Fast Company provides a rough guide -- http://www.fastcompany.com/friends/guide.html -- for people who are interested in coordinating a new CoF group in their area. At first, the success of a group might depend on the efforts, energy, and vision of one person -- the volunteer coordinator. But as groups mature, it is possible (and perhaps even wise) to syndicate or distribute leadership.
The founding volunteer coordinator of the Chicago CoF outlined the following tasks as bare essentials for coordination:
Today, the Chicago CoF -- and many other cells -- operate under the guidance of a planning or coordination team, as well as the group's membership as a whole. These planning committees share the responsibilities of organizing, hosting, and running CoF events and activities. Members of the team -- and other members of the group -- might fill the following roles:
The primary point of contact on the group's home base for new members and the FC staff. The volunteer coordinator can add to and edit the group's online calendar of current events and archive of minutes and notes.
The volunteer coordinator can also delegate responsibilities for the group's online calendar and archive to other members, as well. Or people can just volunteer to fill those roles if they're interested.
One of the biggest challenges for some groups is finding a space in which the group can meet. If groups aren't able to encourage members to offer up their personal or companies' facilities as meeting spaces, someone could research local options at restaurants, libraries, schools, and other locations. Other local businesses might be interested in offering meeting space, as well. Some groups encourage their corporate hosts to share a little about their businesses -- others dislike any semblance of a sales pitch or promotional speech. Others still offer to help solve a challenge currently facing their host in exchange for the use of the space.
Many groups run their meetings and events using a floating facilitator instead of a fixed meeting leader. This can be especially useful in smaller, work group-oriented or creative problem-solving settings in which more facilitation or mediation might be needed.
What the Twin Cities CoF once called calls an 'enforcer,' a group's treasurer doesn't really manage a budget -- most groups don't have them. But a group's treasurer might keep track of how much CoF events cost per person if there are fees to be paid, collect a per person sum to cover the group's costs, and -- if the group makes money on a given event -- put those funds in escrow to cover the expenses of the next event. FC encourages groups not to charge membership dues and to keep CoF activities as close to free as possible. If events cost money to organize and hold, any participation fees should be calculated to cover costs and break even.
Members of the San Diego CoF volunteer to greet people at cell events, to introduce newcomers to the group, and to help new members meet people who have common interests and experiences. (They also help people find the group at the beginning of events by standing in the lobbies of restaurants, etc., but that doesn't sound as exciting.)
If a group organizes social activities such as team-building exercises, day trips, and other events, it might be helpful to have one person handle that aspect of the group's coordination. In New York City, one member organized a laser tag outing.
To capture ideas and lessons shared during CoF events, someone might want to take notes and capture or document some of the discussion, decisions, and actions of the group. This person could be one of the coordination team members described above and keep the CoF group's Minutes & Notes archive up to date.
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