As a former program guy for our club, good luck.
I enjoyed meeting and working with the demonstrators.
It can be frustrating communicating with some of them. Some are very busy and travel/demo takes a back seat day to day.
Coordinating with other regional clubs was always the goal but due to too many variables it didn't always work out.
Use the experienced turners in your club to generate programs, and save up for the pros. Three short how to demos by local pros can be just as rewarding to members as a full demo ( with fee ) by a pro.
Our meetings on Saturday last from 9am to 2:30pm with lunch for pros or till 12 or so for local demonstrators.
I valued the time spent in workshops, more than the demos. The attendees of the workshops are generally more focused.
I do not envy the demonstrators trying to teach/entertain ( and in some cases provide adult daycare
) a room full of old guys.
It brings out the critics, especially when there is a demo fee.
My goal was to try to provide a program with a balance between skill building/basics and showing different techniques ( off set , carving, coloring, hollowing, etc ) to expand turning knowledge in the club.
Also balancing Local talent, Pros, and trying to find up and coming turners without broad name recognition. The latter were my real goal.
Not a unique goal for a good program, but not a goal shared by all members. "Not enough chips flying" was a refrain heard often.
Especially if the demonstrator take "too long" trying to get their motivations/influences/story across to the room. Some demonstrators love powerpoint too much. Some audience members don't.
Enough about that. Drawing the crowd to pay the pro for a reasonable demo fee is harder each year.
It depends on many factors regarding the makeup of your club, and the demonstrator.
Average meeting size, budget, price sensitivity of the members, ability to share travel expenses with other clubs in the area, and changing demographics of the club.
Some demonstrators worked with me to secure dates with travel costs that were reasonable to all.
Some big names were extremely easy to work with to help off set their high fees. Some not so much.
Working with demonstrators who have different levels of business acumen and expectations can provide some challenge to you and your club.
Volunteering always is a crap shoot, when things go right everyone wins, when someone perceives a wrong or does not come through as planned your day can suck pretty fast.
The best you can do it get the program information out to the membership with enough lead time and keep the buzz going if you have workshop slots open. Try to be consistent with policies about workshops and demos and make sure the demonstrators are aware of them.
No one wants surprises that change terms and conditions.