How to put a weekly meet-up group together

Post 33 of Dream, create and make money in the arts

After yesterday’s post on setting up a creative group that meets regularly to inspire each other to keep moving forward creatively, this is the second part on how best to start and organise it for maximum fun, inspiration and creativity without stress or egos getting in the way.

Just before we get into this I heard from my agent today that he is closing the agency as he has set up a restaurant/bar and despite help he can’t give his actors the time he needs to. It is weird because my last agent retired so I am wondering exactly why I am so exhausting 😉 However whilst I had a moment of ‘Oh No’ because I was settled there, it actually will be a great thing as it was probably time to look around and see what agents are out there that may be more focused on the work that I am doing now. So this gets me out of any bad feeling, sometimes it is good to be one of the ‘dumpees’, not the ‘dumper’!! I know he is closing the whole agency now so the mere thought of having to get back into sending off lots more CV’s, looking for jobs without an agent and indeed courting a new agent etc is initially exhausting but as per this entire blog, making set backs, obstacles and changes into a positive is part of this creative journey.

So back to the post on building weekly groups (and if I was in such a group at present, I would ask them about their recommendations for an agent, as it was I have already text 3 friends ;-))

-Within the groups you can focus on the work i.e show people your actual work such as perform monologues or sections of the book you are writing & ask for feedback

OR you can focus on the business of creativity so who is casting what, industry news, problems you have hit on putting on your own show, talk about the next steps in platform building and marketing etc

-Obviously members of such groups often end up doing work together, putting on shows & certainly encouraging each other to keep on with creative dreams.  This is especially useful if your friends and family don’t get your creative leanings.

 Ideas on how to put a group together

Put up notice boards in local community centres, colleges, adult education, theatres, art centres.

Go online & look at   – Linked In Groups    or Meet Up which is a great online network for meeting up with your local community across the world. I haven’t been to one of their meetings yet due my insane creative busy-ness but I will get to one soon 😉

Organisations that cover your particular art form such as Musicians Unions, Actors Centre and Actors Guild have meet ups, as do BMIASCAP for songwriters.

Local meet up places like arts cafes, exhibitions, theatres, evening classes.

Just google your art & your nearest town and see what comes up!

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Regularity of meetings – I think once a month is the minimum so as to track each others process. Once a week is great but can be too much.

Caution   Be aware that people may drift in and out, be late or just not seem committed. That depends on how you want to run the group – some laxness is vital but you might want to keep it to a tight group of say 7 people. You don’t want it so large that people don’t get their say.

You can pick a different moderator each time so to keep conversation moving forward and noone dominates the conversation.

Maybe give each person 10 minutes to talk in what they have done/are doing & then the rest of the group can comment for say 5 mins.

If its a group of more than 3 you will need to ensure everyone gets their chance. Maybe use a stopwatch and have a fun creative dance or song you all have to do before moving on to the next person. This is supposed to be fun, not an AA meeting so be creative on how to make it fun.

Ideally go round at the end & have everyone state in one sentence what they will achieve and work on before the next meeting.

These group can be an incredibly rewarding and empowering thing in itself , encouragement is priceless.

Ideally meet in a coffee place rather than a bar. You can go for a drink afterwards. Somewhere quiet is better then somewhere fashionable.

Organise some group outings to say a local arts exhibition and gig and then have your meet up there, you can learn, get inspired and educate yourself about the local arts community.

Part One of setting up an arts weekly group,

It’s not who you know but who knows you!

Image courtesy of Aleksa D/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About this series – Becoming a Successful Creative – The Business of Creativity covering all the angles and issues of putting on a show, exhibition or event to showcase your art
This is a series of daily blogs for you on how to dream up, build, market and sell a creative event, gig, festival, book launch, cabaret night, exhibition of rude plastic cupcakes or whatever creatively inspires you. It is time to create and put on that play about your family, a series of drawings about hedgehogs, the album you have talked about making or the short film you always wanted to write and make. You can read the series in order  Part One or just pick and choose a topic that interests you.