I've Started A New Skeptics Group - Help!

[Miss Whiplash]

I've just started a skeptics' group on Meetup. Now what do I do? I am not a natural leader.

[nails3jesus0]

I guess you should use message boards like the jref to get members and then host a meetup. thats what i am guessing.

"TAM! and other skeptical events" forum might be a good place to make a thread.

[Miss Whiplash]

I've noticed there were many people in my area on Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/) wanting to meet fellow skeptics. No one had started a local group, so I did today.

So now what? Do we meet at Barnes and Nobles and rearrange the woo books? :D

What, I'm getting at is what do we do for the first meeting?

[John Jackson]

what do we do for the first meeting?


Drink. http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/496246391741e1d69.gif (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=5502)

That's what we did - the topics flow naturally. It's just that I can't remember what they were!! http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/496246390a1ac4534.gif (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=5501)

[Minarvia]

I've just started a skeptics' group on Meetup. Now what do I do? I am not a natural leader.

Congratulations!
But...you are not a natural leader? :jaw-dropp Wow, you certainly have fooled me! :D

But, yeah. What would you do for a first meet-up? I suppose you could all get together to meet and introduce yourselves and find out what things interest the members most. I'm sure if you just ask them what to do you'll get many suggestions and probably a lot of help.

[T'ai Chi]

Make sure to keep it positive rather than negative and your group will have an actual purpose.

[Reed]

Drink.

Seconded.

Speaking as a co-organizer of the Denver group that Elaine started last Fall, I'd recommend keeping it social, perhaps with a group outing to a local woo-topic lecture to spice things up.

Also, search for posts containing 'meetup' for more ideas. Good luck!

[grayman]

Beer and Pizza: always a good start.

Bon chance!

[Miss Whiplash]

Thanks all! I think keeping things social would be the best. Food and drink can lubricate the mind. Great ideas happen after a few belts.

I'm hoping more people will join. It would be nice to see a 3-D version of Mondo. ;)

[nails3jesus0]

personally, i would try to get everyone to go bowling. i think its way fun.

[Ceritus]

Make sure to keep it positive rather than negative and your group will have an actual purpose.

Positive rather than negative? From whose perspective?

[Ceritus]

What area do you live in Vamperilla?

[Miss Whiplash]

Cary, North Carolina. This group is for the entire Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP and suburbs.)

[Pipirr]

I've been involved in a local skeptics-ish meetup (http://brights.meetup.com/272/) for about half a year now.

What seems to work well are the low key, drink-based events, usually centred around reading a book or some books on a particular topic. Come the meetup, the book may or may not be discussed for more than five minutes, but it's a good starting point for conversation.

I also started a thread on it here (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=68341), which helped to trawl a few local JREFers.