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I ran a private online bookclub a few years ago, really tried to filter and vet the people who wanted to join. Ended up with a decently sized group of wonderful

I ran a private online bookclub a few years ago, really tried to filter and vet the people who wanted to join. Ended up with a decently sized group of wonderful people and lots of long form written discussion—we read good books and talked about good books, it was lovely. I approached the screening/vetting process as if I was hiring. I got some angry emails about the approach, made it seem "exclusive" and elitist, but it worked out well for the group. I'll launch the next iteration after the first of the year, this time there might be a fee attached, at least a minimal amount to pay for the SaaS product we'll use to organize and collaborate.

calvinmorrison 4y ago
Paying a fee is a great barrier for weeding people out. I was a on a pool team for several years and one season I drew the unlucky lot of being the captain. This mostly involves texting everyone on a weekly basis to ensure they would come out, and they had the $10 they needed in cash on hand to pay me when they showed up. I hated it and chased people all the time to pay, they owed me from last week, didn't show up, etc. The next season I told everyone to pay up front. $120 dollars, cash. Same price as every week in total, but up front. Turns out when people paid up front they came more often and we had no payment issues from there out.
deleted 4y ago
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onetokeoverthe 4y ago
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Mappleton 4y ago
Can you say more about how you organised and structured it? E.g. what practices, rules, and tools you used (And any chance you have a write-up online somewhere?) I've run a few groups like this and love learning how others approach it. Haven't found a great format for writing-based discussion that works as well as in-person / zoom calls.
- blueridge 4y ago
  Yes, I've been working on a write-up, will post and send it your way when it's finished!

calvinmorrison 4y ago

Paying a fee is a great barrier for weeding people out. I was a on a pool team for several years and one season I drew the unlucky lot of being the captain. This mostly involves texting everyone on a weekly basis to ensure they would come out, and they had the $10 they needed in cash on hand to pay me when they showed up. I hated it and chased people all the time to pay, they owed me from last week, didn't show up, etc. The next season I told everyone to pay up front. $120 dollars, cash. Same price as every week in total, but up front. Turns out when people paid up front they came more often and we had no payment issues from there out.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

onetokeoverthe 4y ago

[dead]

Mappleton 4y ago

Can you say more about how you organised and structured it? E.g. what practices, rules, and tools you used (And any chance you have a write-up online somewhere?) I've run a few groups like this and love learning how others approach it. Haven't found a great format for writing-based discussion that works as well as in-person / zoom calls.

blueridge 4y ago
Yes, I've been working on a write-up, will post and send it your way when it's finished!