This group has done very well this year. It is now at a point at which the two students leaders, Glen Weinberger (grweinberger@students.wisc.edu) and Jess Horne (jshorne@students.wisc.edu) pretty much run it on their own. I touch base with them once every couple weeks, to see how things are going and work on ways to improve the program. However, it was pretty much running without me by second semester. Glen sends an email to all those interested in the group (we have a list serve saved on file at Hillel) each week as a reminder, and Jess makes announcements every Friday night at Shabbat dinner. The main task I worked with them on is getting the word out, especially to all the Hebrew classes. Next year, it is important to make sure there are students in all the Hebrew classes constantly making announcements regarding Shulchan Ivrit. In addition, Jess Horne would like to send a note to all the Hebrew professors at the beginning of the semester to find out if any of them would be interested in creating an incentive to attend Shulchan Ivrit, or it at the very least, they can promote the group in their classes.
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This year, the conversation was pretty fluid, and there was never any sort of awkward silence. However, it is a good idea to speak with Glen and Jess about possible topics to trigger Hebrew conversation.
On another note, Jess and Glen are interested in changing the location. We had it at the Rathskellar in Memorial Union the last few weeks of the year because our best location so far, Steep & Brew, started running an open mic night at exactly the time we had Shulchan Ivrit. The Rathskellar was not an effective location. Our normal time and day for Shulchan Ivrit has always been Tuesdays at 8:15 pm. This time and day seem to work extremely well. Find out if Steep & Brew will still be doing an open mic night at that time. If not, problem solved. If so, a new location must be determined.
A couple quick tips: This year, Hamagshimim sponsored Shulchan Ivrit, and enabled us to buy free food for all the participants that attended, because Shulchan Ivrit is considered a sub-organization of Hamagshimim. We were at a coffee shop, so it was just drinks and baked goods. However, we no longer have Hamagshimim funding. Food definitely worked as a powerful incentive, so finding another sponsor could prove to be very effective.
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