So whenever I’m working on a thing (running a class, teaching a workshop, putting together a product), I keep a running List of Useful Stuff.
And it mostly breaks down into the hard and the good.
Kind of like the Friday Chicken. Only with fewer made-up band names.
Except that I wind up using it as a list of the stuff I’m doing differently next time … and the things that are total keepers.
And I thought, for the dual purposes of modeling a thing I do and sharing some potential usefulness, I’d let you get a peek at my list from the North Carolina Wacky Brain Training Weekend.
Which, in case I haven’t emphasized this enough, was absolutely full of wonderful.
Things I’m going to keep doing because this was outrageously great!
Letting other people use my Healthy Boundaries spray. Hee!
Yes, it’s a spray. For healthy boundaries. I know.
I wrote about it a couple weeks ago and I’m kind of obsessed with it. And when I teach? I pretty much bathe in it. Totally works. Like a charm.
At least in my head, which is really … where I need it to work.
Anyway, I brought one bottle for me and one bottle for the group (and wrote Retreat on it with a Sharpie). Because I have healthy boundaries with my bottle of healthy boundaries. I’m hilarious.
The communal bottle lived on the stage in the room where we had our classes and yay.
It really helped. I mean, the thing itself helped. But also knowing it was there helped. And made us laugh. A lot.
If you buy a bottle for yourself, tell Deborah I want to marry her. Which is probably not a “healthy boundaries” thing to say but there it is.
The whining ritual.
I did this one in San Francisco and it was kind of cool, so we did a variation on it. Fun!
Passing Selma around.
I don’t always do this because she’s not really a people person … a people duck … a total misanthrope diva princess who especially dislikes being used as a talking stick.
But she had fun this time. And everyone loves Selma.
The Labyrinth exercise.
I’ve only ever done this one with private clients. Never in a group. It was completely awesome.
Definitely doing this one again.
Having a flip chart.
I can’t even tell you. I LOVE having a flip chart! Flip chart should be my middle name!
Also, I am phenomenally bad at using them. So bonus comic relief points there. But yeah, so much fun I can hardly stand it.
And four things I’m totally going to do differently next time.
Thing #1: system tweaks.
It’s taken me a long time (five years of teaching workshops) to realize this but I think I may have finally internalized this important understanding:
My physical and emotional well-being must be the #1 priority always … and needs to be treated as such.
Which means?
» What I’m going to do differently for next time:
My pirate crew and I need better systems in place (built in!) to make sure that happens.
And we need to ask questions like this:
- What needs to happen so that I can avoid things like being at the airport at 2 a.m. picking up a stray student when I have a full day of teaching a few hours later?
- Is there a way to build in “money-for-emergencies” into the cost of doing the program? I assume there is, but it needs to be in our system so that this is something I’m thinking about before I do my pricing meditation.
- What are some better “here are how we do things” rules for buying flights and writing itineraries for workshops?
Because having to use my phone to look up the confirmation number should not be part of traveling. And while I don’t mind getting up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a plane since that’s my normal wake-up time, I really don’t like getting up at 4. Dark-thirty!
So now we know that. And some other related stuff too.
Thing #2: the monies. Oy.
So yeah, we grossly undercharged. And I knew that, but just not to what extent.
For one thing, admin costs ended up being a shocking 17% of intake, rather than the 5–7% that I’d estimated.
Mostly because I’m on email sabbatical so I was paying people to answer questions. Lots and lots of questions.
Another big part of the admin costs had to do with turnover. I honestly had not thought about all the stuff that needs to be done.
Oh. My. God. Changing the copy on the page, notifying people, putting up a new bit in a post to tell people that yeah, there’s a space again, changing the copy back when it’s full, putting up buy buttons, taking them back down … nightmare. Big expensive nightmare.
And then another thing: it so completely did not even occur to me that the workshop would sell out way before the early bird period was halfway through.
So back in April when I was calculating what we might be likely to make, I kind of assumed there would be at least some people paying the actual price. Totally didn’t happen.
In the meantime, I’ve done three other programs and they all sold out within 48 hours. Lesson learned.
» What I’m going to do differently for next time
- A better and much more thorough FAQ (to avoid paying other people to answer questions by email).
- Collect questions now so we know what kind of stuff is likely to come up for future events.
- Put up the Here’s Where You Can Coordinate Your Travel Arrangements page earlier.
- Save on having to repeat work that’s already been done with a clearer system about things like what I want my itineraries to look like.
- Make the early bird the actual price of what we need to make. Not the discount on the actual price.
Thing #3: Avoid expensive mistakes.
So one of my intentions with this retreat was not to make use of my super-secret completely non-icky backdoor partner program where I give appreciation monies to people I know and trust who are totally promoting my stuff anyway.
And I love giving appreciation monies. But live events fill up with Right People right away, and I knew it didn’t need any external promotion.
So I thought, hey, let’s keep the cost down for the participants by not bringing the partner program into the equation.
Except that I gave this project to one of my former assistants who is so biggified that she has her own assistants. And they missed that part. It was a nine hundred and fifty dollar misunderstanding.
» What I’m going to do differently for next time:
- Somehow make the current system even more clear than it already is.
- Double-freaking-check everything before it goes live. Personally. Not “asking someone to double-check everything”.
I’ll set time aside to do it myself and I’ll remind myself that this is a worthwhile thing to be doing.
Thing #4: Policies! (Yeah, more systems stuff)
So we didn’t have a cancellation policy in place early enough. And we had committed to the space and to paying for the rooms and so on.
Of course with people who canceled a week before the event, we couldn’t process refunds even though we wanted to.
But the first people who cancelled? I had no idea how extensive the admin costs are for dealing with turnover so I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. It is.
And yes, I do realize this all should be obvious but in all my years (five) of teaching at live events I’ve never had more than one or two cancellations, and always way in advance.
» What I’m going to do differently for next time:
- Have a clearer cancellation policy that includes a non-refundable deposit, and is compassionate but firm in explaining that when we do refund what we can, it can really only happen up to a certain date because otherwise we can’t honor our financial commitment to the space.
Things I’m going to try to remember.
- Wow. My people are smart and interesting and independent and ask the most amazing questions. I knew how the whole “right people thing” worked but I really got to experience it. It was incredible.
- Whenever I teach Shiva Nata, I always get epiphanies of my own. This time it was a really big answer to a question that has been driving me crazy.
- Trust. I’m really, really good at what I do. The structure and the container work. I just need to show up and do it.
- Appreciation. All this stuff I learn from doing things “the wrong way” (the wrongest!) is useful material that I get to plug into my systems (systems!) to help take better care of me and the people who need my stuff.
It’s good.
- I want a slackline! Slackline! But more about that later.
Thanks for letting me process out loud with you guys. Love it!
Comment zen for today.
What I can do without: criticism, judgment, shoulds, advice.
What would be delightful: things you’ve learned (hard and/or good) from putting on a show or teaching a program, stuff you’re thinking about, things like that. 🙂
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Havi, I am so grateful and appreciative for your candor in this post. Far from simply “letting” you process out loud, your lessons learned will save many people (well, me… so that’s at least one for sure!) hundreds of dollars in time, money, and energy. A huge gift – thank you.
.-= Kristine Oller´s last post … Setting Up A Portable Office =-.
Thanks for sharing this. Just seeing your list is so helpful.
Your decision about the early bird vs. the other resonated with the decision I made about pricing my grant reviews. I figured my “regular” price is the middle price. There was a discounted price for the really early folks. And a higher price for those who leave it until later. But I also have been giving people other reasons they want to get their drafts done early (because of the structure of their year and other committments).
I also found the discussion of cancellations and all the possible costs of those really helpful. It seems like it is common practice to set a date after which you can’t cancel and your explanation provides a lot of background for that. But the admin costs associated with even early cancellations… Interesting.
The event sounds wonderful. I know exactly what you mean about how great it feels to just do a live event like that.
.-= JoVE´s last post … You always have time for yoga, mama =-.
is the slackline for yoga? I’ve seen photos of that and I so want to try someday. (ignoring the fact that I can barely stand on one foot without falling. still want to try.)
interesting info on the cancellations – thanks. knowing the background helps for the odd time when I actually need to cancel and might be sad about “lost” money.
.-= elizabeth halt´s last post … to market, to market =-.
Thanks, Havi, for sharing your list of what you’ve learned that works, what you’ll do differently next time, and why. It’s invaluable information.
I’ve found that a clear pricing structure, including cancellation and refund policies that take into account the actual costs of processing these, is essential for creating a safe and viable container for a workshop. And yes–your own well-being is the foundation on which everything else rests.
Looking forward to being at one of your live workshops soon!
Love, Hiro
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … Sunday Poem #7 =-.
Thank you for sharing all your juicy learnings from your workshop!
Your thought on the super underpricing of the event seems right on- though it makes me reeeeeally regret not getting in on this particular weekend of wackiness. C’est la vie. When I do make it it will still be oh so worth it.
The most serenity inducing thing I learned when doing special events is that with fairy-tale like consistency something unexpected will go wrong. It’s like an archetype of the special event, the twist in the plot, the element of surprise, the bit of chaos that will not be tamed.
So, now I just wait for the bit of chaos to reveal itself. (Not that I don’t do all the work, and snap the traps that I stepped into into with the previous event.) But once I know what form the chaos is taking in this instance, I actually feel relieved. Now I can see my opponent and deal with it.
(Not meant to be advice, just sharing what worked for me).
.-= Christina´s last post … And Now for Something Completely Different =-.
Ooh fun. I feel like I got a glimpse of super-secret conference undergarments! So impressed with all of the work that goes into one of these things. Yay for Havi and the pirate crew for yo hoing it all together. Sounds like all of your ripples were behind the scenes and that you handled it like a pro.
.-= Sarah Bray´s last post … What to do when your site is misbehavin’ =-.
@ Sarah Bray – love the “glimpse of super-secret conference undergarments” Heeee.
Wish I could have made it to the weekend.
Considering your love/hate relationship with this systems stuff, I am so thrilled and proud to read this. ‘Cause this is how it’s done. Yay.
A thought on estimating costs: when I worked in architecture we would often just build a “10% contingency” item into the budget – because you never know, and there’s always something.
oxo C
PS. I’m pretty much in love with Deborah too 🙂
.-= Cairene MacDonald´s last post … Lessons Corporeal and Practical =-.
When I worked for the Evil Empire up in Redmond, I had the opportunity to watch some of the best event organizers in the world manage large and small gatherings. And you’ve managed to list lots of what I learned from them. The major item was to have PROCESS in place.
To begin with, ANY process is better than NO process. As you get better at it, you tweak your process each time and get better and better at it. In my case, after three years, we were pretty damn good at making the trains run on time.
But we developed a process for just about everything. And shared it out with EVERYONE for their input and advice, and then it was locked down. No exceptions. (That was the hard part — but once we proved we wouldn’t budge, people were surprisingly willing to abide by the rules.)
The other thing was that we set it up that if YOU wanted something special there was a price attached — so we weren’t saying “no”, exactly. You just got to decide if you wanted to pay $100 for the shuttle ride in from the airport. Or if you wanted to pay $3,000 for nicer carpet in your booth. Or if you’d like to hand the content in a week late and pay $500 for rush printing.
Funny how often people were able to make the deadlines, then. Tee hee hee.
And yes, anyone who doesn’t have at least a 10% contingency (aka “Oh My God!”) line in their budget must think they’re omnipotent. Maybe if they’re a Sufi master, I suppose.
My one big takeaway — at some point, it’s worth hiring an experienced event planner, even if your own staff is doing the work. Just get them to review your plans and point out the big gaping holes.
.-= Dick Carlson´s last post … Letter To My Soon-To-Be-Ex Client: “It’s Not You, It’s Me” =-.
@Sarah Bray – “Conference undergarments!” That. Is. Awesome!
@Havi – Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s so interesting to read about it after having attended the retreat. Really let’s me see it from both sides.
Looking forward to applying your hard-earned wisdom someday for a retreat of my own!
.-= Victoria Brouhard´s last post … Very Personal Ad Update – Real Estate Edition =-.
I’m a volunteer training day coordinator for a local community. When I stepped into the role, I felt somewhat unsupported by the community and the other volunteers. I was angry and upset and hurt. After reading your experiences, I can to appreciate how much support I did get:
1) They taught me to assume the *everyone* will buy early bird tickets when I calculate price/profit.
2) Cancellation policy? They already had one.
3) Of course, everyone is a volunteer. So when I ask the webmaster to put up a button, or change the copy for the fourth time, its still doesn’t raise the costs. On the other hand, sometimes it takes him forever to do it, and I still didn’t figure out if getting upset over it is justified or not.
Thanks for sharing! It helps to know that even someone as experienced as you has logistic issues when putting up live events.
.-= Chen Shapira´s last post … Automatic Maintenance Tasks =-.
Dark-thirty!
That phrase is so STICKY, I think it just stuck to my brain. Please, please Havi, can I adopt, borrow or skillfully acquire that phrase. I promise to give it a good home!
I’ll use it for when I go outside on a break in the middle of my nightshift and be all like: “It is now dark-thirty and I am going for a walk.” When my coworkers ask when when I went for a break, I’ll be all like: “Dark-thirty!”
Dark-thirty!
.-= Jessica´s last post … jesscyn: http://twitpic.com/fy81x – I’m just filled with love looking around my living room. My home decorated to reflect my values =-.
I’m not sure what a “slackline” is, but I think I want one. 🙂
.-= claire´s last post … Column 2 is kicking my ass, therefore break time =-.
THank you for sharing what you’ve learned this time, Havi! I haven’t yet put up a live event such as this one (well, I had to put up a book launch last year, but I really didn’t do a good job of it…), but I’m thinking that my Thing may include a live something in the relatively distant future, so I’ll make sure to come back and read this post again when the time comes.
Oh, and I said I’d teach Shiva Nata, right? Yeah, when I get there would be a good time to come and read this again too!
.-= Josiane´s last post … Retreating to write – and being treated to so much more =-.
This kind of postgame analysis is so incredibly valuable. The big underline here for me: “Collect questions *now* so we know what kind of stuff is likely to come up for future events.” Scheduling time right after the event to evaluate and make notes and adjustments for next time is so helpful, because you *do* forget as time goes on.
And ditto on the taking care of yourself being the first priority.
As both businesses have gotten busier and busier, I’m finding that creating systems is becoming more and more important. After my last show, I learned that I have to have a better system for taking in repair/rework/adjustments. I haven’t yet found the time to make a form (wowza, I love forms!), but I have notes about all those little things I forget to ask in the heat of the moment that stop me in my tracks if I don’t have them. I did a similar thing for special orders earlier this year, and it works like a charm.
Safe travels, Havi.
.-= Lori Paximadis´s last post … tidbits: back-to-school edition =-.
Thanks for sharing the wisdom you’ve gleaned the hard way. I’ve learned a lot here, particularly re the early bird pricing.
Re the whining ritual: One Very Bad Day when teaching preschool, I threw up my hands and said “Enough! We are all going to sit down right now and cry all at once instead of fighting and crying all day.” We sat down in a circle and within minutes I and 13 2, 3 and 4 year olds were sobbing our eyes out. They cried the way little children do, no holding back, breaths in little gasps and hiccups. Finally, without my doing anything, they suddenly erupted into giggles. Storm clouds cleared. Joyous moods prevailed. After that, wherever I taught I would have Sit Down And Cry sessions. It wasn’t unusual to have a small child tug at my shirt and say I think we all need to cry right now!
Whining, crying, naps, systems, making self-care number 1. All good.
.-= Mahala Mazerov´s last post … Skillful Answers to Disgraceful Questions, Part 2 =-.
@Chen Shapira
I’m one of those volunteer website crew people and in my experience, there is usually a huge misunderstanding of what takes a lot of time to do and what is a quick fix on a website. Added info: the people I work for are totally un-savvy and can barely create blog messages.
For example, people always assume that it is an infinite amount of work to put endless text or a document online, which in fact just takes me a few minutes to do (cut, paste, put some code tags around it). On the other hand, putting up a simple button image takes much more time, because the button usually ‘does’ something once pushed. The thing it ‘does’ is the time consumer.
On the other hand, (volunteer) website crew (me included) often just do not understand the systems of the organisation they work for and how that leads to documents changing so many times, post-haste requests and why changes on the website have to be reversed 3 out of 4 times. Some think: if I delay doing this for a week, they might have already decided it is not necessary anyway and I don’t have to reverse my work, saving time twice.
@Mahala I might have to share that suggestion with some of my friends who are thinking about running day care in their homes (Or already do). Though it might also be good to do with groups of adults. Genius.
.-= JoVE´s last post … You always have time for yoga, mama =-.
@Inge
Oh, this is a classic! I can’t understand why it takes 2 weeks to create one little form, and my webmaster can’t understand why we need to give our members plenty of time and notifications before they join our awesome activity.
Thanks for explaining the other side!
.-= Chen Shapira´s last post … Automatic Maintenance Tasks =-.
@JoVE share away. Just warn your friends that once they open the floodgates, they’re committed. I was seriously panicked my kiddos were still going to be sobbing 2 hours later when their parents came to pick them up. The crying is completely unstoppable however long that takes, until the giggles appear.
Little children are so amazing the way they do things 200% and then let go without a look back. If you did it with adults, you might want to know they’re the kind that like epiphanies of the hot buttered variety and know how to let go.
I don’t know Havi’s whining ritual but I bet it’s a blast.
.-= Mahala Mazerov´s last post … Skillful Answers to Disgraceful Questions, Part 2 =-.
Amazing how we can still learn (and things that never happen can happen) even after we’ve been doing what we do for a long time. I’ve had that experience this week myself. A real wake-up call.
I admit that the part I honed in on in your post…what really jumped out at me – the idea of trusting OTHER PEOPLE to double check and make sure things are right. SO SCARY! I’m still trying to figure that out, as I would love to have help, but it gives me the chills. Although, it is possible to have both help and double check yourself, as you note, so maybe it doesn’t NEED to give me the chills. Kind of like having your cake and eating it…
Thanks for sharing your lessons…I know I learned a lot!
.-= Miriam Salpeter´s last post … Conscious awareness and your job hunt =-.