two friends,, an so on, and so on....
Use this guide when you can and the result will no doubt be one that will benefit your chapter,
your Fleet and your organization as a whole.
|
