Long term viability of the ASGPP and the psychodrama community

[Hug4abear at aol.com]

To all:
 
I appreciate watching the dialogue about how we can make the ASGPP a  
stronger organization and increasing the size of the psychodrama community,  
including the view that we need to do a better job of drawing in a certain  segment of 
the population that is seriously under represented in our community;  namely, 
post-baby-boomers (people born after the early 1960s).  Perhaps two  
additional metrics for measuring the success of the annual conference (and the  
psychodrama community) could be:  (1) how many first time attendees we have  
attracted; and (2) are we increasing the demographic diversity of the  community.  
Does the ASGPP track these data points?
 
I have several thoughts on these issues.  First, it seems to me that  the 
issue of ensuring the long term viability of the ASGPP and the psychodrama  
community may involve numerous issue, not merely bringing the cost of the annual  
conference down.  Has there ever been a formal study that looked at the  issue 
of long-term planning for our community?  Some questions that could  be 
addressed:  What are the typical points of entry to the psychodrama  community?  
(Based upon anecdotal evidence, I do not think that most  people’s first exposure 
to psychodrama is the ASGPP annual conference.)  Do  we know how first time 
attendee have heard about the annual conference?   Are there segments of the 
population that we are not reaching, such as current  students who are studying 
to be mental health professionals or professionals in  other allied fields 
that could use psychodrama?  What are the ASGPP and the  psychodrama community 
doing well when it comes to drawing in new people?   What is not working?  If it 
has not already been done, does it make sense  for the organization to draft 
a formal plan that would help to raise everyone’s  consciousness on the steps 
that we can take individually and collectively to  attract new people to the 
organization and the psychodrama community?
 
Some things that come to mind that may be factors in our inability to  
attract post-baby boomers from joining our community, include:
 
(1) Lack of knowledge of psychodrama – how much outreach is being  done?  Is 
there someway that we can better utilize the Internet to  publicize the ASGPP 
and the psychodrama community?  For example, is there  some way that we could 
have a link to our organization’s web site on the web  sites of other 
organizations that are populated by people who would be  interested in psychodrama, 
such as the American Group Psychotherapy  Association.  Do psychodramatist and 
trainers who have web sites include a  link to the ASGPP and our conference?  
Post-Baby-Boomers tend to be very  computer savvy and this seems like a 
necessary form of out-reach.
 
(2) Attending the full conference involves being willing to invest a lot of  
time and money.  For someone who has little or no exposure to psychodrama,  
reviewing the brochure and figuring out that you can stick your toe in the water 
 rather than attending the full conference is difficult to learn.  This  
information is generally nestled in the sign-up form at the end of the workshop  
listing.  The conference brochure and the organization do not heavily  
publicize that an attendee may attend only a portion of the conference, such as  a 
pre-conference workshop or just one day of the conference.  Is there some  way 
that we can better publicize (perhaps on the front of the brochure) this  option 
and publicize that someone who likes what they see may sign up for more  
workshops?
 
(3) Are there additional things that our organizations can do to ensure  that 
newcomers feel welcome?  I know that we have a special event for first  time 
attendees.  Does it may make sense for there to be recommended  workshops for 
first time attendees?
 
Steve Gordon



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