Woodworker's Journal 1983-7-2, страница 28

Starting a Woodworkers Organization by Douglas L. Hicks

A woodworker tends to be an independent sort. He has his "secret" recipe for that perfect satin finish. Or maybe he holds his tool a certain way for a special cut when turning. And how about the craftsman who uses a distinctive joint in almost all his pieces? He is independent, and there's nothing wrong with that. But occasionally woodworkers need to come together. A woodworking organization can be a useful tool to satisfy this need. A beginner, needs ideas, information, and support from someone who has worked with wood for a number of years. The intermediate woodworker is looking for resources, materials, and tools to improve his work. And advanced woodworkers always need support and an appreciative audience to feed their egos and keep them going (what woodworker wouldn't like to get a compliment from a fellow craftsman?).

During the past year and a half Kishwaukee Woodworkers has been organized to serve north central Illinois. We feel we have been highly successful so far and would like to share some of our organizing tactics with those interested in forming such a group.

The original idea for a woodworking organization came in the summer of 1981. Ken Burtch, a cabinetmaker and owner of The Hardwood Connection in DeKalb, Illinois, and I, a high school and adult education woodworking teacher, were talking in the back of Ken's shop. Ken had recently moved to bigger and better quarters and I mentioned to him that it seemed like there was a growing interest in woodworking. He agreed and we began mentioning people we knew that were either making a living woodworking or just enjoying it in their spare time. His list and mine contained some of the same names, but there were many new ones to each of us. We thought it would be a good idea to try to get all of these people together and see if they could be of any help to one another. The discussion was dropped at this point and we went back to talking about his shop. However, after I went home, all sorts of ideas started coming to me. When I returned to Ken's shop a few weeks later, I brought along the following list of ideas to discuss with him:

A group show and sale

Meetings with demonstrations by group members or outside professionals

Tool exchanges

Buying tools, wood, supplies, at a group rate

Shop tours

Trip to the Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin

Book and project plan exchanges

Films

Lobbying -- supporting woodworking in local schools and libraries

Ken added a few more, including simply the chance to meet and socialize with others in our area who work with wood.

We knew we were onto something, but felt we wanted to do the job right. Here is a list of some of the tactics we found successful and you may want to use if you decide to organize a group:

TIME Give yourself enough time to do an adequate job. We started planning at least two months before our first meeting. I don't think we would have been as successful had we tried to pull everything together in a few weeks. We were willing to spend time meeting with each other, addressing letters, distributing posters, and making phone contacts.

DATE Pick a definite date for the first meeting. Do this carefully, but early, so that you have a goal. We decided to have our first meeting after Labor Day. Families would be back from summer vacations, students would be around our university town, and people would be looking

for something new in which to get involved.

LOCATION We had a problem deciding on the Location for the initial meeting. I felt we could probably use a room in the high school where I teach, but I didn't want people to think of the organization as a "class" or "woodworking course". Ken offered his shop/store, but we were both wary about having the organization associated with a business or industry as the commercialization might scare people off. We talked about other alternatives, but in the end settled for Ken's shop at least for the first meeting. It would be centrally located, free of charge, and many local woodworkers knew how to find it.

WOODWORKERS Ken and I had recently read an. article titled "Woodworking in Mendocino" (Fine Woodworking magazine, July/August 1981) that described a group of highly professional California craftsmen. I think Ken was ready to move to Mendocino, but I convinced him we could do it here, but on a slightly different level. Unlike the group in Mendocino, I wanted to get a wide variety of woodworkers involved - from professional cabinetmakers and woodcarvers to high school students and "weekend woodbutchers". I felt the diversity of interests would be valuable, and we could all share ideas and learn from each other. From this point on we emphasized in all our literature that "All are Welcome". We didn't want to limit based on age, sex, or skill level. I am convinced that this was important in obtaining and maintaining a strong interest by a large group of people.

PROGRAM Offer something concrete and enjoyable at the very first meeting. Our local library was able to obtain a free-loan color 16mm movie, "Sam Maloof: Woodworker". Maloof is recognized as one of America's leading contemporary furniture makers and the film shows some of his work as he talks about his philosophy on woodworking and life. It was general enough that anyone (from beginner to professional) who worked with any kind of wood could find it enjoyable and enlightening. You might try your local library, schools, or university for a good film, or have a speaker, but I suggest you make a stong effort to find something that will appeal to a very wide audience, especially for the first meeting.

PUBLICITY Get out the word to anyone who may be remotely interested. There will be some expense involved here, but you may be able to recover it later. Use the free community service bulletins in your area. Most local radio stations and newspapers are usually willing to include a short notice of meetings if you put the information in writing. We had one hundred posters (8'/a inch by 11 inch) printed up and posted everywhere we thought woodworkers might see them. This included lumberyards, home building centers, cabinetmakers' shops, and hardware, paint, glass and grocery stores, laundromats, and even farm implement dealers. We also posted them in local colleges and universities (art and industrial education departments), libraries, YMCA's, and senior citizen community centers. We sent posters to the personnel manager of each major industry in * the area with a personal letter asking if they could be displayed on a company bulletin board. We also sent a letter and poster to every junior and senior high woodworking instructor in the county asking if they would post them in their school and encourage students to attend our meeting.

The largest amount of time and money went into a direct mailing program. We started putting together a mailing list early, and it just kept on growing. It included all of Ken's customers, all of the people who had taken an adult education woodworking class in the past three years, all local professional cabinetmakers, and anyone else who came to (continued on page 30)