Playgroup Leader Etiquette

Emily Post would not be proud. My playgroup Etiquette did not come from her book.... I learned it the hard way, and still continue to learn. In fact, I find Emily's books extremely boring,  no matter how important I feel the information is inside.

For sake of being Etiquette incorrect on my opinions, I have found the most organizers do not feel comfortable with other playgroup organizers in their own group; especially if they are operated on the same website. 

You could ask why; but to me it's obvious; fear of competition. Is she joining to steal my members? Advertise her group? Steal my ideas?

Well, I'm not going to get into why I think this 'fear' is ridiculous (I'll cover that later), but here is etiquette for those of you who may not have realized that yes, Houston, there is etiquette for us organizers.

1. Never Copy ANY content verbatim. In fact, avoid copying as much as possible. If you have to copy, ask first.  Which leads me to number two:

2. Don't be possessive. Guess what? Great minds think alike. No you were not the 'first' one to think of doing a playgroup at the fire station, or signing your group up for a kindermusik class. That boudoir Mom's Night Out idea you had? Been there, done that. Get over it.  If they really did 'steal' it from you; your group members will know it. You have nothing to worry about.

3. Do not join for sole purpose of promoting yours. It's just not cool.

4. Respect the organizers. Not everyone will organize in the same way and you will not be happy with some of the choices they make. That doesn't mean that they are wrong. I cannot stress how disrespectful it is to criticize some one's else group when you run one yourself; would you want them criticizing yours?

5. If you are going to share events, make sure you are really sharing. Even if it is a 'public event' like a stroller walk, it does not mean you should meet up at the same day and time without letting the other organizer know.  There is too many bad outcomes that can come from this (and that is a completely different subject!). Keep up with communication with that organizer. Be in communication.

So that's it! Be thoughtful of other organizers and you'll have some strong allies by your side when the going gets tough.