Hi Tobias, thanks for these helpful thoughts on the on-going AfH Get-Togethers in local communities.
Yes you're right that there needs to be some kind of appeal or "chemistry" which keeps people coming back to the regular Get-Togethers over time.
In our case (which has had 25-30 people meeting monthly for nearly 18 months), the lasting appeal seems to have been a mixture of:
a) Personal benefit - by using a format which people find genuinely inspiring, friendly and enjoyable each month - so they look forward to coming and keep coming back! And a key part of this is the friendships they make with others and the chance to connect with them and share ideas together
b) Varying content - having regular "new" content - but not in the form of expert videos (we've never done that), rather via contributions from the group - so we have had people helping us to meditate, do yoga, sing as a choir, learn resilience exercises, do mindful drawing, letter writing, laughter yoga, purpose-finding, art therapy, "speed relating" and more. That has kept the sessions feeling fresh while still following the monthly themes, e.g. we're planning to try some Tai Chi together for Active April!
Your question about "spreading" is a really good one. Our group has done this most actively when the monthly theme has related to kindness (e.g. Altruistic August, Do Good December) for example by collecting donations together and taking them to our local food bank and trying to support other local charities.
I also feel that now we have these strong relationships and friendships that have been built up over more than a year we're much better placed to do more spreading activities - so I'm hoping that the group will be up for doing more of these.
For example, at this week's session we discussed two specific spreading-style ideas: one is for us all to give out cards/postcards about AfH to people we meet and tell them about AfH, what we're trying to achieve and how they can get involved. The other is to start spreading AfH content (e.g. the latest calendar) with our neighbours via the Nextdoor platform - which seems to be getting a great response so far.
And yes, we'd be delighted to hear about other "spreading" activities tried by your groups and others around the world - so please do continue to experiment and let us know what works best and how things like the lovely KindSpring cards are received...
But in closing I wouldn't underestimate the importance of your point 1) below (having a 'pleasant evening') - I feel by far the biggest predictor of whether people come is them having a genuinely inspiring experience and strong sense of togetherness with others. That to me is what really drives people to keep coming back for more.
Hope that's helpful. And big thanks again for organising our call, it was so great to speak with you all :)
Mark
---
Mark WilliamsonDirector, Action for Happiness