I am the president of the Oist club at my University, and I’m looking for input from other group leaders, but this can apply to any Oist get together, not just college clubs.
Anyone have advice / suggestions / tips on how to increase the interest in your local Oist group?
How do you reach out to potential members?
How do you find those who have a good sense-of-life / correct (implicit) premises, and convince them to come to a meeting / look into Oism?
Do you cull members from other related groups (eg a Libertarian group or a Philosophy salon)?
Have you used the facebook or myspace? I looked in every Ayn Rand or Objectivism related facebook and myspace group and found all the people who lived in the area. It was about 60. I sent each one a message about my group, and about 15 joined our list. It took me an entire Sunday to do this, but 60 leads is very good. Don’t limit your search to your school, either. People who go to nearby schools or non-students in the area may still want to participate. Have you listened to the conference calls about running a club ARI has up?
Plaster your campus with “Who is John Galt?” stickers. Don’t say anything more. Just “Who is John Galt?” written everywhere. Then a week later, plaster more stickers (or flyers) everywhere that say “Want to know Who is John Galt? Come to Rm xxx Wed. Night @ 7pm”