D Mclaughlin

Our club (Oxford Falcons) is presently trying to recruit new members....

Ideas we have had: posting flyers all over town
of coarse free lessons
fun fly with a meet and greet
float in some of the parades ???????
Does anyone have anything to add to the list. We only have about 15 members and would like to see our club grow. With only about 5 that come out every weekend.
[sm=drowning.gif]Your help would be appreciated.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

We bring in several new members each year who learn of our club on the internet.

Make sure your club is listed on the AMA club directory on their web site, with valid contact information. Also, list your club on the RC Universe club directory, Tower Hobbies directory, and any others you can think of. Consider developing a club web page. It needen't be anything fancy - just enough for someone to find who is searching for a local club.

Note that AMA lists club addresses according to the mailing address of the club president. That's a problem if your president lives far from the field (ours lived in another state).

Also, post your club at local hobby shops. Most shop owners are more than happy to push the local clubs - they may even offer you a club discount.

If you have a local small airport, try to post your club there. Full scale pilots and wannabe full scale pilots love RC. Also, try to make your club known to any local ham radio clubs. Lots of hams are former RCers or would like to become RCers.

ho2zoo

My Feedback: (5)

My club generated a lot of interest by setting up a display at the local mall. We had all types of planes, heli's, and a video playing. The down-side is that you have to have someone there all the time, but it gets the word out.

waagbuck

My Feedback: (1)

Flyers all over town, adds in the newspaper are geared to the public generally rather than those interested in rc aircraft. I would try posting some flyers at a local hobby shop. Many people go there first when they're interested in rc.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned kids. Contact local middle and high schools, you could offer some after school classes, or maybe something could be worked into some of the science classes. How about scout troops? The boy scouts have an aviation badge. I know this because a local troop will be visiting our field next month. You might also see if one of the local TV stations would be willing to do a segment on your club.

Live Wire

No matter what you do you have to prove what the club has to offer. Make it interesting and you will get members. Do more than show how expensive it is buy showing off your big planes, let people no there is some thing in the hobby for any one interested. " yes there is some thing in model aviation for all interested" Give the right impression and you will have members and the wrong and you loose both ways.

pauluk2w

My Feedback: (7)

we do annual mall shows, most members take at least one plane and display them in the local mall. we found this generates a lot of interest from people of all age groups

fledermaus

All of the suggestions so far are good ones, and they generally apply to any group trying to attract members. I have been involved in several organizations in one way or another over the years, and every group needs to keep recruiting or else it gets stagnant.

When I decided to get into RC about 18 months ago (a longtime dream, and I realized that I am a grown-up now and don't need to ask permission!) I looked for flyers at the LHS and at an aviation museum that we have in town. But I also looked on the Internet, since I am a fairly web-savvy kind of guy. I have to tell you that my decision to join a particular club was largely determined by the image the club projected on its website, and the very quick and friendly email response I got to my inquiry which led to an invite to the club president's house to talk RC.

So, I guess my point is: Make sure your PR info is easy to find both in hard copy and on the Net, make sure that it portrays you as a fun bunch of guys (and gals?) with no axes to grind, and make sure that you respond to EVERY inquiry. Not every recruit will stick, but if you don't treat every contact as a "keeper" you are guaranteeing that very few of them will be.

D Mclaughlin

Thanks very much. I will try to implement some of these ideas and see what happens
Again thanks to all

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I have done RC events for the my son's boy scout troop and in general they have been very well received by the boys and the troop leaders and parents.

I have to say that teenage boys are not good candidates for building your club roster. They would have to rely on their parents for transportation to the field, they generally don't have the cash needed to get started in the hobby, and they really should have supervision at home and at the field when operating glow engines.

Involving youth is certainly a good thing, but if your immediate goal is to build your membership I would say go after the adults.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Go to a local Bar, find someone who's pretty well soused, hit him over thenhead with a bottle, and drag him back to your ship... Oh, wait... That's how we get Deck Hands.

For club members, Mall shows and parades seem to wrk best for us.

For parades, we have people walk along side the float and hand out flyers with FAQ's and a note saying "We will be flying demos after the parade" with a map to the field.

And if that doesn't work, there's always the bottle thing.