March 2008 Archives

It's going around now that I'm contemplating teaching raqs, again.  This is, in no small part, due to a number of SCA members asking me to teach, again.

And I'm going to disappoint them, by charging for classes. Understand -- as someone who's run classes at Pennsic for years now, there's few people who are a stronger booster of the ideals of SCA teaching.  The tradition of giving selflessly to others so they might learn your trade is a powerful concept. 

The issue I take with it, is simply that I wish to teach for a cadre of folks who want to be deeply, and passionately, involved in the dance.  And to ensure this occurs, this takes charging a fee.

Seth Godin has the right of it, indeed:

My friend Joel dropped me a note and asked why I was asking people to post a deposit (to be returned at the end of the summer). It felt wrong to him. I wrote back,

When I do a non profit seminar (they're always free), the number of people who say, "yes I'm coming" and the number of people who come is not the same.

So, if I have room for ten, do I do a seminar for eight, or do I book 12 seats and play airline seat manager for the day?

I have no doubt, none, that if it were free, at least one person wouldn't show.

That got me thinking about free music, free samples and other free interactions. They're different. Paying a dollar for a song isn't expensive to anyone who pays $3 for a cup of coffee. The dollar isn't about expense, it's about selection and choice and commitment.

There is no commitment, one way or the other, for free. If applying to college were free, the number of schools people would apply to would approach infinity--yet the cost of the application is trivial compared to the cost of tuition.

Free costs.  If people aren't committing something -- energy, time, money -- they tend to stray.  I can't ask for a deposit (not giving it back would do even more damage to my rep), so I'm simply going to charge a fair, non-undercutting fee.   The nay-sayers will balk, yet I'll get the students, and the class, that will be awesome!

What say you? I know "don't teach for free" is the Conventional Wisdom, but do you find it to be true? Is there another approach you think might work better for me?