Good entertainment is an important ingredient for a successful annual meeting. Like seasoning on food, it makes the whole affair more attractive. It helps bring out some members and their families who might not otherwise attend. It puts the audience in a more receptive mood.

Business details and information talks require mental concentration. Most people cannot concentrate over long periods so it is wise to vary the program at intervals with entertainment. This entertainment need not be costly, elaborate, or professional, but it ought to be good

Annual Luncheon or Dinner

The best entertainment of all, in the opinion of many people, is a meal-whether it's a lunch, dinner, or simply refreshments after the meeting. A meal, of course, involves specialized planning and is best delegated to an individual or committee with no other responsibility.

Unless the meal is extremely simple, it involves knowing in advance the approximate number that will attend. Members must be contacted before the meeting by mail, by telephone, or in person. Reservations or tickets must be issued. This is a job that requires a good deal of work, but its success ensures smooth functioning and may reduce annual meeting cost.

Musical Selections

Local soloists, duets, quartets, bands, or orchestras fit well for brief interludes on any program. They can be worked in at almost any time. Good music helps set the stage for the meeting while members are assembling. Similarly, group singing and "exercise" songs help liven up the crowd. A good song leader can contribute immensely to the program.

Talent Shows

Local talent show programs have special appeal to family audiences. Important sources of such local talent are community high schools, theater groups, church choirs, barbershop quartets, dance bands, and orchestra groups.

Quiz Contests

Another type of entertainment well suited to a cooperative meeting is one in which the members entertain each other. This includes question boxes and quiz contests. Such contests can be educational as well as entertaining if the questions selected relate to the association and its operations.

Here, again, advance planning is essential. The leader must not only have contest material ready, but also should have a few bellwethers in the crowd primed to pick up cues and help put the meeting across. Games in which everyone participates can be used either to begin or to climax and wind up the meeting

Movies and Videotapes

Movies and videotapes can be used with success. Usually, they are best toward the end of the meeting. For maximum effectiveness each film or video should be introduced with a brief explanation of its purpose and sometimes could be fol- lowed with a short discussion.

Important sources for educational films are Farm Credit Districts, State Extension Services, State Departments of Education, and State Councils of Cooperatives, as well as many larger regional cooperatives.

Youth Activities

Some cooperatives include special features on their annual meeting programs to interest young people, who are the future cooperative leaders. Often, these cover one or more of the entertainment features mentioned. In other instances, youth delegates who attend the State Cooperative Council meetings or the annual summer conferences may relate their experiences.

Young people are often an important part of the annual program itself. They may speak or take part in panel discussions, team demonstrations, or other group activities.

And don't forget to consider providing nursery and child care facilities so members with small children can attend.

Professional Entertainment

A wide variety of professional entertainment is available for those willing to pay for it. This includes comedians, magicians, acrobats, and dozens of other kinds of entertainers. Generally, the greater the audience's opportunity to participate, the better. The entertainment committee should make it a point to be certain of the contents and caliber of the program beforehand. This precaution will avoid booking acts that are unsuited for family audiences.

Mixing Business With Fun

In addition to entertainment, some cooperatives make the annual meeting the occasion for distributing patronage dividend checks or equities in the revolving capital. A number of cooperatives carry this a step further and provide on-the-spot facilities for cashing the checks, dramatizing what would otherwise be a routine business procedure.