How to Create A Gourd Patch Part II

In part one of How to Create a Gourd Patch, we talked about the initial steps of forming a group of like-minded people with the intent to create your own local gourd patch. Now that hopefully you have some prospective members to form that initial core group - it is time to get everyone together and talk about the vision of the group.

Choose A Date & Time For Your Gourd Patch Meeting

This is going to be all about you - at least in the beginning. As the initial coordinator of the gourd patch, it is important that you find time slots that will fit into your schedule. While we've been preaching it takes a crowd to draw a crowd - at the point - it takes you to get the ball rolling. Now ideally one of your initial members will have a time slot that coincides with yours. For the initial meeting - give yourself at least two weeks from when you first announce the meeting to the actual meeting date. In short, you want to give your potential attendees time to adjust their schedules.

Frequency -

Once a month? Twice a month? Every Weekend? This should be a topic for your first meeting. There isn't a magic formula for this - and again - as the coordinator, it needs to work with your schedule. If you can't commit to weekly meetings - steer the frequency another direction.

Find Your Gourd Patch Meeting Location

For your first meeting - the location could very well be someone's living room, dining room, craft room etc. Try and find a spot that will be centrally located, and easy to find. You will need to get a feel of how many people will be attending. We suggest using your Facebook Group Event page to manage the meeting and all your future meetings - in doing so you should have a decent account of how many people will actually be attending. When considering a location keep these factors in mind:

Size -
- Is the space you are looking at large enough to hold the number of people you are expecting
- Is there enough room for chairs, tables, etc...
Ventilation/Dust Awareness
- If you are going to be cleaning out or carving - is it OK if the space you are working in gets dusty.
- If you are painting, do you have enough air flow to keep harmful fumes from building up
Sound
- Will you be creating a lot of noise based on the amount of people you expect, or the type of work you are doing.
- On the other hand - is the space you are considering, quiet enough to be hear members speak? Is it quiet enough to hear presentations or watch video?

Some places to consider are craft stores, libraries, fairgrounds or hotel meeting spaces. Check around and try and find a free location, or low cost. Check within your likely members to see if they know of a spot that meets the above criteria. Craft and hobby stores are a great spot, because it can be easier to pitch to the store manager. The fact that you are bringing in existing customers and potentially new customers works well.

Gourd Patch First Meeting

After deciding the when and where of your meeting - it is now time to get down to the brass tacks of planning just what your meeting will look like. If you are unsure of how to run a meeting, or where to start - take a look at the infographic at the end of this post as a guide on how to structure your meeting.

The first two items on the infographic are pretty easy to follow and implement, and don't require much more explanation

For an easy to implement icebreaker we suggest just going around the room and get to know your members a bit more. Here's what we suggest.

Start with yourself and your name - Simply answer these three questions:

What skill/technique you'd like to learn;
What skill/technique are you the most comfortable with;
What local or state festival(s) are you hoping to attend this year

This will serve multiple purposes -

It will provide an easy way to get your members to know a little bit more about each other;
Regarding the skills - you'll find out what topics your group can cover AND who might be able to teach them;
You may be able to form a common goal as a group about attending a gourd festival together

Some other ideas can be found here: Adult Ice Breakers

First Meeting Agenda Items

For the first meeting there are some key items that should be discussed. In no particular order, here are some items that should at least be discussed. Notice we said discussed and not decided. It is perfectly acceptable (and advisable) to bring these items up for discussion and then come to a decision at a later meeting.

Future meeting days and times
Membership Dues (if any)
Name your Gourd Patch
Gourd Patch future classes/topics you'd like to see
Patch Goals
Gourd Classes around the state/area
Wrap Up

After your initial meeting, it is suggested to keep to a regular meeting items - Some regular topics to consider going over:

Topic/Class/Technique of the (week/month/other)
"Show your Stuff" - A chance for members to bring their projects they've completed or working on
Committee Reports if you have any -(budget committee, festival planning committee, farmers market committee, social committee, etc)
Gourding news: New books, new websites, new classes in the area
New Business - A chance to bring a new topic to the group.

In the end, those first couple of meetings are about getting to know each other and finding a common ground to build upon. The first few meetings will be awkward and it will take some time to find your groove.

One thing that will help codify your group/patch - is finding a common goal that everyone is working towards - Some common goals to work towards:

Attend as a Gourd Patch your state's gourd festival
Open up a Farmers Market Booth in your area
Host your own Gourd Show/Festival in your area (Check here on how to fund your festival)

Now it is up to you go get the ball running and find that initial group of people, and start brainstorming your first meeting.

Gourd Patch Meeting Guide

How to Create A Gourd Patch Part II