How to Start a Bead Society in Your Free Time

You Too Can Volunteer
I have a bad habit of volunteering for positions I really have no time for. A few years ago I started attending the meetings of a "local" bead society. It was a 65 mile trip each way. After a year and a half these monthly round trip drives of 130 miles were starting to become a bit tedious. My local bead addicted friends mentioned on more than one occasion that I should start a bead society closer to home. They were the smart ones, trying to delegate this daunting task to someone else - namely me.

Since the other society was becoming a bit disorganized, with too many members hungry for power and not enough members willing to volunteer to help out, I decided to take the plunge. I began to announce to anyone that would listen that I would be starting a local bead society. I handed out brochures to my jewelry students, members of the gem & mineral society I belonged to and people visiting my booth at the bead and quilt shows I was participating in.

Panic Strikes
It was a dark and stormy night...literally. I know that last sentence is a literary cliche but it fit perfectly. The evening of the first scheduled meeting it rained, and rained, and RAINED!!! In the the middle of the deluge I received a phone call from one of my bead buddies saying that she and her partner couldn't attend the meeting because they were working a bead show the next weekend and had to finish preparing. "Hey, wait a minute," I thought, "I'm a vendor at that show too!" What was I doing trying to start a new bead society when I should be home getting ready for the show myself? Then I really panicked and thought that everyone would either be getting ready for the show or would stay home because of the storm and that no one was going to show up for the meeting.

Much to my amazement, twenty-six bead aficionados showed up for the meeting despite the torrential deluge and having to park on an unpaved grassy field. We decided to work on writing by-laws and electing officers. I volunteered to be the newsletter editor and Internet coordinator and was also elected to the Board of Directors as the corresponding secretary. I wasn't totally brain dead, they wanted to elect me as the president but I don't like to be in charge of anything. I figured putting together a small newsletter and basic website for the society were more laid back, behind-the-scenes-positions that wouldn't involve any stress. After all, beads are supposed to be FUN not the cause of a mental breakdown.

More Free Time?
Shortly after starting the bead society I decided to open a bead store, with all that free time I still managed to have. So I had to find other society volunteers to take over the position of Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. Hey, I figured if I made up fancy job titles that would interest more people! After a year and a half in existence our society had grown to over 50 members. We have moved the meetings from my less-than-glamorous community clubhouse to a brand new county community center. The society conducts demonstrations at the monthly meetings along with a twice-a-year swap and shop night and a yearly holiday party with bead gift exchange. We maintain a well stocked library filled with books, magazines, catalogs and videos along with newsletters from other bead societies. Local bead stores attend many of our meetings and offer a 10% discount to our society members.

Well, I would have written more but my dogs are trying to catch a lizard that's out by the pool, my daughter needs help putting the chicken nuggets in the oven and my son has a major homework project that was due YESTERDAY that he suddenly needs help with. So much for my free time.