My university is sorely lacking an historical society, so I've decided to start one. Does anyone have any past experience in running a historical society with tips to share?
So far I have the following ideas-
-Talks from members or guests.
-Debates on historical questions.
-Trips to museums, castles, etc.
-Maybe run a strategy board/video game for 5 minutes at the end where we could split into opposing nations' parliaments or something.
-Drinking alcohol.
Is there anything I could add to this to make it a worthwhile endeavour? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask!
It is important first of all to have a clear idea of why a historical society needs to be organized - what is its mission and who does it serve? If that is clear, many other answers will follow (including whether it is necessary to form a historical society). If you have a clear idea of who you want to serve - and who NEEDS to be served - asking your constituency for input is the next step - and there again, answers are likely to unfold. Good luck.
I've advised such orgs in the past. Figure out your goals and scope. Find a sympathetic faculty member who probably at some point was involved with something like what you envision (yes, we're out there). As an undergraduate we resuscitated our Living History Club, which included museum trips, visits from alumni who weren't in academia (lots of those, because we trained teachers and preservation people), some historic site days, and it being the Midwest we had Civil War and War of 1812 reenactors among us so they brought stuff too. It was a good time and faculty/alumni had a lot of interest and suggestions without being overbearing.
You should also check out /r/MuseumPros.