SW Ohio first meeting info

[Darrin]

I posted this in the chapter section, but wanted to make sure it was visible to all interested parties so I can get a fairly good idea of interest for a headcount to give Woodcraft.

Hello folks.
Today Woodcraft in Springdale has agreed to open up their training room to IAP members should we choose to take them up on this generous offer and host meetings there. I need to sit down with them and hammer out a few details but they are extremely excited about both of us working together on this.
These are my initial thoughts, and would love feedback I can communicate to them to get our first meeting set up:
We would start out either quarterly or bi-monthly and see where the demand takes us from there.
They would like to know a time frame for meeting lengths. I was thinking 2-3 hours.
In an effort not to interfere with the chapter in Northern Ohio we would do the second Saturday of each month the schedule would land on.
What would you like to see at these meetings aside from show and tell, general turning discussion, and maybe a demo (pretty sure they will give us access to a lathe and turning tools but I will clarify that in my next conversation.
Current chapters:
Could I get a general idea of how your meetings go?
Anything you've learned along the way that would make this smooth as possible?
Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Feel free to reply to this thread or PM me.

Thank you,
Darrin

 

[ed4copies]

A word of caution, from discussions with a WoodCraft franchise owner who allows many groups to meet in his facility:

Do not engage in selling products of your own making in their store
Do not leave behind any catalogs or advertising material from competitors
Encourage your demonstrators to suggest purchasing products used from this WoodCraft location,
before you leave
Your WoodCraft host MAY be willing to offer 10% or so discount for all goods purchased by your group, before, during and after the meeting, if so, take advantage of this opportunity to thank them with your dollars.

IF you will be using a product in the demo, that WoodCraft does not sell, talk with the owner ahead of time to see if its OK to name the source.

By doing these few things, the chapters I work with have kept a very good relationship with both WoodCraft (franchises) and Rockler (company owned) stores.

 

[Darrin]

I agree with encouraging purchases from the store at the time of meeting. It was one thing that makes the meeting place great for all parties involved. Our local woodturning org gets a 10% discount just for being a member and I believe through further talks this will also be the case for any IAP members that come in as well. Excellent information Ed.

 

[jasonalanrose]

Our club occasionally meets at our local Woodcraft(Parkersburg WV) about 1.5 miles from corporate headquarters. They have never had issues with us selling product that they do not carry. I also go in and offer free demos on products we carry at Speakeasy. Best of luck and please keep me in the loop, I would like to attend one of your meetings.