So what do Anime Clubs typically do?

[Gatsby]

The one I was in we'd watch anime and then near Fanime we'd plan and organize fund raisers to gather money to go to Fanime. Looking back it seemed like we really didn't do anything. Now that I'm in college and am building the first anime club on the campus I am trying to think of stuff we'd do. So what do anime clubs typically do?

[SOawesomeness]

We just watch anime during lunch. :0

[Gatsby]

Haha... that's when we did it too.

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

Same.

[Gatsby]

So I suppose outside of con planning and anime watching, we can do things such as cosplay parties and other anime, convention, and general Japanese culture type activities.

[LordKefka]

Well, from experience of running my high school animu club for the last two years and my university animu club for 4 years straight... ;)

Things to do:

-Play games: PS2, Wii, Computer game etc. People got a kick out of mugen.
-AMVs: show one or two if people care
-Card games: Apples to Apples, etc
-Chill time: well, it's what it says. You just chill with people and get to know them. You want to get new members interested in staying and not sitting in the corner.
-Watching animu:... as if it isn't obvious :\  .
-Have screenings of "special" holidays like during Halloween (also cosplay contest during this time), X-mas, Valentine's Day etc etc.
-Show and tell: Well... happened once. People were to bring stuff they valued the most anime wise. Good time to do introductions.

I dunno, the club can be a hit or a miss depending on the schedule and the people who go (as in the type of animu fan they are). It can go from 30+ to 5-6 so yeah. I guess this is just my club so I don't know how it works where you are attending.

[Gatsby]

Question about your university club, do you have to do a semester project?

[LordKefka]

Nope. We don't.

EDIT: wait... what do you mean  ???

[Gatsby]

Well I'm reading through the club handbook and it says that we have to do one college-wide project per semester. So from I'm guessing, in an anime club I suppose this could be a cosplay fashion show for the whole college (or whoever wants to attend). Do you have to do anything like that?

[LordKefka]

Well I'm reading through the club handbook and it says that we have to do one college-wide project per semester. So from I'm guessing, in an anime club I suppose this could be a cosplay fashion show for the whole college (or whoever wants to attend). Do you have to do anything like that?

No, we didn't have to do that. All it took was a 4 page club constitution and a room request with a projector and we were good to go.

[Gatsby]

I see. Well I'm sure we can do anime and cosplay projects. Maybe make a mini documentary about the cherry blossom festival in S.F.

EDIT: Thanks for all your help! I think I'll be able to write up something over the next few days.

[LordKefka]

I see. Well I'm sure we can do anime and cosplay projects. Maybe make a mini documentary about the cherry blossom festival in S.F.

EDIT: Thanks for all your help! I think I'll be able to write up something over the next few days.

No problem. I suggest you write up the structure of the club with officers, treasurer, VP, and the works. You want some structure but not to the point where the fun gets sucked out and you go into a V for Vendetta type of situation.  ;D

Good luck! Choose your animu showings wisely.

[Tsubasa]

I was a part of my high school anime club for all four years; two years in administrative positions.  In those four years, I saw two approaches: the club that only watches and the club that tries to liven things up a bit and do a few special activities here and there.  There are definitely pluses to either.  The club that holds and encourages non-screening activities lets people socialize more and have some fun with stuff like playing games together and holding small gatherings.  The club that just screens does, well, just that.  It does not work if your members don't get genuine enjoyment in going to the club to sit around and watch, but when you have the right audience, it's good.

Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I believe anime clubs should be the watching anime kind.  I enjoyed the activities, but I think the right atmosphere an anime club should strive for is one where everyone gathers and shares the anime watching experience they love with others.  I kinda miss the day when I would pop into my high school's anime club, sit down, and be treated to something new or at least something I hadn't seen.  When you gather ~15-30 like-minded people, it's really a great experience.  I'm imagining this was easier back in the day when digisubs were less proliferate.  Whenever I see a flier for an anime club these days, I just think "I've seen 80% of these shows and the ones I haven't, I'm not interested in."  It must be getting progressively harder to create the right atmosphere.  I felt it the last year or two of my school's club.  Although, I don't know what it's like these days cause it's been six years since then, I'm sure it hasn't gotten any better because increasingly more and more people download and watch digisubs.  I know I didn't bother going to my college's club.

[LordKefka]

I was a part of my high school anime club for all four years; two years in administrative positions.  In those four years, I saw two approaches: the club that only watches and the club that tries to liven things up a bit and do a few special activities here and there.  There are definitely pluses to either.  The club that holds and encourages non-screening activities lets people socialize more and have some fun with stuff like playing games together and holding small gatherings.  The club that just screens does, well, just that.  It does not work if your members don't get genuine enjoyment in going to the club to sit around and watch, but when you have the right audience, it's good.

Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I believe anime clubs should be the watching anime kind.  I enjoyed the activities, but I think the right atmosphere an anime club should strive for is one where everyone gathers and shares the anime watching experience they love with others.  I kinda miss the day when I would pop into my high school's anime club, sit down, and be treated to something new or at least something I hadn't seen.  When you gather ~15-30 like-minded people, it's really a great experience.  I'm imagining this was easier back in the day when digisubs were less proliferate.  Whenever I see a flier for an anime club these days, I just think "I've seen 80% of these shows and the ones I haven't, I'm not interested in."  It must be getting progressively harder to create the right atmosphere.  I felt it the last year or two of my school's club.  Although, I don't know what it's like these days cause it's been six years since then, I'm sure it hasn't gotten any better because increasingly more and more people download and watch digisubs.  I know I didn't bother going to my college's club.

We've had lots of problems in the club from dealing with wierdos who can't shut the hell up during screening to "overly active" people who can't sit down for one minute. Just last year, one of the people knocked my laptop off the table and almost broke it. I almost kicked him from club for good. I think one time I've had to cancel meeting just to cool things down because the craziness went too far.

With clubs, it's a little hard to go about how to partition the time correctly because you have half the people who want to watch animu and half the people who want to dick around and play games. There is a gradient of animu fans from just watching to just wanting to play games, passively knowing what animu is and leaving when screening starts with whatever in between. Not attending the animu club in your case is a good idea if you are all about watching things because face it, we can all do that on our own. However, there are also animu that can be watched and enjoyed by a group of people. Being able to select those is the hardest part for me because with a meeting every week and 2 animu to show for 28+ weeks, it gets pretty hard after 6 years of doing this crap especially when you have to not only watch enough but also choose the right ones that is suitable for a GROUP of people as opposed to what one watches himself alone in a dark corner. This doesn't exclude people who like moe stuff, drama stuff, slap-stick stuff, ecchi stuff, action stuff, and so forth. When you put everything together, you get more of a "cosmopolitan" array of picky people more than anything and it makes selecting what to watch the next week a nightmare at times. 

And speaking of clubs that only showed stuff, there is one called SWAMP that meets every 2-3 weeks and go into a 5 hour screening frenzy. I went to one of them and there were 4-5 people with 2 people in charge. It was pretty sad but back in the days when EVERYONE wanted to watch animu as a kid and isn't able to afford a VHS with 2 or 3 episodes for $30, animu club is where haven is.

To be honest, high school animu club was the best.

Oh, and is anyone sick of me saying "animu" yet? :3

[Barnes]

I remember Leigh HS's anime club during junior and senior years. I just wanted an excuse to watch anime every Monday, even before work. I had fun in there. Yeah we played games as well. And the host, Mr. Nish, was really nice.
Too bad we had to use vcr, I was willing to bring in a dvd player, but the prez told me it would take too long to set up.

[Mister_E]

I remember Leigh HS's anime club during junior and senior years. I just wanted an excuse to watch anime every Monday, even before work. I had fun in there. Yeah we played games as well. And the host, Mr. Nish, was really nice.
Too bad we had to use vcr, I was willing to bring in a dvd player, but the prez told me it would take too long to set up.

Too long to set up? Yellow to Yellow, Red to Red and White to White, unless you have like a OLD TV.

[Barnes]

I don't remember the tv style, but I was also willing to bring in an extra set of plug things to power the dvd player. Indeed

[JohnnyAR]

The school rules are so strict I can't even think of any anime to show >:( nobody would really care and have the time to participate in anything like the stuff your clubs are doing. My school sux really bad...

[SOawesomeness]

The school rules are so strict I can't even think of any anime to show >:( nobody would really care and have the time to participate in anything like the stuff your clubs are doing. My school sux really bad...

We have an advisor that doesn't really stay in his room when we have screenings... :D

Clannad, Kamichama Karin, Pokemon(jp style), Sailor Moon... and all those little kiddie stuff should be ok with your school.

[JohnnyAR]

The school rules are so strict I can't even think of any anime to show >:( nobody would really care and have the time to participate in anything like the stuff your clubs are doing. My school sux really bad...

We have an advisor that doesn't really stay in his room when we have screenings... :D

Clannad, Kamichama Karin, Pokemon(jp style), Sailor Moon... and all those little kiddie stuff should be ok with your school.

But no one is gonna want to see those. Damn school board district!