Volunteer Opportunities

Meeting Planner

Ideally this position should be filled by several people with creative ideas for meetings. They need to work together in the planning and implementation of monthly (or perhaps less seldom) meetings that will appeal to a variety of people who are either already vegetarian or who are interested in learning more about the lifestyle. The subjects of the meetings should cover all the reasons why people become vegetarian: health, animal rights, environmental, religious or spiritual. However, we do not want to "preach" about any one religion since our group is made up of such a diverse group of poeple.

These meeting planners will need to interact in an informal  fashion with the board to make sure the subject matter of a meeting is appropriate, that it's not something we've done too recently to do again, etc.  We can provide a list of meeting places that have worked out in the past, and can also provide a list of meeting subjects that have worked and not worked. But new ideas and creative implementation are encouraged.

We do NOT want speakers who have a product or service to sell where our members are a captive audience for their sales pitch. Authors would probably be an exception here IF the book is pertinent to our goals and interests. They would talk about the book's subject and could have some to sell afterwards.

Most of our meetings have begun with a potluck that was followed by a speaker or presentation of some kind, but that's not written in stone. In planning a meeting, the meeting planner(s):

* Select a topic
* Find a speaker or speakers (they must be free)
* Select the meeting site, date and time
* Arrange with treasurer to pay whatever cost there is (if any)
   for the meeting facility
* Contact the VSG Public Relations person and give him/her
   appropriate information to publicize the event (he/she needs
   this 3-4 weeks ahead of time.)
* Provide the information to the newsletter editor (if events can
   be planned 2-3 months ahead of time, it can be publicized in
   more than one newsletter to give readers more time to plan to
   attend the event.)
* Provide the information to the webmaster so that the event
   be listed on the VSG website.
* If money is involved with the event (sometimes we charge an
   admission to cover site rental), get money for change
* If event is to be a potluck, make sure there's a small supply of
   paper plates, utensils, napkins, etc. We ask attendees to bring
   their own, but there's always someone who doesn't, and we
   provide these in those instances.
* Also make sure there's a supply of educational materials
   available (that should be displayed on a table at the event) for
   those who want them. We have these materials already, but
   the meeting chairs will need to keep a supply to bring (or get
   them from the literature keeper each time)
* On day of event, arrive at least one hour ahead of time at
   meeting site and set up chairs, tables, etc. (whatever is
   necessary for the event -- need to recruit volunteers to help
   with this)
* It's always a good idea to have something for an "icebreaker"
   for people to do as they arrive.
* Make sure name tags are provided for those attending.
* Supervise meeting to make sure everything runs smoothly
* Announce speaker (or find someone who will)
* Make sure speaker doesn't run too long
* After event, get volunteers to put up tables, chairs, etc.
* Close up site (or meet with site's representative to do that)
* Give any money collected to the treasurer

The volunteers for this job could all work together to accomplish one meeting, or switch off from month to month so no one person is obligated to attend each meeting.
 

For more information, please call VSG at 770-662-4019 or send an e-mail to veggie236@earthlink.net.
 

Home

Contact us!   veggie236@earthlink.net
 

This page last updated 07/04/01