We have heard from more than a few groups saying that they were having trouble getting people to show up to meetings.  Since a lack of attendance can quickly cause a group to fade away, we put together our best advice on how to get and keep people coming to your meetings—a critical part of building up your group.

• Introduction
  
• The Blogging of A Secular Lobbyist: Election Lessons
  
• Advocating for Secularism at the University of Alberta
• Atheism at Dartmouth: Part 3
  
• Announcing the New 2008 Group Running Guide
  
• PZ visits the Rational Response Squad at GMU
  
• Sunsara Taylor at U of MN on "Away With All Gods"
  
• Atheist Advertising Amplifies in the US
  
• 2008 In Review: The Secular Student Alliance Year-End Activity Report
• Get Ready for Darwin Day 2009!
  

One of the most popular events our groups put on is bringing a speaker to their campus.  Whether the leader of the local freethought chapter or Richard Dawkins, these events always engage communities, spark discussion, educate the public and build momentum for our groups.

However, we understand that planning such an event - especially for the first time - can be daunting.  That's why we've developed a new resource to help your group plan its event - the Speaker Event Planning Checklist!  Designed for use by groups of all experience levels, the Checklist helps in every stage of planning from the first stages of brainstorming all the way through wrapping up loose ends after the event itself.

Repost with permission from the Humanist Network News.

This Feb. 12, people around the world will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.

Penn State Atheist and Agnostic Association member Yasic Naumenko (senior-physics) reads a passage from the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. PHOTO: Peter Tesoriero

This story originally appeared in The Daily Collegian Online (Penn State’s morning newspaper) on 9/22/2008, and is used by permission.
Article by Erin Rowley, Collegian Staff Writer.

by Ian Bushfield

In 2004, Paul Welke couldn't attend his convocation ceremony. The avowed atheist was in Bosnia at the time, serving for the Canadian Peacekeeping forces that were deployed there. The University offered him the ability to attend a convocation at a later date, but upon reading the Chancellor's charge to use his degree "for the glory of God and honour of you country," he pledged not to attend until the ceremony reflected his belief system.

He filed a complaint with the President's office, who put it forward to a convocation committee. That committee briefly debated the issue and subsequently brushed it aside as frivolous. They suggested that Welke could define "God" in any way he chose. Welke's response to his fellow atheists was that using God in a non-religious fashion was akin to shooting a three-pointer without a basketball.

Lori Lipman Brown is Director of the  Secular Coalition for America, where she serves as the first Congressional lobbyist representing atheists.  She is also a speaker on the SSA's Speaker's Bureau.  She writes a weekly blog for The Humanist; we reprint select articles with permission.

Election Lessons

Ahhh. What a relief. After eight years of an administration that ruled by its version of “God’s law,” I knew that whatever the results of the election on November 4, many things would change for the better. For example, regardless of the outcome, the National Institutes of Health would again be permitted to use the most promising materials in its research – new lines of embryonic stem cells.

This story by Hemant Mehta is reprinted with permission from friendlyatheist.com.

The Boise State Secular Student Alliance were manning a booth for their group during a recent Parent and Family Weekend. Lloyd Lowe, the president of the group, set up the table and walked away for a while. When he returned, his found that the banner he had put up was no longer visible to the public:

• Introduction
  
• FFRF Conference: Chicago or Bust!
• Campus Atheist Group Censored in Idaho
• Secular Swag at CafePress
  
• Secular Student Group Urges Local Religious Leaders to Obey IRS Tax Laws
  
• Atheism at Dartmouth: Part 2
  
• Check Out the New SSA Campus Events Calendar
  
• Youth Against World Youth Day
  
• Dan Barker: How to Talk to a Fundamentalist: Part 2
  
• The Great American God Out! - November 15
  
• Evolution Wins Over Intelligent Design in Mock Trial in Kentucky!
• Religulous Reviewed