Wondering why there is no response....feeling my interest in this endeavor starting to wane.
Sorry I haven't addressed your interest until now, maintain your interest, this won't happen over night. We had a good group of guys from all over Eastern NC, ate grilled hot dogs and stuff, introduced ourselves and chatted about shops, woodworking, tools, careers...
The evening produced fruitful dialogue about logistical issues like when to hold meetings, naming the guild (we are welcoming ideas - so please chime in), insurance and legal matters, etc. We talked about member benefits which will include discount materials, the ability to sell work through our gallery, guest lecturers and instructors, demos, community outreach initiatives, shop access, event planning. We toured the shop and talked about various projects that are necessary to make the place functional for a member organization.
Everyone contributed great ideas and gained insight to what the potential for this guild can be, as well as how much work it will take to make it successful. I am furnishing the facility and resources, and some of the management, but shared with everyone that I am not able to bare all the expenses and do all the planning. I think everyone that came was excited about what we can do and I think they left understanding that forming a successful organization like this will be a group effort.
We touched on basic member duties, but did not delve deeply into it at all. We have planned a second meeting loosely for the end of January to get through the holiday bustle. When that meeting occurs we will have to get serious about formalizing some things in order to start making things happen. This will include voting for executive officers, defining those roles, creating a procedural manual, deciding if this will become its own business - and if so what that means, starting work on bylaws, exploring non-profit vs. for profit, defining membership, membership roles, and member duties, banking and accounting, dues, etc...
But don't let this stuff scare you off. We are talking about some very good things that have never happened in Eastern NC before. One such topic is hosting a major woodturning symposium here, possibly hosting woodworking conference in Greenville, getting serious about making woodworking interesting to area young people, formally teaching CAD/CAM and CNC technologies, hosting panel discussions and workshops to promote and teach woodworking entrepreneurship, and much much more. If we can get people motivated we can do great things for our part of the state - and we need that kind of energy badly!
thanks for reaching out and motivating me to write about this, hope to meet you soon.