Help I've got lots of new members what do I do?

It's a nice problem to have. It's an unexpected problem to have. But it's still a problem: quite what should local parties do with all the new members flooding in since polling day, the vast majority of whom are new to political parties.

Party HQ itself is getting much right that it hasn't with previous bursts of new members: prompt member surveys, new member packs, welcome calls and getting people signed up to direct debit (much easier to renew) are all things done a bit in the past but now happening much more systematically.

Yet that isn't a substitute for local embrace of new members and the record of local parties - as my mystery shopper showed - has been rather variable. So here are my five top tips:

1. Speak to your new members as soon as possible. Aside from being useful, it's also frankly a great pick-me-up from the election result to talk to new and eager people. (Top tip: all the new members go straight into Salesforce as they join the party so your local party can see the new lists in real time.)

2. Put on a welcome social event, do it soon - and make it positive. There's need for post-election angst sharing, more tears and remorse. That's not the welcome for new members, however.

3. Put on a campaigning event, do it soon - and make it easy. Don't drown every new member in leaflets to deliver - but don't over-react and think there's no new member who wants to campaign. Go for two easy option - a group delivery session and a street stall. Both are easy to organise and give new members a chance to take part and to meet and chat to people.

4. Get new members on your local email lists- both those for members and also those for voters. As the two are often run off different systems, it's easy to forget to ensure that new members also start getting those emails from the local council group / devolved Assembly member and so on.

5. Encourage new members to get more linked into the party online- whether it's the Alliance of Liberal Democrats group on Facebook, the /libdems subreddit on Reddit, the @LibDems account on Twitter or even, ahem, my Liberal Democrat Newswire email list, the more closely new members become part of our online communities, the more likely they are to stay and to be involved.

And when doing this all remember: don't assume you know how much members want to do or what their motivations are. Ask and be led by their answers - and have fun!

* Mark Pack has written 101 Ways To Win An Election and produces a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats