I'm from a giant, basically urban group with many well-attended activities. Here's what I've noticed: The same people attend the same events all the time. I go to the things where I know my pals will be. And since I have so many choices, I'm not often inclined to gamble on an event I've never attended before--why take a chance that I'll get stuck listening to a boor when I could go to a "sure thing?" Why go to something where I'm not sure people will like me?
Tripling the number of new members—all strangers—won't increase the number of friends I know will be at an event. But increasing the number of people at one of the huge events, like an RG, which I would go to anyway, will potentially increase the number of "cool" people I know. This, in turn, would make me more likely to go to an event I've never been to, but which I know has at least one of my friends in attendance. (Actually, that is the reality I find myself in nowadays—I know and like someone at just about every activity on our calendar. Part of that is because when I was LocSec, I made an effort to go to many events all over the area and part of it is simply that being LocSec and editor exposed me to a higher percentage of our members than I might have otherwise encountered.)
It takes guts to show up at an event when you don't know anyone. It takes real inner strength to show up a second time if you encountered an unpleasant person the first time. I'm not shy, not at all. But if I think this way, imagine how the majority of members who are introverts feel.
"It takes guts to show up at an event when you don't know anyone. It takes real inner strength to show up a second time if you encountered an unpleasant person the first time."
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. I was cornered by a minor weirdo at the first event I attended. I didn't go to another for two months. Imagine if I'd never gone back!