starting a MUSE
MUSE meeting format
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Managing a MUSE
Managing MUSE is easy and takes little time.
1. Send the MUSE recruitment e-mail to any local creatives you know. Keep a list of those who positively respond: some will want to participate, some will participate in the future, some will want to receive the e-mails though they cannot participate. These creatives make up your growing MUSE e-mail list. Bring a MUSE e-mail sign-up sheet to each meeting so newcomers can be added to the list. Encourage MUSE participants to network with one another outside the meetings; keep the MUSE e-mail list available and up-to-date.
2. Send the monthly MUSE e-mail to any positively-responding creatives to whom you had sent the recruitment e-mail. After these first two e-mails you should only have to send one e-mail a month to your participants.
3. Query potential Guest Creatives. Sample letter. You can scout potential Guest Creatives by reading your local newspapers, etc. and asking MUSE participants for suggestions. In each monthly e-mail, include the Guest Creative's brief bio and/or Web site address so MUSE participants can familiarize themselves before MUSE. Ask the Guest Creative to send you a brief biography and description of their work if not on a Web site. Time Saver Tip: Curtis spends about an hour at the beginning of each six months to query all the Creatives needed during that time.
4. MUSE Kitty. If you decide to ask MUSE participants to make donations, have some type of receptacle in plain sight at the meeting. Place it away from the discussion area but mention it before the meeting ends. Keeping track of any extra money each month should be an easy task, but ask a participant to act as MUSE Treasurer if necessary.
5. Facilitating MUSE. As the "manager" of MUSE (Your Town or Location, State or Country), you may also act as its facilitator at the meetings: letting MUSE participants know when open discussion begins, setting the tone with a brief introduction, announcing the Guest Creative, initiating the Q&A, and then closing the meeting. If you are not comfortable in this role, ask another MUSE participant to do it. Facilitator notes from MUSE 1, Portland, ME.
6. Advertising MUSE. If you want to make MUSE available to any creative in your region, there are simple things you can do to promote MUSE and allow the network to grow: for each meeting, submit the MUSE details (including Guest Creative bio) to your newspapers' listings editors; post basic MUSE details on community bulletin boards; ask participants to spread the word.