|
|
TRUMPETMAN Special user Naples, FL 705 Posts |
After the almost total lack of attendance at yesterday's well-advertised, well-planned meeting (we had ONE child show up), I made phone calls to several people to seek advice and inspiration to keep going. I was told about rules, national policies of the SYM and SAM, and basically got nothing new or helpful.
Over the past week, I have spoken with people from all levels of the SAM and SYM, right up to the top of the chain of command. At first, I thought I was getting help. Now, however, I realize that was not the case. I feel I have basically been told only what people thought I wanted to hear, just like politicians do with prospective voters. One of the stories that was related to me was about a similar situation with a chapter in Texas. The club's attendance grew smaller and smaller, and finally, the parent assembly disbanded it. This same fate is now being discussed regarding our chapter's future. Yesterday's meeting was not the first time we have had a problem. The last meeting we had two kids. The one before that, four. The past nine months have seen the slow death of the membership. Am I giving up on teaching the next generation of magicians. NO !!!! I will keep working to figure out how to reach kids. Perhaps I can accomplish this through a church, school, library, private lessons, or even a local cable access show. I am not a quitter, just tired of seeing how the old way of doing things is NOT working.....
Mark Pettey
Naples, FL facebook.com/robbietheringmaster |
Mike Melito Loyal user 263 Posts |
I'm sorry to hear about all that. Hang in there!
|
afuntimevent New user CT 82 Posts |
Gee, Mark -
I wish there were a magic potion you could take to get kids to attend your meetings. Kids have many activities to choose from, and it's easy to get discouraged when the numbers aren't up. I know a leader who has one or 2 kids show up for meetings, but he's still enthusiastic about the kid that's been with him for 3-4 years. I'm glad you're not giving up, because the SYM is important. The problem is that discouragement leads to more discouragement. There is no magic potion. You know the drill - make it interesting and entertaining. Jann Goodsell and I are working on an achievemenet pin program for the kids. We hope that will spark some more interest. You should hear more about it in the coming months. It will be something more you can offer kids. If you have any question, please feel free to contact me. Marlene Clark SYM Board Member |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Mark: First let me say THANK YOU for doing what you do and reaching out to youth. It is the SYm and the members of it that are indeed the future stars of magic. I can understand the frustrations of trying to get this going and wanting to reach out to the kids and just having a hard time doing it.
I am involved greatly as a co-leader of the Philadelphia SYM Y96. When we first started, we faced this problem as well and we were determined to make it work the best way we could and came up with different methods in which to "outreach" to kids and to get them knowing about the club and the benefits of the SYM program. I have been doing it now for the past 16+ years now and would not change or trade it for the world. The kids give me more then they realize through their dedication and love for the art. It can be trying at times, but you have the right idea. Let me try and list a few ideas that we do and have done in hops that this may be of help to you. I also want to extend my assistance to you if you can use it. I try and not sugar coat anything and I tell it as I see it. If you have a question, I will answer it for you. my pleasure to do so. - The first step is that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. An SYM club is SO very hard to run by yourself. It just is. If you can first get others on board to assist you in different roles, that is the most ideal. This can be fellow magicians you know and trust. Develop a help and support group to help you. - Any SYM leader will alslo get the parents directly involved. We never shun the parents away. We get them involved and want them involved. We have almost 95% of all parents staying at each meeting and being engaged in the club and its activities. This helps the parents to see the impact it has on their child and keeps them coming back. It also allows us to remind them at the meeting of the next meeting date etc. This is important because if you are just having the kids there, it is often times they will not tell the parents of next meetings. get the parents directly involved and you should see kids coming back on a more routine basis. - Start an email mailing list. This is something YOU as the leader will keep and not give out to anyone else. any member or guest is invited to place their name on the list with name and name of their parent and their parent's email address. I never send any emails to the SYM kids. It is much better to send them to the parents directly with their permission. This way you can send out meeting reminders a week ahead and can also send out emails about shows or conventions or magic tv specials that will keep the kids and members interested. This really works great. - Team up with an assembly near you. This is very important. We are teamed up with SAM 4 in Philadelphia and they act as a means of a support system for us. By teaming up with an SAM assembly, you can get those magicians knowing about the SYM and also get some to help or be co-leaders with you. You can also tap into these folks and have some of them come ou and give a lecture to the SYMers. We do this all the time and the magicians of he club are more then eager to share their time and talents with the kids. - Try and establish a meeting place that is associated with some form of community. What I mean is this. We meet at a recreation center funded by the township parks and recreation board. Because of this a lot of folks already know about it and the place does mailings for us for free. They send out newsletters and such every month that has our club and information listed in it along with the other things they offer there. This is huge as you get your clubs information out there to a LOT of families directly in your community. If you can not get into a recreation center, try a library as that would also work and many have rooms at the library that you could use. If you can find a meeting place like this, it is worth its weight in gold. This way the place you meet can work WITH you to get the word out about the SYM club. - Reach out to your magicians and entertainers in your area. This simply means contacting your friends. They can be magicians or any one who is involved with children. Give them a bunch of business cards (made up for your club) and have them give them to anyone whom they meet whom shows an interest in magic. We do this all the time and by making it a habit, we now have so many folks in the area who constantly are directing young magicians our way. These are just a few of many direct ways in which to get and grow membership. I would be happy to discuss more of them with you and to assist you if I can. My pleasure to do so. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
stijnhommes Special user 568 Posts |
Just make sure you reward the kids that do show up. Have you asked the others what's keeping them away? Perhaps the parents don't want to bring them for some reason, in which case carpooling can offer answer to up the numbers again. Find out what the problem is so you know how to solve it.
|
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Mark,
When I was a younger braver man like you, I unfortunately enjoyed some of the same experiences. I found two things that worked. 1. Team up with the local YMCA for space and "borrowed image". (There are apparently a lot of sponsoring parents and grandparents who don't rank magicians among civic leaders. On the other hand, if it happens at the Y, it is "for real" and important. Schedules are kept! Even using facilities of the public school systems give it a image of "welfare daycare" instead of education.) 2. Get on the local TV noon talk show. Give a demo and pitch the magic class using the YMCA's phone number. (Adults in the audience produce better results than kids in the audience.) In the South in particular, SAM and IBM are often seen as quasi labor unions rather than fraternal organizations for some other purpose. Both have invested too much of their efforts promoting their past instead of cultivating their futures. Overcoming that reputation takes a lot of work and is probably best ignored until the young magicians are ready to join on their own. Best of luck to you! Your success is important to all of us. Bob Sanders Magic By Sander |
StantonMagic New user San Antonio, Tx 10 Posts |
I am starting up a chapter here in San Antonio. This thread was VERY HELPFUL!! Thanks guys!
StantonMagic.com
|
Mike Melito Loyal user 263 Posts |
I wish you the best of luck. I would advise a lot of parent involvement. They might not know all the names of all the moves and tricks but they do know what their kids do and don't like.
Just my 2 cents |
Spellbinder Inner circle The Holy City of East Orange, NJ 6438 Posts |
I love it when only one or two Wiz Kids show up for a meeting. We get more accomplished than if the whole group shows up. Think of it this way, if you have only one youngster at your meetings and he turns out to be the next David Copperfield... how cool is that? But you don't need to turn them all into professional magicians. Just impart a love of magic and enjoyment of the hard practice that goes into it when you finally see the work pay off in a performance. Many of my former Wiz Kids are no longer interested in magic, but they all remember and still use the skills they learned; public speaking, stage craft, videography, digital photography, playing musical instruments, balloon twisting, juggling, unicycling, clowning and enough magic to be the life of the party somewhere.
Professor Spellbinder
Professor Emeritus at the Turkey Buzzard Academy of Magik, Witchcraft and Wizardry http://www.magicnook.com Publisher of The Wizards' Journals |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The Society of Young Magicians! » » Time for something new (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |