Thanks for responding. It's nice to know we're not alone.

I will talk to the co-chairs about scaling back the amount of things we do at the meeting. Luckily, our PPA is not an 'official' group, with by-laws, dues, etc. That leaves us a lot of freedom. I've gathered, from meetings past, that our parents aren't much interested in the business part of the meetings. They come more to hear what's happening at the school, and for the speakers. Meeting other parents is also a big reason people indicated they attend.

So at our 'board' meeting next week, we will definitely discuss your ideas for spreading things out through the year, instead of trying to do too much at every meeting. Another option, maybe, would be to have shorter meetings more frequently...has anyone ever tried that?

We are trying a lot of the same ideas you are trying. The idea was to build community. The second meeting of the year we had our choir sing. We had them after one of our speakers and to be honest most of the parents stood in the hall and didn't even come in to the meeting? It was the strangest thing you'd ever seen. People care about what their children do, but to try to get them more involved is difficult. We have so little actual members we can't even vote on things in an open forum because the votes don't count if their not members. I am co-president this year and we thought the more we put in the better chance of getting people involved. I don't know if it will work but keep trying I wouldn't give up. I don't know about the refreshments it seems like a awful big expense and I would definitely have the assemblies after the speakers. Let's hope in the long run this pays off. Good Luck.

It's okay to vent, especially to us! You had great ideas, a good turnout and then "Boom" things changed. We've all been there and it is very frustrating!!!

Now, here's my opinion. Consider that your program may have been too much all at one time. You had refreshments, several speakers, a musical performance and meeting material. I'm assuming this was in the evening so add on that most people have spent a long day working in some way (home or office). How long did all of this take?

One of the reasons that people have told me that they'll come to "my meetings" is that they are no longer than 1 1/2 hours. Most are only 1 hour. And, believe it or not, we get so much accomplished. When we have had our evening meetings and invited a speaker, they are asked to keep their program within 30 minutes.

Could you take the ideas you have and create an agenda that isn't so long. I would recommend having your meeting part first and the "show" after so they have to come for both. Don't break for intermission so if people want to leave they can't do it quietly. You could have refreshments after for people wanting to stay and mingle.

All your ideas are wonderful and you can benefit by spreading them out over the school year! Good luck, don't get so frustrated, and let us know what has worked in the future!!! :cool:

Last week we held our monthly meeting. We had about 50 people come. We offered donated baked goods, plus provided hot cocoa and mulled cider. On the agenda for that evening were 4 major things. A discussion about providing dinner (or something to eat) at meetings, a presentation by a teacher about their classroom, and what goes on there, and a panel of speakers, community professionals, on childrens health. We had also planned to have our violin group play at a short intermission so people could eat and drink something.

Well, everything started off fine. We were so excited about having so many show up - we thought they were really interested in the speakers we had planned. But things quickly went awry. First, when we tried to discuss having food at meetings, and how to provide it, all 50 of those people had absolutely no comment. Just sat there like lumps. Finally one man, who is a very active parent and sympathetic to the PPA, said something, just because he felt bad for us.

Next, after the violin ensemble played (right before the speakers portion of the meeting) about 35 of our 50 people left!!! They were only there to hear their children. Aaaaggggghhhh!! How frustrating - on many levels. One part of me knows that people have things to do, but you would think, since they were there anyway, they could enjoy the food and hang out another 45 minutes to listen to our speakers. I felt totally embarrassed, as these Doctors had come on a completely voluntary basis, we paid not one cent to them, and then everyone left right before they began to speak! It just seemed so rude!! To them, and to me and my co-chairs. We worked really hard to line those speakers up.

So what we decided, was to quit going out of our way to offer refreshments at meetings, and from now on, when the violin ensemble plays, it will be at the very end of the meeting. Is that to harsh?