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My local bonsai club was founded in 1978. It was once a very strong garden club, boasting up to fifty members, whose trees won competitions, some of which now reside in the permanent collection of the NC Arboretum, US. Fast forward to today, there are only ~ twenty members, of which a dozen are active. The founding members have all passed. The remainder are in or near retirement. I am the youngest by more than twenty years (joined in 2009).
We've had some discussions about how to ignite interest in bonsai and bring more people, but to little avail. Those that come stay for a few sessions, but few remain after a year. The older ones find it more & more difficult to care for their trees as they age. The younger generation aren't ready to dedicate the time needed, and some don't want to listen to opinionated people, who often drift off topic (this has been brought up to me on three separate occasions). In my brief time, half the club has passed away or stopped coming, and only two other new members have filled in gaps. In short, my club is dying.

A few of us are trying to change that. I've asked for advice from other clubs, who recommended showing the trees in more public settings, advertising, changing of format, electing younger people to the planning committee, or asking members to stay on topic (good luck with that!). A few say, start your own club. It has also been said, "Some clubs thrive. Some clubs die." It is the reality.

What have others done, and what are others doing, with their clubs to keep them growing? Social media? More public displays? What's your advice? What interested you to start in bonsai? What kept you going? Why did you join a club? Why didn't you join a club?
Thanks in advance for the advice.

brkirkland22 wrote: What have others done, and what are others doing, with their clubs to keep them growing? Social media? More public displays? What's your advice? What interested you to start in bonsai? What kept you going? Why did you join a club?

Press releases
Announcements for open days / exhibition of our own trees
A stand at local gardening related events (didn't work)
Facebook page (created/maintained by me).
Our club was going in the same direction, but we have started growing again. Many members are young (relatively speaking).

I think what worked best was that exhibition.

Why I joined a bonsai club? Because I wanted to learn how to grow bonsai

Thanks, Auk.
We've thought about the garden center thing, and I got the Facebook page up last year.
I think an exhibit is a good idea

Facebook, waste of time, I have a web site which members check for what is happening. Our membership is good, we are bursting at the seams on a workshop meeting. The group was formd nearly nine years ago, it took a long time but from the 6 founder members we now have over 20. That is as many as we want, the hall which we recently moved to is just about big enough. We attended an open day at a garden centre recently, and it went very well. We got one possibly two new members. We are considering having a show next year as a club show. Not sure yet. We have a visiting bonsai artist twice this year. Some members like that, some don't. Most of our members are older, some retired, but we do have a couple of younger ones.
I also go to three other clubs, one is doing well, the other two have lost members and are not replacing them. Not sure why, the format is similar.
Possibly it has something to do with how "friendly" members are. One unfriendly individual can cause members to quit, I know of that kind of thing happening.

m5eaygeoff wrote: Facebook, waste of time

We welcomed a new club-member recently, that found us through Facebook.

We have a visiting bonsai artist twice this year.

We have one every meeting (once a month).

Possibly it has something to do with how "friendly" members are. One unfriendly individual can cause members to quit, I know of that kind of thing happening.

True. Happened with us too. The unfriendly person is no longer a member.

I don't see the point in having a web site and Facebook. We do get members from the web site. We have a workshop at our montthly evening meeting, and an all day workshop on a Saturday, Not all members can get to both.
Members are kept informed about what is coming up and reminded about the meetings, it works well.

m5eaygeoff wrote: I don't see the point in having a web site and Facebook. We do get members from the web site. We have a workshop at our montthly evening meeting, and an all day workshop on a Saturday, Not all members can get to both.
Members are kept informed about what is coming up and reminded about the meetings, it works well.

We have both and we update both. It's not the same, both reach a different - and thus, a larger - audience.
The Facebook page hasn't been online for a long time yet, can't tell if it 'll bring us more members than the one we got so far.

I personally would not mind joining a club, if it's somewhat local (I don't have to drive over 1hr to get to). Having said that, I live in the Columbia SC area and I have not heard of any clubs. Now the NC Arboretum is within driving distance but still would take me 2+hrs to get there. That is my only drawback to joining a club.

The NC Arboretum is great! Arthur Joura comes to our club every year.

Being in SC, you may check in with John Geanangle. I think he was part of the Columbia club before they disbanded. He and Ken Duncan still do a bonsai study group. Their trees are very creative, they've won lots of awards, and both are excellent teachers - very laid back. John has a YouTube channel if you want to check it out.

Great timing for this topic. I recently joined a local club and they are VERY excited to have me. But I'm more excited to be a part of it. I've always enjoyed being a part of something bigger than myself. They have run into the same problem with membership dropping due to natural causes. I'm the youngest and I'm 46. We meet twice a month for work shops and once a month for a club meeting. We meet at a local garden center and are inspired by the surroundings. The president arranges shows for us to get trees into and we're traveling to a private collection for a personal tour. His web site is very antiquated but suffices. His passion and knowledge out weigh any financial or personal problems the club may suffer.
IMHO... clubs for younger people are often plagued by commitment. I think that exposing the general public to this art/hobby, helps people to appreciate it. Most people that I know, don't think that they could keep the plant alive and are easily intimidated by the "long haul" of creating a 名媛直播. Most just can't see the forest through the trees!!!
I hope this helps in some way