Thank Your Uke Club Organizer

Ukuleleblues

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Running, leading, fronting, organizing, etc. a uke group can be a thankless task. Someone is always complaining about the time of the meet, day of the meet, frequency of the meet, songs played at the meet, location of the meet, using sheet music at the meet, not using sheet music at the meet, format of the meet, web site (facebook, vs Google, vs email list), etc.

I became friends with someone who organized a Dulcimer group and had a similar experience.

I did it for years and put hundreds of hours and many Sundays into organizing things, beating the street looking for places that would let us meet for free, creating and sending out song books, maintaing a web site, giving free beginner classes, changing folks strings, fixing club members ukes, etc. You do it because you enjoy it. After 9 years, I have moved on.

Funny but the folks that complained the most put the least effort into the group. I also met some fantastic people and made some new close friends.

The next time you attend your group or drop into a group you might want to take 10 seconds and thank the organizer. If it wasn't for them there probably would not be a group for you to participate in.
 
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Let me put it out there re how much I appreciate the organisers of the 3 Uke groups that I attend in Perth, Western Australia:
Mike Black - Subiaco Ukulele Free for All (SUFFA)
Graeme Clifton - North Fremantle Rabble
Stewart Greenhill - White Gum Valley Sullivan's Hall Meetup

All of these gentlemen along with others in each group have had a positive effect on many peoples life.
 
We members of the CC Strummers in Culver City, California constantly praise our leader Cali Rose for all he efforts, and we meet twice a week. She prints sheets for everyone, 40-50 of us a session, and she performs full time all week long too. We've all pitched in and given her Christmas and birthday presents.
 
Running, leading, fronting, organizing, etc. a uke group can be a thankless task. Someone is always complaining about the time of the meet, day of the meet, frequency of the meet, songs played at the meet, location of the meet, using sheet music at the meet, not using sheet music at the meet, format of the meet, web site (facebook, vs Google, vs email list), etc.

I became friends with someone who organized a Dulcimer group and had a similar experience.

I did it for years and put hundreds of hours and many Sundays into organizing things, beating the street looking for places that would let us meet for free, creating and sending out song books, maintaing a web site, giving free beginner classes, changing folks strings, fixing club members ukes, etc. You do it because you enjoy it. After 9 years, I have moved on.

Funny but the folks that complained the most put the least effort into the group. I also met some fantastic people and made some new close friends.

The next time you attend your group or drop into a group you might want to take 10 seconds and thank the organizer. If it wasn't for them there probably would not be a group for you to participate in.

I'm only on year 2 and I'm still loving it! When people have positive attitudes and nice things to say, it certainly makes it feel worth while. When people complain, I try to let it roll off, which is a learned skill. I'm very lucky that the positive, kind folks far, far, far outweigh any nitpicking that might crop up.
 
While I agree with what the OP says about the tasks, time and effort involved in running a club, our members are far from being thankless.

Our group surprised me at our Valentine's Day meeting break time with balloons and a cake saying "Thanks a million, Gillian!" I was absolutely stunned when they sang a cleverly re-worded "I Like Ukuleles" dedication. I was wiping away tears the entire time.

Such a great group!
 
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