Mason Harris  found himself in the hot seat as president of his
county's Bee Guild, and asked for ideas to breed new life into the
group.
 
There was an excellent article, or perhaps series of articles, on
how to make your beekeeping association work; in Bee Culture
last year some time.
 
Sorry I don't have the exact reference (it is annoying when people
allude to, but can't refer to, articles!), but I no longer have access
to this useful magazine.  Hopefully someone will be able to look
it up and post the reference, or post (English; US=mail) the
article to Mason Harris.
 
In writing that I remembered that I'd written an article entitled
"Making your beekeepers' association work" for the Scottish
Beekeeper; as there might not be too many copies of that journal
in California (?) here's a summary of the part entitled "Meetings
should be fun":
 
Every meeting should have a programme advertized in advance.
 
Have the interesting part of the programme (e.g. guest speaker,
demonstration) first and your group's business last.
 
Better still have the administration dealt with by a small
committee which reports to the full group (again, after the
interesting stuff has happened).
 
Have starting and finishing times that you stick to.
 
Plan programmes of different levels and formats, to suit different
levels of experience.
 
Arrange your programme well in advance; publish it (including
venues and times) with names and phone numbers of
association contacts.
 
Don't restrict your meetings to strictly 'beekeeping' topics; there
are plenty of interesting ones which are relevant enough for the
group not to lose its focus (back problems, sting allergies, tying
down loads, stress management, tax law, bookkeeping,
marketing).
 
Have field days which can include apiary and honey house visits,
contests, activities for kids and non-beekeeping family
members.
 
In a pollination area visit growers to find out more about the crop
from their point of view.
 
Visit a beekeeping equipment distributor/manufacturer, or a
honey processing plant.
 
Have a 'working bee' at the club apiary.
 
Try a bus or car convoy visit to events or places of interest
outside your district.
 
If you have a newsletter try and keep it attractive and readable;
maybe someone else wants a turn as editor!  And in this day and
age there's no excuse for it not to look very professional; perhaps
even published on the worldwide web.
 
Get members' feedback on what you're doing, and suggestions
for new ideas.
 
Good luck!!
 
Andrew