Surveys in your guild - what do you think?

I assume that the purpose of the survey is to assist in program planning. If so, I don't see the relevancy of question 2. You may want to add a question about frequency of attendance at meetings; if members attend infrequently, ask the reason for infrequent attendance (and maybe what they see as a benefit of membership).

How do you plan to distribute the survey? How will you insure that the results are reasonably reliable? You have to either have a very high response rate or some way to get a reliable sample.

My guild has never done a survey in the 10 years or so that I've belonged.

Julia in MN

Kathy > The guild I belong to has been around for 20 years and we have

Howdy!

Our guild does a mini-survey every year on the membership application form, for both new members and re-newals. This year's is very brief:

R/Sandy--whose 5th-grade teacher used me as a demo of "lie vs. lay" (I was very little )

Thank you Julia. I guess I am not sure about the relevancy of question

As far as distribution and reliable samples are concerned - not sure. We have thought about offering the survey on-line where the members can either print off and bring in or complete on-line and submit.

I think even a low response will give us a better idea of what the members who care want - my feeling is that if you care you will respond. If you don't care then you may or may not respond. (Just like voting) We would also have printed copies available at one of our meetings.

You mentioned that your guild has never done a survey that you are aware of. Do the programs satisfy most of the members or only a few of the members? The reason I ask is that the past few years the workshops are not filling up and we are trying to determine if the guild wants workshops but from more mainline teachers or if they would rather just have local teachers and more social meetings. We have a fairly large guild - large enough so that it is hard to get to know everyone. Usually between 200 & 250 members.

Kathy > I assume that the purpose of the survey is to assist in program

Hi Sandy, Thanks for straightening me out on lie and lay. I had lie and then changed it to lay - wasn't sure. : )

I noticed on your form that if a member wants a printed copy of the newsletter that they pay $5. We tried to put something similar through a few years ago but there were a few members on the board that fought that idea tooth and nail. Do you have any complaints around charging extra for a printed copy?

Kathy > Howdy!

Our workshops aren't filling up either....and some of these ARE national teachers! It's really hard to figure out what to offer. I'm anxious to be off the program committee. Time to hand it over to someone else!

It is really tough to figure out what is wanted or needed. I did programs for our guild years ago. We asked what the group wanted did the best we could do to make folks happy and they still grumbled. More classes were requested and than at the end of the year there were complaints that there were too many. Interesting that the classes were well attended. Go figure. There has been a lot of classes that didn't fill up in my guild this year. Overall we are probably a more traditional group but the classes have leaned toward art stuff. Although there are quite a few newbies there were never any real basics offered. If the classes aren't geared toward the folks who actually take the classes they won't fill.

One thing I hear over and over again is folks don't want to take a class that starts another project they will never finish. They would rather a small sample or technique than a UFO hanging over their head.

My guild is go> Our workshops aren't filling up either....and some of these ARE national

Howdy!

There's the option of printing out that newsletter from any computer, so there hasn't been much? any? fussing about it. Members w/out computer access can get a copy by asking another member for it. Cutting the paper printing keeps the dues down. I know there are many-many fewer complaints of "Where's my newsletter?!!" Down here in my part of town, bulk mail comes later than up in town; now my newsletter is available as soon as possible, and it's online for 3 months. ;-) When the board proposed this, there was an attitude of "try it & see how it works", and it's been working for several years.

Our guild is pretty good about paying attention to results; if a program plan isn't working, we wanna' know why. Fewer attendees at meetings? Find out why. Need to change something big? Ask the members. So we have quite a few surveys, as the need appears. I think you have a good start with this one.

Good luck! R/Sandy

I wonder if there have been people who liked to go to every class, or at least everything they were interested in and then having plenty of programs with top quality teachers meant they had to make choices they didn't want to have to make - but if they all filled up, then that's just a grumble that has to be tolerated, it's when they aren't filling up that you have to start asking questions.

Seems like guilds have "politics", I don't belong to a guild, but my church has a small group of quilters, that seems to tick along fairly well, I'd want to join something if I didn't have that to link into.

Cheers Anne

I think one of the reasons classes don't fill up (they don't here, either) is that we have to schedule teachers so far in advance. It's not at all unusual to have to book a teacher two years before the fact, which means that the membership and its needs may have changed drastically (or at least significantly) before the teacher arrives. :S

I am Program Chair for next year and I am only scheduling one workshop. I wasn't even going to have one, but it's a "Step into Literature, Block by Block" by a local Teacher/Quilter. It's a mini quilt, so I can't resist.

We had to cancel 2 out of 5 workshops this past year and I decided I wasn't going to be faced with that.

Oh, people are already moaning and carrying on. Maybe a Year Without Workshops will be good for the guild. I know it's going to be easier on me.

I tried something similar year before last when I did the Newsletter. Out of 100 members, I got 7 surveys back.

Cindy

1. How long have you been a member of AQG?
2. Is AQG the only guild you are active in? If not, how many are you active in?
3. Please mark next to each guild activities below the number of times you have participated in within the last 5 years? Challenge Mystery Quilt Fabric Swap Workshop Quilt Show Round Robin Retreat Library
4. What type of programs do you enjoy? · Speakers trunk/slide shows · Group Activities
5. In the past 4 years we have had an average of 4 programs a year involving well-known quilt artists/instructors - would you like to see this continue even if it meant increasing yearly dues or member/guest admittance fees?
6. Do you enjoy group type activities such as swaps, mini-workshops, etc.?
7. If the guild only hosted one well known quilter a year who would be your first choice? _______________________________________ (Please don't limit your response to these suggestions - Deb McCaffrey; Karen Kay Buckley; Darlene Christopherson; Carol Doak; M'liss Rae Hawley; Margaret Miller; Jo Morton; Paula Nadelstern; Becky Goldsmith; Bethany Reynolds; Gerald Roy; Anita Shackelford; Karen K. Stone; Mickey Lawlor)
8. Please list one suggestion for a guild program - one that you have enjoyed in the past or one you would like to see done. ______________________________
9. Are you most interested in workshops that teach a technique or where you complete the project? ________________________________________
10. Where do your quilting interests lay? Please number from 1 to 8 with 1 being the most important. Hand Appliqué Machine Appliqué Hand Piecing Machine Piecing Hand Quilting Machine Quilting Traditional Quilts Contemporary Quilts May we contact you for more information? Name: __________________________________________________________________

I think that's a good move Cindy. Maybe if they miss a few, they will support the ones they do have! Our guild is going to take a $1200 hit for the speaker that's coming in this week. Major bummer.

Is that the cost for the speaker or is it because not enough people signed up for the workshop? It's quite a balancing act booking speakers that the majority of the members are interested in. This month's speaker is someone I have absolutely no interest in hearing, yet I know plenty of other members are really excited about her being here & she has a unique design, just not my taste. I know many months, I'm hanging on every word out of the speakers mouth & some of the members are ho-humming the hour away. It's hard to please us all:)

We would have been in the red even if we'd filled the workshops. We expected that. But we are a lot further down since the workshops didn't fill up. Depending on the student limit, we are either $600 or $1000 under what we could take in for full workshops. This speaker flew in ($$) and requires a hotel stay. A previous program committee booked her. They also neglected to note that it's a football game weekend here in town. Getting a hotel room was almost an impossibility. The one that was found was very expensive due to the increase in the room rates for game weekends. It is hard to please everyone. That's for sure.

I, too, am more interested in some speakers than others, but I figure it's good to stretch myself a bit. Who knows when there might be a speaker who will pique my interest a bit and I'll get hooked on a whole new aspect of the art and craft of quilting. Then, too, some of the speakers are entertaining even if I'm not terribly interested in their approach to quilting. I feel somewhat the same way about the workshops, but at $40 each for the workshop, I look pretty carefully at the supply list before I sign up for something that I'm not really interested in.

Julia > Is that the cost for the speaker or is it because not enough people

True. But I have found myself often surprised at how often I really enjoy a speaker I wasn't interested in at all. It's those who stay home because they are sure they won't enjoy it who miss out. Same with workshops. While the projects rarely appeal, I always learn something valuable at every workshop and spending time visiting and working with guild members is always worth it.

p.s. we had that same speaker not long ago and she was pretty fun.

marcella

You're right - sometimes the speakers that don't appeal are entertaining. I always stay thru till the end of the meetings & I never regret it, but thanks for the heads up about our speaker Marcella:)

On Fri, 9 Nov 2007 07:42:42 -0600, Kathy in NH wrote (in article ):

I like the idea of the survey and the questions you've come up with. Unfortunately it didn't seem to work so well for my guild. I don't know what it is about that group, but even when the group agrees on something, the vast majority complain. Or change their minds within 2 months. It can be really frustrating--maybe that's why I have such a hard time remembering that it's meeting night.

Maureen

Howdy!

Our big/long surveys are handed out at guild meetings when there is a short program scheduled. We get time to fill it out NOW! and turn it in right away. Then we go on to show&tell, business, and then the program. ;-)

R/Sandy