Now that you have settled into the careand training of your pet pig, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to share your experiences with other “Pig Parents”? Why don’t you start a local Potbellied Pig Club? It isn’t as hard as you might think. There are definitely others out there wanting to get together with you, too. So, jump on in and get your area organized. By offering the following suggestions, NAPPA hopes to help you accomplish this goal. You don’t have to limit yourself to these methods … be creative!

WAYS TO LOCATE “PIG PEOPLE” IN YOUR SURROUNDING AREA

• Check with local breeders, animal shelters and sanctuaries.

• Check newspaper ads for local breeders. Contact the people to whom they have sold a pig.

• Place an ad yourself asking interested people to contact you directly.

• Ask the local radio station or community TV station to put a “free” ad up for you.

• Contact vets and feed stores about the identity of people with pigs they service.

• Put up flyers in the vet’s office, feed store, and pet stores.

• Ask for a link on the NAPPA website.

• Contact your local newspaper, radio, or TV station about doing an interview with you about starting a local pig club.

• Keep an accurate list of all your local pig people with their name, address, phone number, email address, and of course their pig’s name, too. During your talks with them, ask what time they would like to meet and how often they think the meetings should be.

Now that you have begun to collect the names of other interested people who want to join your club, it is time to plan your first meeting. Remember your organizational meeting can be a fun experience for everyone involved. You are bringing together a group of people with a common interest, but most of them have never met. So let us really get creative!!

PLANNING FOR YOUR FIRST MEETING

• Ask around and determine a good time to meet. Set a date and time for the organizational meeting. Talk about how often you want to meet.

• Think about the best place to have your irst meeting. Is it at your home or would a community center or church be better?

• Send out invitations to all the Pig People you have accumulated followed by a personal call inviting them to attend the organizational meeting.

• Plan an agenda for your organizational meeting.

• Plan a way for people to get to know each other at the beginning of the meeting, such as a brief introduction of each person including a little something about their pig. (This could go under the Plan an Agenda section above).

• Have a summary of the time people told you they would like to meet, plus add information from the group you now have at the meeting. Choose the time(s) for future meetings based on the most popular times identified.

• Ask all the people to write down one sentence answering this question “This Pig Club is here to accomplish…?” Let everyone read their sentence out loud. Vote for three or four goals that are the most important and are realistic to achieve.

• Ask all of the people to write down one activity they would like the pig club to do this year. Let everyone read their suggested activity aloud. Vote for up to 6 favorite activities for the year.

• Either select a nominating committee or accept nominations from the floor for at least the office of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer. You might also want to include an Activities Chairperson and a Membership Chairperson. Remember the more participation n the election process the members have, the more interest they will have in their club.

• The elected officers should have a brief meeting to discuss a time to meet to formulate the bylaws, constitution, banking, dues, club name, incorporation papers and any other formalities the membership deems necessary for the smooth functioning of the new pig club.

ALTERNATIVE START UP PROCEDURES

Why not become the Founder of your local pig club?

• Ask around and determine a good time to meet. Set a date and time for the organizational meeting. Talk about how often you want to meet.

• Think about the best place to have your first meeting. Is it at your home or would a community center or church be better?

• Send out invitations or better yet make a personal call to all the pig people you have accumulated. Personally invite them to attend the organizational meeting.

• Plan an agenda for your organizational meeting.

• Plan a way for people to get to know each other, at the beginning of the meeting.

• Have a summary of the time people told you they would like to meet, plus add information from the group you now have at the meeting. Choose the time(s) for future meetings based on the most popular times identified.

• Identify the Name of the Club and explain in detail your club Goal Statement with a list of suggested activities you think would be appropriate for the coming year. You might want to have this written down on handouts for the potential members to review. This approach will draw like-minded members to your club.

• Ask the potential members to add suggestions to the goal or the activities.

• Listen to the ideas and input of the potential members and make your purpose clearly known as to why you started your club.

• Set the dues yourself and present the by–laws and constitution.

• Hold an election of officers for the position of Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

• Announce the next meeting time and place and the agenda for the meeting.

Remember, most clubs are usually not-forprofit or non-profit organizations, so any dues you collect must be placed in the club account and not used until the club meets and elects officers. All club bills are paid by agreement of the majority of the newly elected Board of Directors, and usually with the consensus approval of the total membership. So, if you start a club by means of this alternative procedure, you may have some out of pocket expenses for which you may or may not get reimbursed. Be sure to follow all state and local laws regarding legal status of the club if money is to be taken in.

It is NAPPA’s hope that by offering you this brief outline we will stimulate you to gather other interested pig people together for the fun and excitement of education, pignics, pigoramas, costume contests, community service, and the myriad of activities in which potbellied pig clubs participate. Now that you have your local club well on its way, why don’t you join forces with other potbellied pig clubs from around the world by affiliating with NAPPA? Through this network of clubs, all pig people from around the world can benefit from your knowledge and creativity!