At the end of the meeting agree on the time for the next meeting. If you plan to be active, weekly meetings are best. For less active groups, biweekly meetings are enough. Any longer space between meeting times pretty much ensures that the group won’t do much of anything. The meeting time should be a proposal (same time next week?) and decision, not a long discussion. Don’t simply ask, “When should we meet next?” It will take all night to decide.
You might also want to give people the week to start thinking about your group’s official name. You can use SEAC or come up with one of your own.
It might be a good idea to have some simple action planned that involves everyone on a burning issue that relates to a possible campaign the group could adopt. It might be a quick postering or letter writing campaign. Whatever it is, have it prepared before the meeting. This will blow people’s minds, as most groups don’t start taking action at the first meeting. Mark yourselves as a group that doesn’t just sit around and talk.
On the other hand, talking isn’t all bad. It’s a nice idea to have the people who have been at the planning meetings hang around afterwards to talk to new folks (not each other!), develop friendships, and answer questions.
Now that you have an informal group going, it is important to establish an effective and democratic structure that will assist in transforming your initial enthusiasm into action.
