I’m a member of a local writers’ organization. While I’m not the most active member of the org, I do keep an eye on the goings-on in the off-chance something interesting catches my eye. (They have workshops, meet-ups and guest speakers, etc.) Normally, I’ll give their newsletters a quick skim and move on, but I received a pretty startling email this morning that has been living rent-free in my head ever since. The descriptor that sprung immediately to mind was… unhinged.
Here’s the content of the email:
Hello!
I just did a count of attendees for our January 27th Meeting…
including me.
SEVEN
…
Not SEVENTY
…
SEVEN
Now, I realize that it could be a long day on your phone or in front of your computer, but HEY, you don’t have to drive to the event, get a babysitter, hire doggy care, find someone to take care of your parrot or dig you out of the snow.
All you have to do is click on Zeffy, cough up $20.00 and come to the most important [redacted] meeting of the year.
The [redacted], the oldest writer’s group in the state of Vermont, currently boasts 133 members – (and 14 of you are behind in your dues!)
I know we can do better than 7 attendees. Here is a photo of the first business meeting I attended. (The fee by the way was 49.00. Yes, we got lunch.)
NOW, I ASK YOU, does this look like seven people???
Please, show a little allegiance to your organization. [redacted] has survived wars, the pandemic, the floods and the financial ups and downs since 1929.
Let’s gather on the 27th in force!
Now, I’ve removed some of the more… bizarre… formatting included in the original email. (There was pretty heavy use of bolds, colors, and larger font sizes that immediately brought to mind peak 1998 web formatting for your free geocities site. IYKYK.)
The entire email was in bold text. Because reasons.
Anyway.
For additional context, here is the posted schedule (which was announced 10 days ago) for the event in question:
9:15 Virtual Zoom space opens 9:30 -10:00 General Announcements 10:00 -11:30 Christopher Citro 11:30 -12:00 Screen Break/lunch 12:00 – 1:30 Annual Business Meeting – Updates, Election of Officers, Plans for 2024 1:30 -1:45 Screen Break 1:45 – 3:00 Open Mic – Time will depend on number of readers 3:00 (or earlier) Zoom room closes
That’s what all the fuss is about. A Zoom meeting that is, primarily, org housecleaning, with an hour and a half devoted to a local poet most people probably haven’t heard of before. And they want $20 for this. Also, you better not be behind on your dues.
Now, I get it. Running any kind of organization is hard. Trying to get grown adults to show an interest in anything optional is a herculean and often thankless task. Putting together fun and/or informative events is tough. I understand all these things, and I’m sympathetic to the folks that volunteer to take on these jobs.
That said… I’m really not a fan of this tone.
Under normal circumstances, you might brush it off as someone maybe having a bad day and maybe they’re not the best communicator.
But this is a writers’ organization.
Writers tend to be pretty cognizant of their tone and word choice.
Which means this snide email blast was a deliberate choice on their part, begging the question… to what end?
Will behaving like a brat persuade people to participate? Uh… no.
Will passive-aggressively shaming people for being behind on their dues in a public setting get those people back on track and active in the community? Unlikely.
The mind boggles, honestly. The unintentional irony is thick.
NOW, I ASK YOU, is this really the look you want to go for? Maybe not.
As someone who is really just a passive member of the organization (but rest assured, I’m current on my dues), this single email has called into question whether or not I even want or need to be a part of this organization going forward. I can’t honestly say I’ve gotten much value for money out of it thus far. I haven’t attended any workshops or events. I haven’t taken any classes or watched any presentations. I haven’t made any publishing contacts. In reality, I view my membership more as an act of patronage in attempting to support local creative groups than an exchange of services. That said, my non-participation is more the result of not having seen any events I wanted to participate in than simple disinterest in the group as a whole.
With all of that in mind, in the interest of offering something constructive to the conversation beyond mere complaints, I would make the following suggestions to the organization if they hope to encourage participation and reconnect with their community:
- Establish a style guide for community-wide email communications — this 1998 livejournal formatting ain’t it, Chief. There are plenty of resources with industry best-practices for email newsletters, and given that this is a community of writers, it shouldn’t be unrealistic to expect a certain degree of professionalism in this regard
- If you want people to show an interest in community events, make them interesting — I know it’s not feasible (time, budget) to get Big Names for events hosted by such a small community, but if you know that already, then don’t make speakers no one’s heard of the cornerstones of your events. Find something more appealing that members will see the value in. If you’re not sure what that is, ask them.
- Begging, pleading, shaming, chastising, or otherwise attempting to manipulate people into doing what you want is not the move — I shouldn’t even have to say this. If you’re dissatisfied with the state of things, either figure out what you can do to change things in a positive way, or find a more fulfilling use of your time.
- Look for inspiration — I know this is a very small organization, which presents a unique set of challenges on top of the normal bullshit that goes along with running anything. But if you’re committed but unhappy with where things are at and don’t know what to do about it, look around you. Use the tools of the craft that brought you here in the first place to find a solution.
- Share victories — Instead of complaining, share victories. Post pictures or videos from community events where people are having fun or learning cool things. That will entice more people to participate than a petulant email. Show, don’t tell us why we should want to participate more. Make it worthwhile.
Of course, I realize all of that is easier said than done. I’ve worked in state government. I know where hope and passion go to die.
But I also know that the only thing negativity begets is more negativity. I understand that negativity is just as much in need of an outlet as more positive emotions. But… time and place, fam. If you’re upset and frustrated that things aren’t going the way you wanted, the people you want to persuade to help you are not the people you want to vent that frustration on. It will backfire every time. Generally, any time someone asks me to “cough up” $20 for something I’m not even interested in, I tell them to pound sand. Yelling at people is not a great way to get them to want to hang out with you on their day off. Weird, I know.
Honestly, I was just blown away by this email and had to do something about all my icky feelings. (Quick! To the internet!) This seemed preferable to ‘Reply All’.
I have deliberately left out the name of the organization because I’m not out here trying to @ them and start some kind of internet beef. I’m sure they’re all lovely, hard-working people that are just frustrated and stretched too thin. I am somewhat curious if there will be an apology email forthcoming, or if everyone is just going to let the whole thing slide on by like it never happened.
Guess we’ll see.