Guidelines for Kansas City Ukester Meeting Leaders

1. Announcements. Upcoming events, issues, treasurer’s report.
2. Introductions. Go around the room, “Hi my name is… and I’m from…” or “and I play a _____ ukulele”, or “and I work for ___”.
3. Warm up. Two easy and familiar, 2 or 3 chord songs.
4. Review. Two “oldies” songs that we have done at past meetings. These two songs should be posted on the Yahoo Group no later than a week before the meeting. (Contact David if you need help.)
5. New songs. Ask if anyone has a new song they would like to teach the group. Anyone teaching a song needs to bring 40 copies of the music for people to put in their notebooks. 3 holed punching is not required but is always appreciated.
6. 10 minute break. This break can really come at anytime near the middle of the meeting. The leader needs to keep track of time and get everyone back to their chairs when it’s time.
7. Open Mic. This will give people an opportunity to perform a song of their choosing in front of a friendly audience. One song per participant.
8. Wrap up. One or two of our familiar finale songs. Leader’s choice.

Leader’s need to be forceful (not bossy) when running a meeting. Be able to get everyone’s attention quickly. Whenever you get a large group together, there will always be chit chat, jamming, and tuning. This is natural and is actually important. Comradeship is one of the pillars of the Ukesters. But when it’s time for the meeting to start, the leader needs to take charge and move it along.

This is only a guideline for a meeting schedule. Consistency is important but if a leader wants to shake it up once in a while and change things around, go for it.