>>has anyone started up a local herp club?

>>If so,how did you go about it,I started an online forum for Colorado herpers and hope that it will lead to live meetings but so far have just been able to post fliers in local pet stores and through word of mouth,it's alot more difficult to get people together than i anticipated!

>>If anyone has any advice or ideas,please let me know,I would appreciate any advice and input!

>>

>> StormyHall





Getting people together can be tough. The flyers at the pet shops is a good start. You might also want to think about hitting up local colleges to place flyers up. Don't forget places like coffee shops, restaraunts, grocery stores, anywhere where they might have a "Community Bulliten Board" to hang up flyers.



You can also try doing public demonstrations to get the word out that your group exisits. You might even get some mention in the local press (even the small community papers) by doing these public demos.



Don't forget about the internet either. Websites are fairly cheap to do these days (free in some cases) and can attract people looking for a society in their area. I believe that Kingsnake will even host a herp society's web site for free. You could even try www.meetup.com. The entire website is devoted to setting up meetings on various topics and I know that they have a Reptiles topic. You might be able to attract a couple of people that way too.



One other thing your new group can do that we've done is to start doing care sheets on commonly kept species. Put your logo (or letterhead, whatever) at the top of it and offer them for free to the local pet shops to hand out to their customers. Not only are you helping to educate the public on the proper care of the animal but they also know that your group exists. This is where having a web site to mention on these care sheets is helpful so that people can easily get more information about your group.



Once you have a good core group of people together you should think about incorporating as a non-profit group. Rules and regulations vary state-to-state on this so it is probably best to check with your sate government office on what is the best way to proceed with the paperwork on this.



Once you are an incorporated non-profit you may find it easier to attend public events and get into your local papers since you now have some "legitimacy."



Good luck and hopefully your group can succeed!
-----
A.J. Sokolik

asokolik@wnyherp.org

Western New York Herpetological Society

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