Uke group - ad in paper? Facebook?

joeybug

joeybug

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Hi everyone :D

As you may know I have been without a group to "jam" with since the only group in Swindon I could find were none to keen about having a beginner nor one with disabilities, so I thought about making my own one..what do you think would be the best way to start this? I spoke with my carer and she's happy for us to use our place as a starting meeting place to all play, but should there be a lot of interest..well, let's say there would be limited space. She suggested advertising on FB and seeing if there was interest, and I thought about putting an ad in the paper..do either one of these sound like a good idea?

I'm also wondering if now would be the best time to start or if I should wait because there is an "Uke n Amaze" workshop at out local Arts Centre in April which I plan to go to, but then again I could do advertising there if I wanted to if I hadn't got much of a response...

Any ideas? I know a lot of you have set up groups in your own area and just looking to tap into your expertise!

Thanks

Joey
 
Facebook is probably hit or miss, because the potential members are not yet your "friends" on FB. Thus, they would never see the ad. I don't know if you guys have Craigslist in the UK, but its free and an ad under musical instruments might get some notice. I would also suggest putting up some signs at local music stores and/or coffee shops or pubs.
 
SweetWaterBlue said:
Facebook is probably hit or miss, because the potential members are not yet your "friends" on FB. Thus, they would never see the ad. I don't know if you guys have Craigslist in the UK, but its free and an ad under musical instruments might get some notice. I would also suggest putting up some signs at local music stores and/or coffee shops or pubs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I'll see if there is a craigslist...just have to come up with a catchy name!
 
Keep in mind also that people may not feel comfortable answering a meeting ad at a private location. If you can get the local church, school, or coffee shop to allow your meeting, people may be more inclined to show up. Start small by taking your uke with you to different public places. Let those who ask know that you're starting a group. Once you start getting one or two people together, attend the local music festivals, every ukulele event, and even the craft fairs to hand out flyers telling about the group.

Computer services are good for keeping in touch, but not so good at finding real people. Playing ukulele is a contact sport. Get out and make contact.
 
There you go - Harold. Whenever a few friends and I play at the local coffee shop we always have people stop and ask about the uke. We usually have extras and put one in their hands, and teach them a few chords. Several of them are now members.
 
Harold O. said:
Keep in mind also that people may not feel comfortable answering a meeting ad at a private location. If you can get the local church, school, or coffee shop to allow your meeting, people may be more inclined to show up. Start small by taking your uke with you to different public places. Let those who ask know that you're starting a group. Once you start getting one or two people together, attend the local music festivals, every ukulele event, and even the craft fairs to hand out flyers telling about the group.

Computer services are good for keeping in touch, but not so good at finding real people. Playing ukulele is a contact sport. Get out and make contact.
Click to expand...

SweetWaterBlue said:
There you go - Harold. Whenever a few friends and I play at the local coffee shop we always have people stop and ask about the uke. We usually have extras and put one in their hands, and teach them a few chords. Several of them are now members.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, shall have to look at local places to meet, the problem with getting "out there" is I'm disabled and rely heavily on my carer, might have to see about spending a few afternoon's in Starbucks if we can fit it into the schedule...have joined craigslist too, might just post there and see who responds!
 
Also you could see if your local music shop will let you post a flyer there.
 
Which uke group turned you down? That really makes me angry.

If you feel weirded out by Craigslist, you could always try searching for or creating new meetup.com groups.
 
Not sure if this will help - but happy to offer what I did...

I posted a request for other jammers on another UK-based uke forum. A few responded and we decided to meet.

We now recruit most members via our MySpace page because if you Google "Ukulele Clubs in Kent" we are in each of the top three results, (but of course that takes time).

We also made flyers which we gave to music shops, who then gave a flyer out with each new uke purchased. (There's also a bit of word-of-mouth now, since we've been going a while.)

I think it's a combination of all of the above, but the first few jams came out of advertising in the "meet ups" part of a forum...

GOOD LUCK, let us know how you get on...

Anna :)
 
Plainsong said:
Which uke group turned you down? That really makes me angry.

If you feel weirded out by Craigslist, you could always try searching for or creating new meetup.com groups.
Click to expand...

I've posted on Craigslist and will look into meetup.com. I'd rather not say about the group on such a public forum, it's probably down to the fact that their meeting place wasn't wheelchair accessible rather than them not wanting to accept me.

AnnaUK said:
Not sure if this will help - but happy to offer what I did...

I posted a request for other jammers on another UK-based uke forum. A few responded and we decided to meet.

We now recruit most members via our MySpace page because if you Google "Ukulele Clubs in Kent" we are in each of the top three results, (but of course that takes time).

We also made flyers which we gave to music shops, who then gave a flyer out with each new uke purchased. (There's also a bit of word-of-mouth now, since we've been going a while.)

I think it's a combination of all of the above, but the first few jams came out of advertising in the "meet ups" part of a forum...

GOOD LUCK, let us know how you get on...

Anna :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Anna, will have to try some of your suggestions!
 
Plainsong said:
Yeah, our group only wants to meet in a pub, which means no young uke players... and that's a shame because I know of a few here. :/
Click to expand...

Pubs here are generally accesible because of the laws against discrimination, they were meeting in a listed building (side note: I live in a listed building that has a tempiorary ramp and inside a through the floor lift so things can be done) and it was in a small village outside where I live so I doubt they had any control over adaptions..thems the breaks, it did upset me at the time, but I've moved on to better things...I may be a "young" player (I'm 29!) but I am also only a beginner and they do gigs and such so may also not be as open to beginners joining..which is fair enough!
 
Just to update you all, I've had no response on craigslist, but meetup.com offered me 50% off making a group so I've done that and it can be found http://www.meetup.com/Swinlele/ Hopefully this will bring about some interest, I will also advertise it through the local music shops (I have two near me that sells Ukes) as well as at the workshop I'm going to in April.

Will keep you all informed :D

Thanks for all your support!
 
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