Starting a photo club while clueless

Gulp! I thought somebody should start an English-speaking photography club in Taipei and somehow that person ended up being me. Help! I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never even participated in a photography club before. Now I'm going to be running one and the first meeting is next Saturday...

Have anybody else ran/participated in photography clubs and have got experiences to share? What makes them tick? What are some fun activities? Are there any tips and tricks for building that initial momentum?

Hi, Angelica,

Congratulations!

I started teaching photography in a similar way. Before I knew it, I had to put together a syllabus and teach people "what they needed to know", whatever that is. So far, my experiences have been overwhelmingly successful, and I think it's because people are coming away with something they wouldn't otherwise have.

So for your club, would you like to 'talk shop' over coffee? Have experiences shooting with a group of people at different locations? Teach? I think giving your club at least a 'theme' where people come away enriched will help it to be successful. (And if you happen to enjoy the theme of your club, it helps to make the organization feel less like a chore.)

That sounds awesome! Please let us know how it goes!

-Brad

Gather the people and then

as a group decide what you should do, what they want to do and your job is to lead them and get them all on the same page. You started it so you can overrule the others as the leader if they stray from the frame work.

The local photo club meets, they have a topic of discussion, a leader for that discussion, and then they have an assignment for the next meeting where they have critique. It's geared to all levels from beginner to advanced who wants to advance in the art.