[NFB-Talk] Chapter Building Help

[Tina Hansen]

My affiliate is attempting to revitalize some of its chapters, and could use
some advice.

 

The chapter in my area, Salem, Oregon,  hasn't met since March of 2020. We
attempted to do an open house event with speakers explaining what the NFB is
and discussing their participation in the organization. We planned one event
in my area and the other in Portland, both on the same day. We had our
state's library and blindness agency send out a flyer, and we asked those
attending to register in advance so we could get some idea of who would be
coming. We tried to keep it under two hours so people could go from one
location to another.

 

We'd planned to have a panel discuss their participation in the NFB from the
viewpoint of a blind parent, a student and a professional. After a break,
the attendees would learn some thing about the history of our organization,
major accomplishments, and how they could get involved.

 

I have to wonder if we'd bitten off more than we could chew.

 

At my event, the only ones who showed up were those of us who already
participate in the NFB. We talked among ourselves, then left the meeting
space an hour later.

 

I haven't heard how the other event went, but I know we need to find out
where we went wrong, learn from it and try again.

 

The whole thing has left me scratching my head about what to do. It seems
like my area has so many obstacles working against us, and it's not easy to
bring people out after the pandemic. Yet I'm stumped on what to do. I'm
wondering if we need marketing help, surveys, or something else.  Does
anyone have advice on what I could do with our chapter? Is there a list I
could join that might give me ideas? Are there any good books out there on
marketing or communication that my team and I could learn from? 

 

I'd hate to have people sit there and listen to speaker after speaker, so
are there other ways we can do an engaging open house. We still need to
explain things to prospective members, but are there other ways to do that?

 

I feel like I'm caught between the lecture format and something more
interactive. If we do speaker after speaker, we give them a lot of
information. If we go more interactive, we could make it more engaging, but
how would we articulate our philosophy without everyone getting so exhausted
they get tired of repeating the same thing?

 

Yet we want to give them just enough to whet their appetite and then come
back for more.

 

Something tells me that if we do a lot of history, they could possibly get
turned off or bored. Yet prospects need to know something about our
philosophy.

 

I sometimes fear for this generation due to shorter attention spans. I
sometimes wonder if it's getting harder for people to stay engaged unless
there's something distracting them, or everything needs to be artificially
propped up. Are things really as bad as I see them?

 

I also don't really know what my area needs.

 

And what about doing things online versus in person?

 

Bottom line: I'm scratching my head, and could use some tips. Thanks.

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