Workshop Musings

[trystinn]

Quite a few of my very dear friends here on the Island are involved heavily in the Celestine Prophecy's concept of money as a form of energy exchange. For many reasons, including the Jew gene, I'm not very fond of this idea. There are so many different ways to exchange energy. Not that I think money is evil, mind you. I just don't think its the highest vibration of energy exchange. Which essentially speaks volumes in the New Age community. You know the joke - what separates the pagan and New Age community? Two decimal points. They've asked me to present an incense making workshop to their group and knowing my reticence, suggested I ask for a $25 donation from each for the class. I can appreciate folks wanting to pay for the materials involved, especially the resins but I'm bothered by this idea. Mind you, I took plenty of workshops at that cost (and higher, on occasion). Some of which were fabulous and I was very happy to pay for the learning, others I was horrified afterward to think of what I'd paid.

Several years ago I took a fire walking workshop. It was something I'd wanted to try my whole life. The community and trust exercises were fabulous, the presenter charming. The firewalk was the issue. I'd somehow naively believed that we'd all get through with minimal burns. Naive me. I was prepared for minor burns, I've very thin sensitive skin on the bottom of my feet. However, finding myself afterwards with multiple blisters on the bottom, tops of my feet and between my toes was startling. The presenters (three of them) had absolutely NOTHING available first aid-wise. Nothing. When the biggest, baddest, scariest Asatru there could barely walk on his feet without tearing up, I lost my temper and broke into the festival kitchen to find a humongous pot and white vinegar. He and I spent about an hour soaking our feet with the hopes we wouldn't develop infections. Fun stuff. It was, however, a great opportunity to learn about Asatru. *WEG*

I won't even get into the mess of the "Winter Fairy workshop" last year. *shudder* I know I can teach a workshop *at least* better than those two. I'm hoping folks on my Flist will share their worst experiences with the thought of what to avoid as a workshop presenter.

Comments

[jenett]

I can see several different takes on this one.

1) Accept no money, period: I think this works when you're teaching people you have an ongoing relationship with, or the kind of setting where there's give and take (i.e. one person provides space, other people provide snacks, you provide materials and expertise.) And where the next month, or next class, it might be a different person doing each of those things. (This is, of course, the classic coven setting.)

You say here: "provide lesson to their group" not just "to them", which would remove this one from consideration for me.

2) Given the first point, I'd look at asking for enough to at least cover *all* of your costs (not just materials, but handouts, transportation costs - gas, tolls or parking fees, etc. - and any space rental costs you'd have to cover.)

3) Which leads to...

Is any of the material you would be teaching stuff you learned from friends/covenmates in a formal teaching situation (not just people sitting around swapping preferred methods.) How much of it? I'd use that to adjust whatever you did charge.

If most or all of what you're teaching either came from your own research, or from classes you paid for, it's fair to pass that on. (And it's decent business practice to pass that on.)

If it helps you set a price, a good friend of mine who does occasional wire-work classes (she's a jeweler) charges a variable scale. She says "Pay me what you'd pay for a meal for yourself for a special occasion." or some multiple of it, depending on how much time is involved. (It's usually 1x to 3x. So, for me, that might start at $15 or $25. For someone with a healthier bank account, it might start at $50 or higher.)

Here, you could do "What you might spend on incense in a month" or something. (or "What you might normally spend on a books in a month")

If it makes you uncomfortable to keep the money (which appears to be true), you have the option of making it clear in advance that you intend to donate the money somewhere appropriate (a public garden? nature conservation programs?) or of simply doing that privately.

One reason to avoid charging nothing is that it does skew the scale for people for whom teaching is a business, or who do have more significant expenses to recoup. While you shouldn't do stuff that makes you really uncomfortable, it does skew a community, eventually, if you do stuff for free that everyone else charges for (and it's exactly the same stuff.) People will likely take your own stuff less seriously - and also the other stuff in the community.

On the other hand, being generous with payment plans, sliding scales, and handing out discount coupons (for $X dollars off your next order from you) doesn't do that.

All this weirdness about business setting, versus conversations between friends and family.

[jenett]

Oh, yes.

I don't have any "Horrible workshop" stories, mostly because that's not how I've done most of my learning (even professionally). I've had a few that were not as good as they could be, but basically, as long as you avoid utter hypocrisy ("conflict resolution" by someone public about holding active grudges is interesting - as opposed to "Hey, this is somethign I struggle with: here's what I've tried, and how it's worked") and have some clue about what you're teaching, you avoid most of my bad experiences.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Save me from those conflict resolution workshops. I attended ($50) a workshop on "non-violent communication" which was essentially about denying that anything *ever* bothered you. Turn the other cheek kind of stuff - so denial in the extreme.

This from a group whose 2nd mission was to backstab each other at every possible opportunity. And they mandated our participation. Ugh.

[wild-heart.livejournal.com]

Why did the diabetic do firewalking??

You are using a hobbyist's mindset. Now, you are a businesswoman. What's your hourly wage (in a perfect world)? You are giving of your knowledge, hard work, successes and failures - if it were me, I'd be funneling any funds received back into my business. I'd document my mileage to the workshop, materials purchased to do the workshop, and all related costs so I could use that information for tax purposes.

Stop being an amateur. If you want Triple Pillars to be a success, start being a professional.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Ditto. One of the hardest things I've struggled with as a professional designer is underpricing myself, because I cut my teeth working at Kinko's and the back of my brain still thinks in terms of those prices -- that a business card design should cost twenty dollars, and anything more than that is ripping people off. Then I see quotes from experienced freelance people for several thousand dollars for a logo design, and realize that I'm seriously underselling myself unless I pay attention and really think about it. :-)

Setting aside the price issue...

For the purposes of your specialty, the MOST IMPORTANT THING that you have to have for a workshop, assuming there's going to be any hands-on stuff or sampling, is REALLY GOOD VENTILATION. Nothing kills an incense workshop faster than the smells being all concentrated and mixed up to the point that people's noses shut down out of self defense. (Bowls of coffee beans laying around for clearing the nose are also a good idea.)

Having said that, what makes an incense workshop exciting for me might be any of the following:

- getting to play with exotic or unusual ingredients

- getting to do some hands-on mixing, and take some usable (hopefully) incense home

- discussions of theory about how scents combine, and how to predict what will make a good combination, and how to think about unusual combos and come up with good stuff

- discussion of substitutions, like, "frankincense is great but if you don't like the bitter note at the end of the burning, try copal; similar scent, similar magical attributions, no bitter note."

- sooper-sekrit professional tips -- like the raisin thing, I'd consider an incense workshop worth the twenty bucks I paid for that little tidbit alone, especially if there were samples.

[jenett]

Yep. There is *tremendous* mileage in "Getting to try out some obscure thing enough to see if it's worth investing money/time in." Goes for both ingredients and methods.

(I agree with the rest, too, but especially that one.)

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Thank you :))

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I was planning on holding the workshop out on our back porch - plenty of ventilation. My pamphlet says "the most important ingredient in any incense recipe is FRESH AIR". :)

I've got over 200 ingredients, at least a 100 of which are exotics.

Hands on is great, I have about a dozen mortar & pestle sets, not to mention choppers, etc. In theory, I like to let folks make one classic formula incense and two unique ones. Often, though, we get gabbing and they only get through two.

I have a packet of substitutions, can add to it.

Sooper-sekrit, got it. :)

Re: Thank you :))

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Seriously, the raisin thing is pure gold. Gotta try that. :-)

Re: Thank you :))

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Works like a charm and makes the house smell yummy.

Granted if you have the time and space, drowning the raisins in wine and honey is fabulous, too.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Diabetic did not yet know she was a Diabetic - that's back when I still had that Lupus diagnosis. Roughly 6 months beforehand, as I recall.

My former wage was $25 per hour, I doubt I'll make that in the incense business but I do get your point. Everything at this time is funneled back into the business.

Yes, ma'm, will work on looking through professional glasses instead of a hobbyists ones.