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Joined: Aug 2001
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OP
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I just sent an email to Brian with some advice for chapters and thought I'd share them on this board. We've been meeting for 6 years now. Here is some of my humble advice for those who are starting chapters in their respective cities and towns: 1. Schedule meetings on a regular basis. Be consistent. e.g. we meet on 2nd and 4th Mondays of EVERY month without fail. 2. Have meetings in a space that is open to the public, handicapped accessible, open to all ages, and near public transportation. 3. Wherever possible be inclusive. 4. Be supportive and constructive. "accentuate the positve" 5. Offer educational programs and networking opportunities 6. Build relationships and partnerships with community groups, media and other businesses. 7. As the group grows, delegate responsibilities to avoid burnout 8. Always be active in outreach to attract new members. 9. Be a good example, be welcoming, give good karma. You'll be surprised at the pleasant returns. 10. Plan social events and jams-just for fun recreational activities, remember to have fun! There are probably many more pieces of advice I can give, but these are some that come to mind this morning. Paul Iwancio Baltimore MD JP Folks chapter affiliated with The Baltimore Songwriters Association http://www.electrobus.com/bsa/
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Thanks Paul,
That's all practical and valuable advice!
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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I agree. Succinct too. Jean Bullock
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There's one more important piece to add to my list:
Keep in touch with your members. Twice a month I send out an email with announcements/updates. We publish a quarterly printed newsletter. We have announcements at meetings and always allow the opportunity for members to announce their gigs as we try to support one another.
"We're all in this together" as Brian says.
Paul Iwancio Baltimore, MD
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Thank you, Paul...great advice!! I'll be sure to put it to work. Jaden ------------------ http://www.geocities.com/kitty_caliente :PLEASE VISIT MY WEBPAGE! ATTENTION TO THOSE IN THE GREATER KANSAS CITY AREA: Please contact me if you are interested in a local chapter. Thanks!!
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Jean B and Fellow Folks, I was also recently asked by Brian to submit my thoughts on how to start a successful chapter. This has worked for us in Tampa Bay and I hope it helps any one undertaking this very rewarding endevor. Paul has laid out some very good ideas and some of this information is parallel. Peace, Al Alvarez Decide to do it. Make a committment. Once I take something on and Im in the public eye I have to be successfull. Every city in every state has local musicians, songwriters and bands who want to network they/we only need a little leadership. I was fortunate to be able to pull my neighbor and music colaborator in on this with me from the ground floor. It gave me a sound board and helpful hand doing alot of local ground work. Although because he is also a local business owner and his time is limited all of the follow up I have carried but it was a great jump start. He now acts as stage manager, as we showcase after every meeting. Once a venue is found and youve nailed down a schedual for meetings and a kickoff date, the fun begins. Make some flyers with information about JPF and how a local chapter can help everyone involved in the local music scene. Stress that its all inclusive and free. Start posting them a couple of weeks before the kickoff meeting at local music stores and the venue where you will hold your meetings. When you ask the music store clerk where the best place is to leave a stack of flyers give him/her the pitch on the local chapter. This way if any one asked them questions they can answer them or refer them to you. And remenber thier in the music business, invite them and ask them to bring others. Same goes with the bartenders and wait staff at the venue.Time to network. Start calling everyone involved in music that you know and refer them to the site. Believe me your doing them a favor and your building your potential membership base at the same time. Get verbal commitments and start networking the local club scene. I personally went out and had fun meeting band members between sets and introduced myself. Everyone is receptive. Let them know you intend to invite Entertainment Attorneys, People involved in radio, Studio Engineers...everyone involved in music is welcome! And do it! Don't forget...its free! Network...Network...Network...Believe in it....Live it...and Reap the rewards! Find a venue to hold the meetings where you can be consistant and can accomidate your needs. We wanted this to be casual informative and fun. Since there are no other local chapters in the state my local area is central to four counties so it works. We actually have a couple members who responded to the JPF S/E board during planning stages who have been consistant at most of our meetings. One is from Dade City about 50 miles north and another from Venice which is about 90 miles south. The venue we chose is a local resturant/club owned by a working musician with a great lounge that sits about 100 with stage lights and sound. He's slow on Sundays and our 30 plus members eat,drink and entertain. How could he lose.We decided that a monthly meeting would be most sucessefull on a Sunday evening. Most musicians play out on the weekends and many have day jobs. You can make excuses why any day of the week is not good, nail it down and try to stick with it. I call the meetings at 4 m. The first half hour to hour is strictly meet and greet. Personally welcome people and introduce them to others already there. Not just names, but really introduce them and get them involved. Have a basic information form for them to fill out with contact information also ask about thier talents,skills and availiability. These should be filled out be each new member at thier first meeting and that same week added to your e-mailing list. The meeting: Introduce yourself and explain how you came to be involved with JPF. Talk about JPF and how it helps to connect artists and industry people everywhere in all ways. I personally made a copy of the mission statement found at the "About Us" board off the main page and read it ver-baitum. People need to now that this is the real deal. Talk about some of the things that you have personally learned from the site and ask who has actually registered. Ask those who have not what they would like to learn about the music business and or songwriting and assure them that those are exactly the kind of questions to be answered on the boards. At the first meeting I asked everyone to stand and introduce themselves (Remember they have already had about a half hr. of networking) and tell us a little bit about themselves and thier connection with music. Let your members know that every region is different and this chapter should reflect the personality of the local music scene. Ask for ideas and comments and let everyone know that in the near future you would like some of them to step forward and offer to help as committee heads. Talk about possible committees. Start planting seeds right away and show the membership the whole thing is about them. Let them help...its thier chapter and in the long run it will take some of the load off of you as coordinator. Showcase: At the kickoff meeting we were fortunate to have approximately 38 attendees. So toward the end of the meeting I asked who might want to showcase. Most are surprisingly shy at first so I volenteered to start it off and it all fell in line. Earlier in the day My partner and I had brought in our gear to include a guitar amp, a couple of acoustic electrics, A drum kit, keyboard, Congas and hand percussion instuments. Once everyone who wanted to showcase had, it turned into a jam. Our showcases have since become much more organized as the group has evolved and members come prepared and practiced chomping at the bit to showcase new material. We have alot of help from our members who bring in thier own gear and come in early to help set up the stage .We have grown in 4 months into a true networking group of local musician/songwriters and local industry proffessionals. Guest Speakers: I satrted asking around after the meeting for a referral to an entertainment attorney and was reffered to one. After a series of phone tag messages I had the opportunity to explain to her what JPF is all about and how the local chapter could be an incredible source of networking. I asked for her participation as guest speaker on the topic of copywrite and luckily she was aviliable. Had she not been availiable I would have found a date she would be or at least set a tentative date and followed up. She spoke at our second meeting. And as it turned out there were a couple of her former clients in the room. Go Figure! Our second guest speaker actually came to a meeting as a member and after talking awhile I could see the potential. He is a local commercial studio owner and spoke on the topic of how best to be prepared to go in the studio. This last month I really wanted to spark it up so I contacted the local community radio station that already gives airplay to a couple of our members and asked for participation. A local musician/songwriter who works in the capacity as Developement Director spoke on how to best approach radio stations to get airplay. She was very well received and graced us with a performance of two of her songs during the following showcase. All our guest speakers continue to interact and stay availiable after the initial contact. Assuring Attendence: At each meeting without beating the membership up talk about some issues that are being discussed on the boards and stress the importance of thier involvement and interaction. Within three days write a new post reviewing the previous meeting. Make it fun and positive and plant seeds for the next meeting. If you can at that time announce the date of the next meeting or do that soon. Within 7-10 days of the next meeting send a blanket e-mail to remind everyone of the meeting and announce the next guest speaker and anything else they should know. I personally within 2 days of the meeting will get on the phone and call everyone to personally remind them. It really makes it more personal and gives me a chance to keep in touch and talk one on one. The members may have a concern or idea and for some its easier for them to talk on the phone and express themselves. Fun: Get out and enjoy yourself. If you can try to support members who do play out. I cant do it all the time but from time to time Ill get ahold of the membership and invite them to join us for a members gig,a CD release party or whatever. One group within the membership is taping a cable show this week and some of us are going to sit in the audience. Get involved,have fun! My take: If your doing something you love you can't miss. Some of us are fantastic musicians, technicians, vocalists or promoters. The shoes have to be comfortable to walk the walk. Once a promoter always a promoter, I guess thats me cuz my feet feel fine. Keep Strummin' Al Alvarez Tampa Bay Chapter Coordinator Just Plain Folks [This message has been edited by Al The Pal (edited 03-01-2005).]
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Great suggestions and ideas, Al. No wonder you are thriving. JeanB
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Note: Paul is the King of Good Karma. Mick
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Wow! I've heard a lot of great info that will be useful for our Columbia SC Chapter's first meeting on July 26th. Thanks to Paul & Al for laying such groundwork for us newbies! Montez Simmons
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Bumping for easier reference. Al
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Thanks Al for the great outline to get things started..... Stephen Arout NYC Chapter Coordinator Just Plain Folks www.stephenarout.com www.cdbaby.com/arout
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I've worked on getting 2 chapters going now.... (formerly NYC, currently SouthEast MA)
the advice above is great.
One thing that worked for me finding folks to initially start each chapter was to try to find musicians who already had a connection to Just Plain Folks in my area.
I searched on search engines and looked at who from my geographic area had submitted music to the music awards and searched them out online to tell them about JPF coming local. Most who were still around had contact info online.
Honestly, it's a very time consuming task to do it this way...but I've had really good luck with it. Plus it's easier to get people involved who already have had a positive experience with the organization.
I also looked on web lists for musical acts in my area who didn't know the organization yet and sent them invitiations to join as well.
So far, so good. We have our first showcase coming up this Saturday and have 10 acts scheduled for our all acoustic night.
Peace, Christine Mascott JPF - South Eastern MA
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Joined: Aug 2004
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Wow Al, talk about great timing ! I'm meeting with Melissa wednesday to discuss getting the Louisville chapter rolling.
This is great. Thanks for bumping this up, I may have never found it.
Hats off to you and Paul for excellent advice!
Tony in Louisville
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One more thought....
Most local papers take press releases and calendar listings through email...so it doesn't cost you anything in postage.
I have had really good luck submitting our meeting and showcase notices and having them carried in the local press. We have some members who found us this way...
Just search for the newspapers in your local region online, make a list of their contact info and drop them a quick press release answering the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, and why) every time you have an event.
It took me a couple of times to get the NYC going..... be persistent and patient.
'if you build it...they will come" ...lol.. but it's true
Christine
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Hi Christine, you were posting as I was typing lol. Thanks for the additional advice, and best of luck to your local chapter !
Tony
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Hi fellow coordinators, Glad ya'll found the post helpful. I also have flyers I have posted at music stores and the like prior to meeting/showcases. You can modify them for your region, Just let me know and I'll e-mail them directly to any or all of you. Al Alvarez www.aandrproductions.com
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"If one man can do it, any man can do it. It is true. But the real question is, if one man did it, are you willing to do what it takes to do it as well?" –Brian Austin Whitney
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