There are many choices in front of us. It is our duty to choose what makes sense to us. The What is all about answering those difficult questions and choosing the right choices in the order of priority.
 
When you want to run a book club, a few questions that will bug you are below. Let’s answer one by one so that you have ways of prioritising your club member needs.
 
Do you need a book club? If yes who will run it?
A book club helps in bringing together a tribe of like minded people who are excited about absorbing knowledge from books. The closer the tribe comes with this single threaded idea, the stronger the community will become. You can run the club using a core team of volunteers. 1:10 is a good size for the voluntary team. If you have 100 members then you need a 10 member volunteers. To make 10 strong volunteer team, you need 20 interested members.
How big the club should be? What is the ideal size of a book club?
You could do a simple club with your product friends (5-6) and meet in Starbucks every week for an hour and discuss a book. Making a book club with 10-20 members is the easiest part. No harm in making a small club, just that the impact will be 1x and not 100x.
You could do a 100 member club, spilt them into small groups and keep smashing book.
If you want to pioneer a reading revolution of a genre or otherwise, the impact must be fairly large and global. Based on the intent, determine the size of the book club.
What books should be read in the club? Can we allow all books?
The stronger the focus, the better the outcome. Go by genre and run a club just for it. You can be inclusive of all books but that is just a side effect. The main effect is being focused.
How often you should read books? How often should you review?
Ideally everyone should read everyday but ideal doesn’t happen. It should be at-least 3 times a week. Review can happen every week if you want to be aggressive. Review can be bi-weekly if you want to be optimal or once a month if you want to be minimal.
Should the book club be virtual or face-face or hybrid? What are the pros and cons?
Whatever brings people together closer is what we must choose. Modality should be determined by the intent. I think a bit of everything helps.
How should we bring the community together? Should we in the first place?
Put out the intent and see if people are coming towards the intent. That is the first sign of forming a community.
What kind of people should come to the community? Is there a filter?
The more inclusive the community is, it is better. Slowly the community will find its focus. We don’t have to filter upfront or have a ton of rules when starting. Have a boundary of genre and focus and that should do.
How to keep the community engaged? Just info or do more?
An engaged community is a strong community. Belongingness is important for a community. Just info will not cut it.
Should we strictly talk books only or can we do something more like a networking event or icebreakers?
A book club is just a starting point. In addition to books form other events to keep the community bonding on. Icebreakers/fun/monthly meet-ups/networking/help needed are all different ways in which the club can be engaged.
 
 
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