How to improve participation in SCA meetings
I am a member in Senior Citizens Forum, Secunderabad (SCF); Association
of Senior citizens of Hyderabad (AOSC) and LOLA7817SCA. I am a regular participant
in most of the meetings for a number of years. I am
alarmed to observe that participation in meetings by members in all these
associations is dwindling year after year. If the trend is allowed to go on unchecked,
one day we may have to close down the show. Let me attempt offering a few tips
to improve attendance.
Members may stop away attending meetings if they shift their
residence to a far off place, fall ill
and become immobile , meet with an accident and are bed ridden, go on foreign trips
visiting their children etc. Reasons like cost of attending the meetings
(transport, conveyance etc), non-availability of a companion who normally
accompany them, inclement weather etc also have a say.
Venue, parking facility, traffic, pollution,
non-availability of lift and similar factors also determine whether a member
will attend or absent himself. SCAs do not have much control over these
factors.
Members may cease to participate in meetings for certain
reasons that are within our control:
o
Routine & highly predictable lectures or
activities (boredom)
o
too many talks on same (depressive ?) topics; (say health & disease)
o
same persons on and off the dais dominating the
mike (same topic too)
o
stale programs – too officious, formal, business
like
o
members being ignored, mistreated or shown
indifference
o
change of executive committee after elections
leading to factions / warring groups
o
poor / scaling down of snacks or refreshments
o
gap in communication – no info on meeting agenda
(not reaching all)
o
insisting on donation on birthdays
Having seen reasons for thinning of attendance let us think
of ways to overcome some of these.
o
Introduce variety in program Ex: tambola,
anthakshari, musical chair, pass the pillow
o
Combine many items for shorter durations of say ten
minutes each
o
Give opportunities to all who want to
participate without belittling / condescending
o
Encourage silent and shy members to come out
their shell
o
Find out reasons to celebrate and appreciate
members’ achievements
o
After taking photos circulate them on website,
FB etc ; send it to member concerned
o
Get to know members – ask them to talk about
their achievements
o
Acknowledge donations; help rendered in kind,
participation in activities etc
o
Conduct simple competitions and give prizes –
photography, culture art games skills
o
Celebrate birthdays making it lively and not
just formal prosaic affair
Apart from the above, try to have an element of pleasant surprise
thrown in most meetings, by giving a token gift towards the end of the meeting.
Some probable typical reasons are:
o
Gift a member with serial number in attendance
register matches a random number
o
Pick up the member with shortest surname for a
token gift
o
Find out who has a fountain pen in his pocket
& gift him
o
Gift a member who has a yellow five rupee coin in
his wallet
o
Gift the member whose spouse’s name starts with
a randomly chosen letter
o
Among those present who is the oldest
o
Among those present who is youngest
o
Find out who attended maximum number of meetings
till then for the year
o
Gift that person who signed the register first
or last for the day
o
Give a prize monthly or so for a contributor to newsletter (poem story
joke photo)
The gift need not be big, costly or fantastic. Just a token.
Members could be asked to bring gifts they have received but unused and look
fresh and new. Used books in good condition. Shawls. It is not the value that is important but the
gesture of showing somebody to be lucky for some reason or the other.
Bringing out minutes of each and every meeting, mentioning
as many names as possible, and reaching it to every member is a sure way of
maintaining interest of members. TRY & you won’t fail.
