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#1
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Workshops - Where do I start?
Our ceramics department (2-year community college) is in the planning
stages for a couple of workshops in the upcoming fall and spring semesters and we'd appreciate some input from those of you that have a little more experience in this area. Bear in mind that we're located in the Midwest, U.S. (not the richest place around), will be targeting local attendees and doing the teaching/presenting ourselves (non-celebrity status...) and need to keep things "reasonable". This is a first for us, and so want to: a) Not come away with too much egg on our faces (none would be preferable) b) Continue to increase the knowledge and appreciation for what we do as well as increasing the skill level of those attending c) Enjoy it enough to want to do it again (us AND the attendees)...... d) Not lose our shirts So, let's take a "for instance" - how do you decide what kind of fee you're going to charge? If the intended workshop were for, let's say, a raku or pit-firing workshop, where would you start? 2 Saturdays? - pot-making the first (use the week for drying and bisquing the work) and glaze/fire the second (WITH the accompanying party of course)? How long would you allow for each session? 3 hours? 4 hours? Full day with accompanying breaks? What about those who want to provide their own bisqued pots and only want to attend the second Saturday? How would you break down the charges for attending only one day of the two? "Class" size? How many participants? TIA - Any and all advice will be much appreciated. Lori In northwestern Illinois |
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#3
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Henry, thank you for the information. I hope there will be more of it
forthcoming from others as well. It doesn't mean I don't value what you've offered, because I do - at this point, though, what I'm looking for is some direction to get us started. What we're proposing is to offer the workshops ourselves - our Community Education department suffered greatly a couple of years ago when we lost the director of the program - these planned offerings are part of a push to rebuild something that's sorely needed for our community. This is why we're looking for basic information. There's a great interest for what we do and the demand for instruction is growing. Small workshops may be just the ticket for us right now. Later on down the road we may be in a position to provide more high-profile events - just not yet. No matter what happens, it's going to be an interesting ride..... Take care and thanks again, Lori |
#4
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Perhaps there is some mileage in involving your potential customers in
the formation of this project; when the people who are going to benefit from it are engaged in its formation, you often get twice as much effort and impetus going for it. Also sourcing tools etc. can make use of contacts known to those within the group. Steve Bath UK In article .com, Lori writes Henry, thank you for the information. I hope there will be more of it forthcoming from others as well. It doesn't mean I don't value what you've offered, because I do - at this point, though, what I'm looking for is some direction to get us started. What we're proposing is to offer the workshops ourselves - our Community Education department suffered greatly a couple of years ago when we lost the director of the program - these planned offerings are part of a push to rebuild something that's sorely needed for our community. This is why we're looking for basic information. There's a great interest for what we do and the demand for instruction is growing. Small workshops may be just the ticket for us right now. Later on down the road we may be in a position to provide more high-profile events - just not yet. No matter what happens, it's going to be an interesting ride..... Take care and thanks again, Lori -- Steve Mills Bath UK |
#5
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Lori,
We are located in a "not too rich" area of Australia, so maybe our comments could be relevant to your situation. What to charge for workshops is the most difficult decision - too much and you scare people away, too little and you end up "in the red". We do not agree with charging only a nominal fee for workshops and trying to make up the costs elsewhere, because it devalues the art or craft. People do not place any value on the knowledge they receive, they quite often just come along to "pass the time" and do not actively participate. Better to charge a sensible fee and get people who really want to do the workshop - if you can't get enough people to start, then the demand is not there, and you need to try something else. When setting a fee, you need to decide on the length of the workshop, what is the minimum and maximum number of participants you can manage, and whether you will be including materials in the fee. To use your example of a raku firing, you would need two full days (Saturday or Sunday, 6-7 hours), preferably a week apart. This will allow the pots to be made on the first day, along with a discussion about the raku process. (This is assuming that the participants are raw beginners - if they have made pottery before, the first day might be only 4 hours or less.) The pots would need to be dried and bisque fired during the week. The second day will be glazing and firing, followed by the "party". The maximum number of participants and the number of pots made by each one would be set by the size of the kiln - our little raku kiln holds about 8 average sized pots, and each firing takes about 1 hour, so assuming the kiln was at operating temperature at the start of the day, we could put through about 60 pots maximum in a good day. So you could have 15 people maximum, each with 3-4 pots, which is a reasonable number for one teacher and one assistant. So you require two leaders for about 15 hours - total 30 hours. You should allow something for labour costs, even if you don't pay yourselves. The minimum in this country would be $25 per hour (full rate for tutors is up to $120 per hour) so we have a labour cost of 30 hours times $25 equals $750. Assume that we are including materials, the cost per pot of clay and glaze would be about $1.00 each, total $60. The cost of bisquing the pots would be about $1.00 each, total $60. Then we have gas for the raku firing (our is a wood fired raku kiln, but we are masochists!!) say about $60 again. So now we have a total of $930, make it a round $1000 to cover incidentals. Divide by the number of participants (15) and you get $66 each, round up to $70 per person. We assume that there is no rental on the building where the workshop is held. The minimum number of participants is really up to you, but we wouldn't go with less than 7 or 8 - you could then get by with only one tutor so that would cover your costs and still provide enough people to have a fun day. We would prefer that people came to the full workshop, and not just turn up with pots on the second day - that would make planning very difficult, and they might take the place of someone who would have done the full workshop. Also they might use the wrong clay, wrong techniques, etc, and cause explosions in the kiln. $70 would be a very reasonable amount for a two day workshop including materials, in this country anyway, and we would have little trouble filling it. That is a rough idea of how we would work out costs for a workshop using non professional tutors. Most two day workshops with professional tutors here would run to $100 to $120 (including materials). We have taught pottery for many years at a "hobby" level, and we are now teaching mosaic. We are currently charging $700 for tuition only for a weekend workshop (two tutors) of up to 15 students, plus travel costs and accommodation if we travel away from home - tools and materials are extra. One final comment on raku firings, if that is the way you are going - be very aware of injury liability - there is a high risk of burns and nasty cuts. Hope this is of some assistance Regards Dave wrote in message oups.com... Our ceramics department (2-year community college) is in the planning stages for a couple of workshops in the upcoming fall and spring semesters and we'd appreciate some input from those of you that have a little more experience in this area. Bear in mind that we're located in the Midwest, U.S. (not the richest place around), will be targeting local attendees and doing the teaching/presenting ourselves (non-celebrity status...) and need to keep things "reasonable". This is a first for us, and so want to: a) Not come away with too much egg on our faces (none would be preferable) b) Continue to increase the knowledge and appreciation for what we do as well as increasing the skill level of those attending c) Enjoy it enough to want to do it again (us AND the attendees)...... d) Not lose our shirts So, let's take a "for instance" - how do you decide what kind of fee you're going to charge? If the intended workshop were for, let's say, a raku or pit-firing workshop, where would you start? 2 Saturdays? - pot-making the first (use the week for drying and bisquing the work) and glaze/fire the second (WITH the accompanying party of course)? How long would you allow for each session? 3 hours? 4 hours? Full day with accompanying breaks? What about those who want to provide their own bisqued pots and only want to attend the second Saturday? How would you break down the charges for attending only one day of the two? "Class" size? How many participants? TIA - Any and all advice will be much appreciated. Lori In northwestern Illinois |
#6
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Can I add to Dave's excellent advice a note of our experience; we
allowed each participant 3 pots, and provided them with 3 differently coloured cards on which they wrote their name. These cards stayed with their pots up to the firing, when we collected them as they went in the kiln. This meant we knew who's pots were in there, and by firing say the yellow cards first, then red, then blue, it ensured that everyone got at least 3 pieces fired and, because we kept the cards after the pots came out of the fire, no one was able to sneak an extra one in at someone else's expense. Believe me if anyone can sneak an extra in they will given half a chance, and I don't blame them, but we ensured all got three, THEN we did first come first served! Steve Bath UK In article , Coggo writes Lori, We are located in a "not too rich" area of Australia, so maybe our comments could be relevant to your situation. What to charge for workshops is the most difficult decision - too much and you scare people away, too little and you end up "in the red". We do not agree with charging only a nominal fee for workshops and trying to make up the costs elsewhere, because it devalues the art or craft. People do not place any value on the knowledge they receive, they quite often just come along to "pass the time" and do not actively participate. Better to charge a sensible fee and get people who really want to do the workshop - if you can't get enough people to start, then the demand is not there, and you need to try something else. When setting a fee, you need to decide on the length of the workshop, what is the minimum and maximum number of participants you can manage, and whether you will be including materials in the fee. To use your example of a raku firing, you would need two full days (Saturday or Sunday, 6-7 hours), preferably a week apart. This will allow the pots to be made on the first day, along with a discussion about the raku process. (This is assuming that the participants are raw beginners - if they have made pottery before, the first day might be only 4 hours or less.) The pots would need to be dried and bisque fired during the week. The second day will be glazing and firing, followed by the "party". The maximum number of participants and the number of pots made by each one would be set by the size of the kiln - our little raku kiln holds about 8 average sized pots, and each firing takes about 1 hour, so assuming the kiln was at operating temperature at the start of the day, we could put through about 60 pots maximum in a good day. So you could have 15 people maximum, each with 3-4 pots, which is a reasonable number for one teacher and one assistant. So you require two leaders for about 15 hours - total 30 hours. You should allow something for labour costs, even if you don't pay yourselves. The minimum in this country would be $25 per hour (full rate for tutors is up to $120 per hour) so we have a labour cost of 30 hours times $25 equals $750. Assume that we are including materials, the cost per pot of clay and glaze would be about $1.00 each, total $60. The cost of bisquing the pots would be about $1.00 each, total $60. Then we have gas for the raku firing (our is a wood fired raku kiln, but we are masochists!!) say about $60 again. So now we have a total of $930, make it a round $1000 to cover incidentals. Divide by the number of participants (15) and you get $66 each, round up to $70 per person. We assume that there is no rental on the building where the workshop is held. The minimum number of participants is really up to you, but we wouldn't go with less than 7 or 8 - you could then get by with only one tutor so that would cover your costs and still provide enough people to have a fun day. We would prefer that people came to the full workshop, and not just turn up with pots on the second day - that would make planning very difficult, and they might take the place of someone who would have done the full workshop. Also they might use the wrong clay, wrong techniques, etc, and cause explosions in the kiln. $70 would be a very reasonable amount for a two day workshop including materials, in this country anyway, and we would have little trouble filling it. That is a rough idea of how we would work out costs for a workshop using non professional tutors. Most two day workshops with professional tutors here would run to $100 to $120 (including materials). We have taught pottery for many years at a "hobby" level, and we are now teaching mosaic. We are currently charging $700 for tuition only for a weekend workshop (two tutors) of up to 15 students, plus travel costs and accommodation if we travel away from home - tools and materials are extra. One final comment on raku firings, if that is the way you are going - be very aware of injury liability - there is a high risk of burns and nasty cuts. Hope this is of some assistance Regards Dave wrote in message roups.com... Our ceramics department (2-year community college) is in the planning stages for a couple of workshops in the upcoming fall and spring semesters and we'd appreciate some input from those of you that have a little more experience in this area. Bear in mind that we're located in the Midwest, U.S. (not the richest place around), will be targeting local attendees and doing the teaching/presenting ourselves (non-celebrity status...) and need to keep things "reasonable". This is a first for us, and so want to: a) Not come away with too much egg on our faces (none would be preferable) b) Continue to increase the knowledge and appreciation for what we do as well as increasing the skill level of those attending c) Enjoy it enough to want to do it again (us AND the attendees)...... d) Not lose our shirts So, let's take a "for instance" - how do you decide what kind of fee you're going to charge? If the intended workshop were for, let's say, a raku or pit-firing workshop, where would you start? 2 Saturdays? - pot-making the first (use the week for drying and bisquing the work) and glaze/fire the second (WITH the accompanying party of course)? How long would you allow for each session? 3 hours? 4 hours? Full day with accompanying breaks? What about those who want to provide their own bisqued pots and only want to attend the second Saturday? How would you break down the charges for attending only one day of the two? "Class" size? How many participants? TIA - Any and all advice will be much appreciated. Lori In northwestern Illinois -- Steve Mills Bath UK |
#7
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Gentlemen,
This is valuable advice - and, it's greatly appreciated. I agree with you Steve, about including the potential customers in the formation of the project - this would give them a vested interest in it and pretty much guarantee that it would go. (And, provide a great deal of satisfaction once it's a reality.) Fortunately, that's already happened, in spite of ourselves. As I explained in an off-list message to another member of this group, we've offered raku as part of the regular curriculum, but due to the small size of our staffing it's been a big struggle. Thus the decision to pull it from the regular line-up and present it as a workshop. The demand is there - we just have to figure out how to get it done....... Because I've cross-posted this request to both ClayArt and the Naked Raku group on Yahoo!, I've been receiving incredible bits and pieces of advice from some very unexpected areas - and look forward to any more that may appear. I LOVE the tip about the colored cards - this will definitely be a part of the process. What a simple way of dealing. Take care, Lori |
#8
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There are so many different types of workshops you can have that it is
difficult to know where to start. Have a raku party - make up and bisque a lot of small tea cups ahead of time. Then work on how to play with oxides and glazes. Immediate gratification for folks and a big attention getter. Along the same lines - have a tile making event. Roll out the tiles, cut them and have them ready to stamp, 'color' with underglazing and oxides. Have them do at least one tile for the studio so that you can make a table or wall hanging to celebrate the event. Hand building is another one that gives immediate gratification. I actually find hand building much harder than throwing but for anyone just beginning and working on very standard pieces (collect plastic 'plates' that meat comes in and use them as a form to drop and slab of clay on to make a sushi plate for example) it is a great way to start out. Do a day of making a bird house. They can stamp them and put on oxides for decoration then pick them up the next week after they have been fired. Do a day of making a 3 footed pitcher out of a slab (make cylinder from slab, pinch bottom together to give yourself 3 feet, make a handle out of a long cylinder and pull out the lip or add a lip from cut slab). You can bisque fire, glaze them all in clear and again have them ready to be picked up the next week. You can certainly have a workshop on how to make up glazes (or make up a new glaze), how to fire a kiln, how to build a small outdoor kiln, etc. but your audience is going to be smaller and you are probably preaching to the converted at this level. Good luck! "Lori" wrote in message oups.com... Henry, thank you for the information. I hope there will be more of it forthcoming from others as well. It doesn't mean I don't value what you've offered, because I do - at this point, though, what I'm looking for is some direction to get us started. What we're proposing is to offer the workshops ourselves - our Community Education department suffered greatly a couple of years ago when we lost the director of the program - these planned offerings are part of a push to rebuild something that's sorely needed for our community. This is why we're looking for basic information. There's a great interest for what we do and the demand for instruction is growing. Small workshops may be just the ticket for us right now. Later on down the road we may be in a position to provide more high-profile events - just not yet. No matter what happens, it's going to be an interesting ride..... Take care and thanks again, Lori |
#9
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Very clever Steve, great way to solve that problem - we have had people
wanting to leave early, refire their pots, they use any excuse to get an extra one in the kiln. We will keep that one in mind for next time! Regards Dave "Steve Mills" wrote in message ... Can I add to Dave's excellent advice a note of our experience; we allowed each participant 3 pots, and provided them with 3 differently coloured cards on which they wrote their name. These cards stayed with their pots up to the firing, when we collected them as they went in the kiln. This meant we knew who's pots were in there, and by firing say the yellow cards first, then red, then blue, it ensured that everyone got at least 3 pieces fired and, because we kept the cards after the pots came out of the fire, no one was able to sneak an extra one in at someone else's expense. Believe me if anyone can sneak an extra in they will given half a chance, and I don't blame them, but we ensured all got three, THEN we did first come first served! Steve Bath UK |
#10
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Ah, dkat - these are all excellent suggestions! As we're also working
on junior workshops (the kids have to have some fun, too!!!), these would make for some interesting projects - especially the birdhouses. Thank you so much! We had considered a pit-firing workshop for the youngsters - now it's going to be tough to decide - maybe a playday with one or two projects? Tough call. :-) Best, Lori |
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