Originally Posted by
Hydro Junkie
Okay, let me tell you all that I've seen
NOT WORK:
- Mall shows........The big shopping malls are becoming dinosaurs that are slowly dying off. When you look at the people who tend to go to the malls, it's normally the under 30 crowd. Most of these are into tech and instant gratification but are normally unable to afford to buy anything due to school loans and other "priorities". Most go to the mall to "hang out" with friends and window shop or see what everyone else is wearing. A table covered with "toys" is just something else to "window shop" as they walk by
- Meet & Greets.......These only work when you have the present members actually welcome visitors and show interest in said visitors. Once the members start break down into their own little "clicks", everything that might have been gained is gone, including possible new members
- Demonstrations.....These are a losing proposition from word go. People will come and watch, with the usual "WOW, THAT'S COOL!!!!" or similar reaction, but if you try to get someone to actually try the activity, they are gone faster than Speedy Gonzales. I've seen this happen in many hobby activities from R/C to dance. People will watch but don't ask them to try. People don't want to be seen failing. One wrong dance step or control input and that person is too embarrassed to try again and will be gone as fast as possible to prevent the possibility of having to try again.
You forgot one there. Sitting on ones arse waiting for Muncie to come up with some magic formula.
Not everything works everytime everywhere. But waiting for Muncie to drive or force in the members works even worse. Expanding the hobby is an activity that requires a lot of time for little return. It's always been that way. But it will do more for the hobby than sitting in front of the idiot box with another remote.
And I know of clubs who have been able to cash in on the good will generated by their community activities. When in need of a new flying site, the local government went to work for them and found one. In some cases the locals even helped prepare the new field.