Some Suggestions...

(1)If you want to get more people into your FanForce, put the link to this board in your signature (for example: "Join the Fresno FanForce at http://boards.theforce.net/board.asp?brd=10131). That way, if/when you go out into the rest of the JC, people can look at your signature and go, "Hey, I live in/near Fresno! I didn't know there was a FanForce! Let's click on the link and see what's happening."

(2)Also, printing up flyers for your next meeting and passing them out in geek-friendly places like comic book and gaming stores will help get the information out to people who either don't have a computer or don't really spend that much time on the internet.

(3)PLAN SOMETHING! It doesn't have to be complicated; all it takes is one person saying, "Okay, I'm going to see this movie at this time on this date. Who else is coming?" and telling the RSA about it a week in advance so they can put the information up in the FanForce activities list. If three people show up, you've had a meeting. If three people don't show up, that sucks, but plan something else within the next week or two. I would recommend planning to do something (going to a movie, dinner, coffee house, bookstore, having movie party at one person's house, etc) at least twice a month so people will have an opportunity to attend.

If you have other questions, feel free to contact the RSA Obey Wann, Elan Rai, or even check out the Phoenix board to get ideas for meetings. You don't need to be a huge FanForce to have fun , but it doesn't help your case any by saying that you "suck".

 

thanks mr. hunter but i've tried all that already! eventhough the vast amount of people that were at the premeire of episode 2 hardly anyone there knew of the boards... so whatever...

 

We SUCK!

 

I am sorry, I just had to say that.

Seriously, we have folks here who would be willing to put together a FanForce, but there are only about 4-5 of us solid who actually drop by here in the Fresno Forum. However, DSGeorge and myself live in Merced, and Jedi-Finney and jedivalens live in Fresno. Any of us would have to travel 60+ mi to have any meetings. If we had a structure, it might not be a big deal. However, I'm sure we would all want more than 3 or 4 people......right?

 

exactly

 

we need more people! i know people who like star wars, they just dont come into these forums, but still, thats not enough people to start anything...

 

It's the whole chicken and the egg arguement: without more people on the forum, you can't start a FanForce; without a FanForce, you can't get more people on the forum. From my experience so far, most FanForces start off small, with no more than 4 or 5 people posting and trying to get people motivated enough to meet.

I would strongly suggest that you guys go ahead and make plans even if it's just 4 or 5 of you. You never know if you have some "lurkers" who don't post but do check the board to see if anything is happening. Some people are shy that way.

 

That is why we need Eddie Van Halen ... and that is why we need a triumphant video..

 

i'm here too, and i have around 2-5 friends that would come.

 

*jumps up and down* I'll come!! I'll come!!

 

The power of the Darkside is with us!, I feel a powerbase large enought to build a FF chapter in the Central Valley. Let us make an official application to whomever is responsible to granting us a chapter?

 

whomever is responsible to granting us a chapter

That would be Obey Wann.
He can help you. He was meant to help you.

 

exactly

 

Great suggestions Sock Hunter!

Let me tell you my personal story of the San Diego Fan Force board. I started posting there in Febuary of this year, and there was hardly anyone posting, maybe 1 post a day if that. But I just ignored that fact and started posting responses to all the existing threads and started posting my own threads. I went to TFN and copied pasted some interesting Star Wars news and posted about that. I posted some "How do you feel about_________" threads. Another good thread is a thread where people get to tell a little bit about themselves. Soon more people came to the board and the board got busier. Within two months we had our required 3 meetings and became an official chapter of Fan Force. We had 13 people show up at our first meeting, and generally all meetings since then have been attended by 14-20 people. Even though we do have a mailing list of over 100 people so far, it is generally those same 14-20 people who are active in the club and attend the majority of our events. Long story short, it just takes one person with a little enthusiasm and you can make Fresno a thriving Fan Force chapter in no time.

Linda

 

I can't take credit for the following suggestion, this was posted by Obey Wann on another board. I think I will try this with my group, sounds like a lot of fun.

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Looking for ways to improve posting on your boards? Try holding a ?Sock Puppet Theater?. We have done this twice now in Phoenix, and it seems to be very popular. (I stole the idea from Denver, so they get the real credit). In Phoenix, we hold it the first weekend of the month, as our official meetings are on the 2nd Saturday. We encourage members to create a ?sock puppet?, or a throwaway, fun new identity. Then they post in the ?theater?, in character, for the duration of the weekend. I then lock the thread on Monday, and give them until Saturday to guess who was what sock. Phoenix did almost 1500 posts this last weekend, and everyone involved had a great time. We then give prizes, or at least ridicule or congratulations to those who had the most creative/funny/weird character during the theater. Or a funny sock with a crown and face drawn in with magic marker. Here was PHX?s last SPT, for reference: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=7716390&replies=1490

 

Sock puppet theater rocks.