The results of the survey about the monthly meetings are in!

Thank you so much to everyone who completed the survey, and shared their thoughts and ideas of how they want the meetings to be held in the future.

The Dallas County Master Gardeners Association (DCMGA) has more than 400 members. 105 people responded to the survey, including several interns, so we have opinions from a diverse sampling of Master Gardeners (MGs).

The reason for conducting this survey was to find out what elements of the monthly meeting were popular, and what changes or alterations might be necessary to make them more enjoyable and to reach even more MGs in the future.

First, we looked at reasons people value the monthly meetings:

• One recurrent theme in the responses was the importance of the social element of monthly meetings. 69% said socializing was a strong motivation for attending a meeting in person.
• Completing continuing education (CE) requirements was perhaps the main reason people value the monthly meetings. 95% use the monthly meetings to earn CE, whether they attend in person or access a recording of a meeting.
• Most people are comfortable with meetings occasionally being conducted by Zoom.

Second, we asked about when and where in-person meetings should be held:

• Many responders said they liked the consistency of meetings being in familiar locations, and many people wanted it to remain on the fourth Thursday of the month at lunchtime. An equal number, however, commented that having meetings in the evenings or on weekends would enable working members to attend.
• Understandably, people prefer not to drive long distances, especially during rush hour or in the evenings.
• Several people commented on how it would be helpful if the meeting ended in a timely manner.
• Others commented how much they enjoyed the door prizes at the end of the meeting.

Once the results of the survey were available a small group of MGs, who have helped with the smooth running of the monthly meetings, met to discuss the results.

We agreed that the majority of the meetings should be held on the fourth Thursday of the month at lunchtime. Consistency is important, and this is a popular time. We are also, however, keen to reach as many MGs as possible. As a result, our June 24^th and July 22^nd monthly meetings will be held at lunchtime on a Saturday. We hope people who work during the week will be able to attend. In 2024, we plan to hold at least one meeting in the evening. We will then review attendance to see whether these times are popular and should be repeated.

Meetings will occasionally be conducted on Zoom because it is a good way to attract out-of-town speakers we want to hear. The November meeting will be Zoom only.

When it comes to location, we will continue visiting places this year to find a core of 3 or 4 locations that are accessible, affordable, and offer the technology we need to run and record in-person meetings. It has been really great to meet at St. Barnabas Church, R&B1, Raincatchers’, the AgriLife facility on Coit Rd., and Temple Emanu-El. Over the next few months we will hold meetings at The Point, CC Young Senior Living, and, hopefully, Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church and Brookhaven College. After spending a year as nomads, we hope to settle down to using fewer locations on a regular basis, with perhaps the occasional new location.

The quality of the meeting recordings is important to a lot of people, so a great deal of work has been done to determine what equipment we need and to find locations that facilitate good recordings. We look forward to having a high quality recording of every meeting in the future that will be available to the general public on YouTube.

Other changes you can expect:

• To emphasize the social aspect of the monthly meetings, we will announce a time for visiting before the meeting starts, and reintroduce a “pot luck” element. We will kick this off at the June meeting at CC Young. The DCMGA Board will provide strawberries and cream in the 30 minutes before the meeting begins. We hope to hold cookie swaps and chili cook offs later in the year.
• For the convenience of those who work in gardens during the morning, meetings will now run from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m., with the room open for 30 minutes of socializing before the meeting officially starts.
• We will do everything we can to keep the meetings running on time and we will continue to offer door prizes and a “Share the Love” table. Both have been very popular.

It’s always fun to meet up with Master Gardeners, hear new speakers, and share plants and seeds at the monthly meetings. We look forward to seeing you in the next few months.

Happy Gardening!