HOW TO START A UNIVERSITY CHAPTER OF THE MARS SOCIETY

*NOTE: This is meant to be a rough guide only.  Depending upon your specific
situation, you may or may not be able to pursue all of the options listed.

1.  Contact the International Organization:

a)  Contact HQ (Maggie Zubrin -- Mzubrin@aol.com) for a member list & some
brochures in your geographic area.  You must include the appropriate USA
zip-codes or Canadian province or country for Maggie to get you correct information.  
Contact the people on
this list first thing with your plan to start a chapter.

b)  contact your regional coordinator at
http://home.marssociety.org/outreach/    [none assigned as of this writing]

c) also contact nearby chapters, see: http://www.marssociety.org/about/chapters.html

d) introduce yourself to the Chapter Council: 
http://chapters.marssociety.org/council/ 
 council@chapters.marssociety.org	   or  mschaptercouncil@egroups.com

2.  Pre-Cursors to First Meeting:

a)  speak individually with any engineering or science (general astronomy is
a REAL plus) professors whom you think might be interested in the Mars
Society

b)  talk with the leaders of related student organizations at the university
and see if any of their members would be interested in organizing a chapter

c)  if you do get others willing to help, enlist their aid -- delegate and
divide the labor to avoid burnout

d)  if allowed, provide a brief (5 min) presentation advertising your first
chapter meeting to those interested -- professors' classes, student
organizations, etc.

e)  speak with the student organization office at your university about
establishing a recognized student club / also speak with Maggie Zubrin about
the legalities of this

3.  Advertising the First Meeting:

a)  make up fliers based off material from the Mars Society brochures and
website -- distribute these fliers around campus (posting to bulletin boards
and possible handouts in classes with approval)

b)  advertise through other student organizations (see above)

c)  advertise through the local student newspaper or even the local radio
station

d)	create a simple (or not-so-simple) website for your chapter – you may be able to do this on your University’s web site, or – for free use of  ‘chapters.MarsSociety’ web pages, contact Bruce, Bmackenzie@alum.mit.edu,  include your phone number and preferred user name (nickname).   For more information, see http://chapters.marssociety.org/web-mgt/   especially http://chapters.marssociety.org/web-mgt/#New-Web-Site  , but, don’t spend too much time polishing a web site, all you need is information on upcoming meetings, how to contact you, and links to www.MarsSociety.org

4.  The First Meeting:

a)  provide materials to distribute and catch attendees' interest...

* brochures & fliers, signup sheets -->
http://home.marssociety.org/outreach/public/
* copy of the Mars Petition --> http://www.thinkmars.net/petition
* copy of Zubrin's books "The Case for Mars" and "Entering Space" (display
only)

b)  if you are a good public speaker, give the introductory Mars Society talk yourself 
b.1)available from Society HQ on 35 mm slides, 
b.2)or you may print from
http://www.marssociety.org/content/presentations.asp
b.3)or assemble your own presentation from 
http://www.marssociety.org/interactive/mars_charts.asp

c)  if you are unsure of yourself, see if there is a nearby member in your
region willing to come in and help you kick-start your chapter

5.  Follow-Through:

a)  before breaking up the first meeting, set the next meeting so all
interested will know

b)  set an agenda for the next meeting

* if possible, have a speaker lined up
* have ideas ready to suggest for the next meeting's agenda

c)  start an email list AND USE IT!

d)  record and post minutes!

GOOD LUCK!!!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _
This is file: http: //chapters.marssociety.org/council/Chapter-Starter-Kit-College    
[ignore this, microsoft will not let me edit the URL] ocxxxx      .html   or  .txt
Assembled for the Mars Society Chapters Council, 
by Erik,  Nirgal@space.com   Dec. 18, 2000
revised by Bruce, Bmackenzie@alum.mit.edu,  Dec. 19, 2000
CopyRight ( C ) 2000 by Mars Society Chapters Council