Guide: Setting Up Your Local Chapter -
- Getting Started.
- Start online. We have alot of users and alot of visitors. Not everyone is a regular reader here, but many still want to get involved.
- Contact YOLF or another member of leadership here at LongeCity to get started.
- You Can Even Remote Organize. With today's technology, it's easy enough to get organized without even being there. So if your area can't support a chapter yet, start one somewhere else.
- Take it to the Member. Have YOLF start a FaceBook group or other social media group for you. More of our users will be active on Facebook, and that kind of thing more regularly, so it's a better way to engage with them.
- Start a Group on LongeCity. It won't get as much activity as on social media, but you can use social media to driving that activity by posting your announcements there first and then posting a link to it on Facebook.
- Post Other Content periodically on your social media group. But we don't want to lose traffic at LongeCity. So post news that you find here first and then post it to the group or find content and topics here that your members want to hear about. They may have seen all of the current hot topics already, but with a little digging or topic prospecting, you're sure to find something they haven't seen in a while. Share what you like and follow topics for new opportunities. Be informed of updates.
- It's easiest just to adopt a sharing perspective. I like therefore I share if you will. It'll make things easier and more intuitive.
- Make it Your Routine. If it's part of your routine, it's efficient and easy and you won't notice the time.
- Post in the All Chapters Group. Periodically mention that your group exists and that this article you're sharing is from your location. People have been joining the All Chapters Group for a while waiting for you to start your group. Help them find it!
- Be Patient. It will take a little time, more in some areas than others. We have around 30k registered users on our site and more who are just visitors. Only a sixth of them have been active in the last 3 months, Only around half in the last year. But your efforts along with the efforts of others will have synergy. Be there for the people to come and watch as thing start to take off. Be the legend!
- Remember. A world of machines is already at our disposal. Your social media sites are already generating the most traffic it can from the content you're generating and they make more money for having done it, it's automatic that they're helping you. You just need to let it happen.
- Always Stay Positive. Always look for the good in things and never get negative or start fights. The systems that be already support this.
- Stay on Topic. Don't get dragged into mindless things that don't have much to do with positivity. Let a few things that are new to you go by before commenting or liking them and you'll better understand a purpose you might not have otherwise known to have exist.
- Respect the Systems That Be. These systems are made by smart people who are successful and supported by large networks of people who are also smart. Respect this, and their systems will work for you. This applies to more than just social media. Smart people created antiquity. Look for their mark and use it, the systems that be evolved from the systems that were and still are. They gave these to the future and you are a very long future and our mission is the greatest there has ever been. Use it Padawan!
- Start as a Regional and Local Leader. Starting a regional group will add numbers early and help get other groups started with whom you will be able to collaborate. For instance, I would start the Delaware USA Chapter, then the Kent County, and then Dover Chapters to expand my recruiting base.
- People Move Around. You might move and half your work could be done for you and by you already or people might find your group in a few months b/c they knew you were there.
- People Have Friends. Your group benefits from a larger footprint and these people will help connect more people and expand your reach. They have family and friends everywhere.
- Helping People Helps You. If there's already a few people in a given area and someone decides to lead them and recruit for them, their activities will spill over on to yours. People will hear and share.
- Start online. We have alot of users and alot of visitors. Not everyone is a regular reader here, but many still want to get involved.
- Set some goals. Establish meeting places, many are free. These may vary on how appropriate they are for your location and population, but as long as your venues have internet, and a video projector or sufficiently large TV for your audience and you have a laptop, you can always bring guests in via google hangouts to give talks and have discussions. Some goals might include
- Scheduling a Guest Speaker via google hangouts at your venue, giving a talk, or having someone local give a talk.
- Plan to Host Your Events at Other Fun and Interesting Events such as during a sports game at a sports bar.
- Plan to Host a Big Event, or Carpool to a Larger Chapter's Event. If you live a few hours from NYC for instance, you could plan to take your chapter there for a live on location guest speaker. You could also visit a large event or concert together.
- Plan Different Events for Different Age Groups and get different leaders for different groups. LongeCity has members of all ages, but aging does things to us, our older users might not find our younger users to be as fun and interesting or may find loud music disorienting. At first you'll probably have a fairly broad spectrum of people from various age groups and want to keep people together. Be sure to make your events attractive to all demographics.
- Have at Least a 1 Year Plan. Think of this as a crowdfunding campaign. Have a basic plan with stretch goals. You might aim to have 30-50 members drawn from the local community, If you're ahead of schedule, have a celebration and get ask us for a grant to advertise it!
- Have a Longterm Dream. Your going to have people to lead and life that lasts for thousands of years or longer! You've got time for some pretty big goals and you've got people to help you get there. Build a Rejuvenation Hospital the size of a skyscraper. Own a space elevator, build a space cruiseship. Be the awesome everyone dreams of! You are the most interesting group in the world. Get a grant from Dos Equis! May your dreams be many!
- Establish a Leadership Board. Get more people involved, divvy up the workload and get more done. Find a sustainable replacement or group of replacements for yourself.
- At your meetings.
- Be Sure to Have a Sign in Sheet. Get names, emails, phone numbers, and other pertinent information at the start of every meeting. If it's a big meeting, have a greeter take care of this for you.
- Have an Opportunity for Social Introductions. If someone new comes after the introductions, offer a short socializing break and make the newcomer feel welcome. It's best to have socials before and after.
- Discuss LongeCity topics. Curated threads offer a nice opportunity, but others can be used to talk about the history of developments. Powerpoint is a great asset, you can collect links and build slideshows on various topics and share them with other chapters. Make them fast and easy digests of the forum topic or even a topic not shown on the forum.
- Get Together to watch video talks on relevant topics and make it fun, pause it for a moment and reiterate how powerful, attractive, or inspiring certain statements are and how it's great to be a part of that. Make these a surprise.
- Hold an Event to allow your members to give talks on things and record it. We might even be able to monetize it on our youtube account or you could start a youtube acct for your chapter and use it for fundraising. It doesn't have to be as glamourous as a TED talk, it could be about any topic that has to do with rejuvenation, biotech, the world of the future, technology, etc.
- Hold Events Weekly. Having weekly events means more people will make it to more meetings and you can have meetings on different days. As our membership is also people of all ages, you'll want to have things for everyone with a focus on events for specific groups. Until you have a motivated person registered with LongeCity to run a particular group, it's best to be there for as many as you can. As leaders attend multiple meetings, it would help if someone were to buy them a drink or help them take part in the meeting.
- Offer benefits to the community.
- Offer Help. Offer to show older people how to use their smartphones to keep in touch with family and friends or answer questions they might have. If you're younger than they are you probably know it just for being a native to the technology. Put the phone in front of a video camera that's outputting to a TV or projector if you're able to. It doesn't have to be fancy, just get the job done. There are cameras for around $100 or you can use a webcam.
- Help Out. Bring your group to volunteer for holiday parades, festivals, and whatever else you can around the community. Let people know you're there. If it costs money to be part of the event, ask LongeCity for a small or micro grant.
- Door to Door. Get a Peddler's license (if necessary, grants can be made for this) to collect money for people in need of something, or for a public benefit such as a park or something to put in a park. You could also use this as an opportunity to find new members.
- Have health and sporting events. Join with others to take walks and tours of the community, visit historical sites and get exercise. Or just get some exercise, you can combine this and jog door to door in a neighborhood looking to get people to get some exercise on a weekend morning. Then give them some fliers. You might need a peddler's license for this.
- Invite Some People over for a health food potluck, tea party, or whatever might suit their fancy. Ask people outside of your demographic what they want and try to make it happen.
- What's Next:
- Fundraising. Ultimately we want to have local chapters raising funds and growing membership. Once you've shown that people can have fun and make impacts at your events, get some memberships sold, get people committed to regular donation subscriptions.
- Start Building Things. With a lifespan that could stretch 1000s of years of more, you've got time to dream big. Build Rejuvenation Hospital Skyscrapers if your Chapter can support it. Aim to own a space station, a space resort, or whatever. Be the awesome people are looking for. Ours, and yours are the most interesting group in the world! You might even consider negotiating with other local and regional groups.
- Celebrate! You're helping to do awesome things. May you share an awesome and indefinite lifespan with the world around you.
"Never be afraid to ask one of the forum leaders for help - Longecity boasts a cross section of members from all walks of life and someone is bound to be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck and remember that your actions could save your life as well as the lives of countless others." ~Droplet - (Moderator>Star Volunteer>Honorary Advisor>Advisor)
Edited by YOLF, 05 February 2016 - 01:37 PM.
