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New Blood
By Jeff Samsel
 It’s sort of like a tire with a slow leak. You never see the air going out, and the car doesn’t seem any different from one day to the next. One day you just notice that the car is limping or that the tire looks terrible and realize you’re about to have much bigger problems if you don’t add some air.
Most bass clubs have slow leaks. Folks move and get older, interests change, disputes occur. The list of reasons that members depart could be a long one. More important than detailing those, though, is an acknowledgement of the simple fact that members sometimes will go out the back door and a determination to keep potential new members coming in the front door.
Next Generation
A new-member emphasis ought to begin close to home. In a society where each family member tends to stay busy doing his or her own thing, traditions and favored pastimes don’t necessarily get passed from one generation to the next. It’s no longer a given that because Dad is an avid bass fishermen and active in a club that his children will at least get taste of the bass club scene.
Current social state acknowledged, one’s own children and grandchildren remain the most natural potential new members for any club, and it is vital to make every effort to attract the next generation from a club’s own pool of families. That begins with a charge to every member to involve their own children and grandchildren when opportunity exists. However, it also requires a dedicated determination by the club to make meetings, weigh-ins and other gatherings family-friendly, to be highly welcoming to young people who do show up and possibly to conduct special events, such as father-son tournaments, for the specific purpose of involving family members.
Dedicated PR
If a club is to attract new members, folks in the community need to know the club exists and must learn about any events that are open to the public. Typically, that requires a committee or at least an individual who is dedicated to the task of public relations.
Many newspapers will gladly run stories about open tournaments, meeting programs or special events such as children’s fishing days. Most editors won’t prioritize such stories enough to assign a writer, but if a story is submitted, they often will run it. A key is for the PR person to pay attention to the types of event stories local paper typically runs and to try to match the length and tone. An editor likes something that can be dropped into place, as is.
Of course, PR outlets extend beyond local newspapers. Radio stations, regional magazines and even local television stations might run an occasional story about a club if a member is intentional about keeping them informed about activities. More important today, especially for attracting younger anglers, are the many “new media” outlets. Some of the virtues of blogs, facebook, Twitter and various fishing-specific social media-type sites are that they are free and instantaneous and that no editor or producer has to approve or place material. Most clubs have at least one member (or a member’s son) who is web savvy and can do a good job of keeping the club’s name out there.
The Personal Touch
As simple as it sounds, one of the best ways to get prospective new members to attend special activities or to try fishing the club’s tournament schedule for a year does not come from a committee or any sort of media outlet. Instead, it comes in the form of basic one-on-one communications between every club member and the circle of people each member interacts with at work, in church, in the neighborhood and in other places.
Every club member should consider himself an ambassador for the club, remaining on the lookout for coworkers or others who have an interest in bass fishing and then making specific invitations to meetings or other club activities. No matter how much a club member and a coworker talk about bass fishing, the non-member might assume the club is somewhat of a closed group if he is never specifically invited to participate in an event or to attend a meeting.
It’s also worth noting that while most folks who join bass clubs are bass fishermen to begin with; that is not always the case. There are would-be anglers and club members in virtually any significant grouping of people who simply have not been exposed much to bass fishing or who don’t know that bass clubs exist. It could be that they fished a few times when they were young, but they have never spent much time around anyone who could teach them about the sport. For these folks, the initial appeal might be the competitive aspect or the club fellowship, more so than the fishing itself.
The Product Matters
 No matter how fine a job a club’s members do of spreading the word about their club to family and friends, that does little good if the club’s activities are not genuinely interesting. To add new members (and retain old members) a club must do more than conduct monthly business meetings and conduct closed tournaments. Such a schedule offers little to non-members that would convince them to visit a club function and to learn more about the club and its members.
The easiest ways to add appeal to outsiders is to plan interesting programs for at least some of the club’s meetings and to get out the word about the topic and/or speaker. A typical club’s membership collectively has quite a few contacts with fisheries biologists, area bass pros or experts on specific bodies of water, as examples, and often there is quite a bit of “expertise” on topics that would make good meeting programs among the members themselves.
A good way to attract tournament bass anglers who may not be affiliated with a bass club is to schedule a couple of tournaments each year that are not part of the club’s points race and that are open to the general public. Such tournaments can also be used to generate a bit of revenue for club expenses, or they can be planned as charity events. Either way, the club’s name should be on all flyers and advertisements, and members should make an extra effort to watch for unfamiliar faces on tournament day and to make sure each newcomer feels welcome and learns a bit about the club’s normal functions or the next meeting. Of course, if the next meeting features an interesting-sounding program, that doesn’t hurt!
Special events don’t need to be limited to tournaments. An outdoor cook-out or wild game meal adds interest for existing members, along with providing good forums for invited guests to get to know club members and learn about the club’s functions. Other possibilities include work days, where the club helps the state game departments or others with project that need to doing, or children’s fishing events. Either provides obvious direct benefit to a cause and gives the club a good name while at the same time having the potential to attract a new member who might not show up at a different type of event.
Immediate Involvement
Finally, when new folks do co come around, whether visiting with a friend or family member or trying out the club for a year, it’s important to get them engaged in what’s happening. For a first-time visit, that might simply mean making them a part of casual conversations and asking their thoughts on questions the club is considering. For new members, engaging them means getting them involved in committee work, special activities or other tasks.
Involvement could mean making someone the weighmaster’s assistant, who performs odd jobs as requested by whoever runs the scales. Such an assignment gives a new member a reason to attend every tournament and forces him to interact with all club members. Involvement also tends to create a sense of purpose and ownership, both important for keeping someone interested in any type of activity.
That said, immediate involvement should not be a requirement for club membership. Too many clubs (not just bass clubs) lack a decent volunteer base from within, and would-be members tend to get turned off when they feel a club is strapped for workers and is only looking for extra hands to get work done. There’s an important balance somewhere between making newcomers feel involved and making them feel like they’re being thrown into the fire.
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