Section 1 | General Meetings

What to Do?

General meetings serve three main purposes: to educate, socialize and activate. However, the most important thing to bear in mind is to keep the interest of the audience/participants. If you bore them, they are not likely to be back.

If you feed them, they will come. Having munchies at all your general meetings really does increase attendance. Remember to have a vegetarian alternative-vegetarians seem to be especially common among populations of nontheists. When you get to know your members you can accommodate allergies and other needs as well.

Start on time with a well-prepared opening from the President or Chair, including the name of the group, agenda and announcements of future events. Many groups conduct quick, personal introductions. A typical introduction could include: name, major or occupation, philosophical label and a random silly question that changes every meeting, such as:

"If you could have a superpower, what would it be?"

"What mystery of the natural world you most like to know the answer to?"

"If you could know the exact time and manner of your death, would you want to know?"

A nearly endless supply of excellent questions can be found in the "If" books by Evelyn McFarlane & James Saywell. Make sure the facilitator states that all questions are optional so nobody feels like they are being put on the spot.

Make newcomers feel welcome. During the meeting, try not to make too many inside jokes and explain past announcements fully. The President / officers should try to personally welcome all newcomers before or after the meeting and make themselves available. If officers are busy planning things or talking to friends, they are far less approachable. Strive to keep your group an open community rather than a clique.

Though nontheistic students are united in their use of rational thinking as the basis for their worldview, it is important to remember that students come from a variety of backgrounds. Badmouthing theistic religious or cultural traditions is inappropriate and may keep some students from returning to your group. Choose discussion over gossip, and inquiry over condemnation to make everyone feel
welcome.

Consider giving away attendance prizes at meetings: a bumper sticker, last year's T-shirts, freethinking books you found cheap on Amazon.com. This is a pretty low-cost way to get people to meetings and make the meetings more fun. At some meetings or events throughout the year, try to hand out feedback slips so people can anonymously suggest possible improvements for the group.

Do your best to keep the whole meeting under an hour and a half. If the formal meetings go longer than 90 minutes, people can feel trapped. You can always hang out informally as long as you want to after the formal meeting. Make it very clear when the official meeting is over.

When and Where?

Most groups meet either weekly or biweekly. If you want to keep continuous interest, you should have your group meet at least that often. When groups really get cranking, they might meet at least twice per week. Most of these groups find it is best to have at least one of these meetings be purely social with no set business program.

Once you advertise a time, stick to it. You can wait a couple of minutes to start the meeting if people are still trickling in. However, don't let the meeting start more than five minutes after the advertised time. People have studying to do. Don't waste their time sitting around waiting for your meeting to start. Starting late only encourages people to be late in the future.

Meet in a place that is convenient for your members and your group's activities. As a student group it is logical to meet on campus, in a location easily accessible to both student and non-student members. If your university requires you to have most meetings on campus, by all means do so! Consider consulting your advisor to see if (s)he has any recommendations or requests for your meeting location. Consider what your general meetings are like - How many chairs do you need to seat everyone comfortably? Do you want to have access to a computer / projector at every meeting? Does the location you are looking at allow food, have an early closing time, or other special considerations?

Basic supplies

• Printed agendas to keep the meeting on track
• A sign to hang up outside the room so people know it's the right place before they enter
• Depending on the size of your group you may want someone (group secretary or historian) to take minutes at meetings and type them up afterwards. Just a quick summary and record of any decisions proposed or made
• If you are showing a video or PowerPoint presentation, you will need to make sure that all AV and sound equipment is in order (laptop, projector, TV, DVD player, etc.)
• Nametags and pens to fill them out with. (This might seem too formal at a small school or small meeting)
• A voluntary email address list for weekly electronic announcements
• Some yummy munchies (refer to the "Meeting Attendance" section for suggestions)
• Some well organized freethought literature for people to inspect and ideally take home (we are happy to send you SSA and Secular Coalition for America brochures to accompany your own organization's literature!)

Greeter

Especially if you have a larger group, have a designated person who will greet people before and after meetings. Make sure that this individual is a "people person" who can put newcomers at ease. This person should approach visitors, provide group info, and direct visitors to the email / newsletter sign-up sheet. It is also a good idea to have this individual wear a name tag, even if name tags are not being provided to the group at large. Welcoming new people is the responsibility of the entire group, but having one person assigned to "duty" ensures that greeting will happen with more regularity.

Business Meetings vs. General Meetings

Don't make every meeting a business meeting! While it is valuable to be transparent with your members about group business and process, it is not necessary to include every member in every mundane detail of planning, budgeting, and discussing. Some students love business process - be clear that your business meetings are open to all members and inform your members of their time and location! This is a good way to find and groom next year's leaders. However, many college students are very busy, social people. If they can make time in their schedules to hobnob with other young freethinkers, that's great! But if every meeting is all work and no play, your members will quickly abandon your group for something more fun.

Dealing with Disruptive Personalities

Occasionally student organizations will run into trouble with individual(s) who consistently disrupt the flow or mood of meetings. Disruptive or difficult behavior could include arguing instead of discussing, dominating conversation, making inappropriate or aggressive comments about people, members, or groups, and being stubborn about discussions or topic conclusions. There are ways to prevent this type of behavior from happening, as well as to curb it if it does occur.

The best way to prevent this behavior is to have clearly articulated ground rules for member behavior ("decorum") at meetings. Some suggestions to consider when creating these guidelines:

• Limit your time when speaking - everyone deserves a turn
• Avoid abusive and offensive language (including demeaning gender/ethnic/etc. terms)
• Avoid gossip and personal attacks / badmouthing
• Remind members that you are having a discussion, not an argument

Making your members feel responsible for your group as a community is another way to positively influence the way people act at meetings. If your members are vested in keeping your group a safe space and building community, it is likely that they will be more willing to step back and redirect themselves if a conversation gets out of hand.

Dealing with disruptive individuals is important because it maintains your group's emotional climate and cultivates a culture of respect and fairness. When dealing with a disruptive member,

• Remain calm and respectful
• Try indirect means first (such as reviewing ground rules without calling the person out)
• Be consistent, firm and gentle - don't argue
• Redirect the entire group - put the discussion on hold until the end of the meeting, or stop the discussion and ask for a show of hands to see who is interested in continuing
• Tell the group that in the interest of time you are going to limit individual comments to a certain length, tell the disruptor how many minutes s/he has to finish their thoughts, and then move on to someone else
• Ask the member to articulate their thoughts in writing, since - in the interest of time - it may be difficult for him/her to fully explain their views at the meeting
  

If these techniques don't work or the disruptive person becomes extremely emotional, refer to an existing member code of conduct directly, and/or offer to go discuss the situation / the person's feelings in another room. Ask the person what would help him/her to calm down. Keep your distance and don't touch the individual, whether to console or to restrain. If things continue to escalate, become violent, or otherwise endanger your group call 911 or campus security services and try to get group members to a safe place / away from the individual. Situations like this are one example of when it may be useful to have an involved advisor. Your advisor will most likely be older and wiser than many of your group members, and may be able to talk down a disruptor calmly and with professionalism. Don't forget to take advantage of the resources your university provides. Some campuses now have an office or a staff member who can help your group deal with these disruptive individuals. Ask the office of student life, student group services or a related office to see if your university can help you with this situation.