I am the president of the Urge to Submerge dive club out of West Bend Wisconsin. In order to increase attendace to the dive meetings I try and mix things up a bit. Since being elected in May I have done something each meeting on the theme of bubbles. Okay, sounds weird, but it works. For example one meeting I brought those little wine bottle things you get at weddings that are filled with bubble juice and have a little wand so people could blow bubbles. Another meeting I brought Bazooka bubble gum. Another meeting I bought a roll of packing bubbles and cut them into sheets about a foot square. You get the idea.
I have also made video's of the dives we go on and I try and catch every diver on "film" so that all who attended the dive can see themselves in action. I show these at the meetings and they are well received. I take pictures at each meeting as well as all dive event's and will put together a presentation at the clubs Christmas party. There are also more pictures in our clubs newletter. It used to be three pages, its usually six or seven now.
I have introduced more activities for the divers to be involved in, or at least attempted to. We go together as a group and do shore dives now for instance. This could be as simple as a trip to the local quarry or a road trip up to Door county for instance. I'll have a cooler with drinks and I carry some chips and pretzels, maybe some cookies. I encourage the divers to bring a dish to pass. It works pretty well.
The key though is to keep the club members involved. If you are the Prez make sure you talk to EVERYBODY! Do your best not to allow clicks or at least try and get everybody to mix as much as possible. After all, this is how we build relationships. If everybody divides into there own groups this is detremental to the well being of the club as a whole. Easier said then done. Something you'll have to chip away at. One tactic I will use is to gather photos of a specific diver, give the photos to the diver to keep, but tell he or she that they have to show these photos to the membership. It works well.
Retention of existing members is job one. Communication through the club newsletter need to be augmented by general emails through the season to help keep everybody on the same page. This also helps people keep the club in mind and helps them manage thier schedules. When I became president I sent out surveys to the membership. I asked several questions. How did they find the club, what would they like to see etc. Most of our membership came to the club via referal in one form or another. This could be from dive classes that they took with the dive op we work with or simply members talking to friends and business contacts. I've recruited a few people right here over the years. Something on my meaning to do list is get a spot in the places to go, things to do section of the local paper. Good luck with it. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.
Jim
