Last weekend, I was thinking a lot about my experience teaching a puppetry workshop Friday night at the Broadway Theater, and the overall dynamic of our group. It occurred to me that maybe I don’t want to launch a puppetry club. When I started the Facebook-group-which-would be-a-club, I actually did so with the goal of one day transitioning into a guild. Whether a club or a guild, they are both defined by the idea they exist to bring people together as a single body, and work together to achieve commonly shared goals.
But, the thing is that not everybody who is interested in puppetry needs to be a part of a club or guild. Some people are successful just performing by themselves, and others form their own community of puppeteers. Asking someone who has found their “niche” to join a club is asking them to commit to a whole “other thing” they might not have time for.
Another thing I thought about was how our club was a little counter intuitive. I’d like to involve everybody, but there really isn’t a way that a club can serve everybody the way that they need. As an example, I was asking last week if we accepted kids as members, to which I answered that we do. But, then I wondered if it was practical to include kids as members alongside the adults, or maybe they should be their own group?
So, that’s when the idea of building a Network began to gel. It won’t change our structure or how we operate for the most part–we’ll meet monthly, and our board will be the same. We will, however, be able to better serve the people who connect with us through social media or meetings. Representatives of schools or organizations which are involved in puppetry would be welcome to attend meetings and get involved. We would cross-promote puppetry programs and events.
Just like the club, the goal of the MMPN would be to foster collaboration between puppeteers. So, anybody who needs help with a project, or wants to get involved with a project, can do so. I could see MMPN sponsoring projects from time to time, for example a Puppet Slam.
I’m excited by this change because I feel like it allows us to continue to support our community of puppeteers while giving us the freedom to pursue our own interests in puppetry.
I’m open to your thoughts about this change. Please feel free to post in the comments, or reach out via email at midmichiganpuppetryclub@gmail.com.
