What to do to set up a yoyo club?

General Yo-Yo
1

Hey i was thinking that me and some of my friends can make a club and we want to see what tips you guys can give us so we can be successful in this Thanks

2

  1. Find a spot to do it (libraries are awesome spots to host events just ask the Library workers)

  2. Get advertising (YYE and local newspapers are awesome for this reason)

  3. Set dates wether its once a week or once a month set those dates up.

  4. Good luck and hope your Yoyo club takes off!

3

I made a group on Facebook. Then I put out word on Facebook and let my contacts and friends do the rest.

It can be that simple.

First, try to arrange regular meets if you can. You can’t please everyone. Find a good spot. Mine is near a library and park. We’re moving to near the restrooms. Why? Well, restrooms being convenient and water, well, that’s a good thing.

Second, decide if you have a focus. Mine doesn’t. I welcome all skill toys, but yoyo is the main one in my eyes, but as I said, all skill toys are welcome. Always.

Third, some people need names. I don’t, but the group has a name anyways. It seems to make people happy.

I don’t offer gimmicks. No give-aways, no contests, no promotional items. Just show up with your skill toys and enjoy.

I’m glad my group isn’t taking a lot of effort, because if it did, I honestly wouldn’t have time for it.

4

First, find people, I’m sure you know people who yoyo in that area and that’s why you’re starting, but if not it’ll be tough to get it started. Find a location, if you have any small toy stores, I’d check them out, small malls are good too, I wouldn’t do a library because the sound of bearings and I think it’s safe to assume you guys will try to communicate with each other without disturbing others. Talk to others that are interested in the club and find the best dates possible, I’d start of with once a month, then move up to more meets slowly. Every week is awesome but it’ll be more difficult to find a location for that and it’ll be a lot of work. I’d try to contact a company about some prizes for one of the first meets to raise interest in others, I’ve had lots of luck with that so far, I worked something out with Werrd called Battle of The Brave for clubs, I’m not sure if they’re still doing it but that was awesome, I’ve also gotten prizes from yoyofactory and I’m sure I could get some from other companies if I put more effort into it. Kendama companies seem to be more into yoyos now so I would contact them too. Once you have all that on lock you should be good. Also, for the location I would try and give them as much info you can so they know what to expect and you don’t get kicked out at a bad time, I’d mention music, talking, bearings and say you’re trying to keep it to a minimum and have a rough estimate of people. Hope I was helpful, I run a club in Michigan that’s pretty popular that’s been successful for a few years now, I didn’t start it but I took over :slight_smile: Have fun, it’ll take some work but it pays off, if it wasn’t for yoyo club I wouldn’t have my best friends that I have now and my contest placings would probably be a lot lower. Contact me if you need any more help! -Chase

5

A club in Michigan you say? Where in Michigan? I live there(Michigan)

6

Plymouth! There’s a Facebook page and group!

7

Fellavader has done a great job with his club, NH Yo-Yo Club, in just one year. It’s the best effort I have seen with a club. He gave the club a name, started a thread on YYE, put some flyers up, and began with a public location in the park during the warmer months in Spring and Summer. Also, we set up a donation thread on here, and a lot of generous people donated yo-yos to the club.

As the fall approached, he sought an indoor location where he could host regular meets. He secured an awesome indoor location, which is far more favorable to me. The location he chose was a church, and due to the church having members with kids, it grew the club larger than it was before. He had a logo designed, and ordered T-shirts so members could represent and promote the club at contests and events. He also scheduled the monthly meets several months in advance, so people might resolve scheduling issues. During all this, he set up a separate website that has the club schedule and photos. He also set up a Facebook page.

He just had the one year anniversary party, and Andre Boulay , Dan Dietz , Eric Koloski, Graeme Steller…just a ton of people were there. I couldn’t make that meet due to work, but I heard about it. He could tell the story better than I can, but that sums it up. In short, if you invest just a bit of time in your club, get the support of a few trustworthy people to help get the word out, and stick with it (without getting discouraged when certain meets have a bad turnout) you will eventually see the club start to grow.

You should PM Fellavader if you have any specific questions about this.