I teach a class once per month. I teach the 1st Thursday of each month. It rotates subjects every other month but tomorrow was my "FUNdamentals of Food" cooking class. Its open invitation to over 60 women at church, but I also post it online via Facebook for about 30 of the same 60 ladies there. Facebook serves as a great source for reminders and invitations and such. My class is typically attended by 10-15 ladies as a few rotate in and out due to other obligations. I've had upwards of 20 on occasion and for popular things.
Well I recently posted my April class, an April Ward Activity & also my May class. My April class response was unusually low. LOW LOW. As in the only person who committed to "Attending" was ME. I had 6 "Maybes" , 8ish "No" & then the remaining 21 or so ladies were "Yet to Respond". I posted on the wall earlier today asking people if there was anyone who actually planned on attending. No response.
So what would you do? Please tell me you'd cancel?
Please! Because tonight I cancelled tomorrows class.
I am now the biggest schmuck ever. Or at least I feel like it.
Of course as soon as I sent out the "CANCELLED" message, 2 people came forward and said they really were coming. Thanks ladies! I honestly think I should have a guaranteed attendance of 5-7 plus me for all the effort I put into my classes. I do a full lesson with notes, I prep food, buy food, cook food to taste, print recipes...etc. You get the idea right?
I've never cancelled anything...other than a drs appt or a date with a scarey guy (back in the day folks!).
Ugh...schmuckdum sucks.
you are not a schmuck. the people in our church have to begin to realize that RSVP'ing isn't a silly thing that is done for cocktail parties. It means that people like you who are putting time and energy into an event are able to be better prepared for whoever shows up. You have every right to cancel an event if there has been no response. And for people to then get cranky about it, WHO HAVE NOT RSVP'd, then they are out of their bloody minds!
ReplyDeleteSorry to get so snarky, but come on, REALLY??
I ditto the above Comment. I don't think you need to feel bad about cancel at all Sarah. I personally enjoy the classes and can't wait to get back to them.
ReplyDeleteYou are not a shmuck, first off. Second off - I know you put a ton of work into them, so to have a low response doesn't seem to make it worth the effort, because then it seems the class would need to be repeated at a later time anyway because so many would miss important/useful information. I know it is only once a month, but is there a chance there are too many offered/necessary events/classesto attend that perhaps a once a quarter thing would better allow a high volume of attendance? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteActually is only 1 class or RS event per week. They're all optional. There was just a bunch of other stuff going on that night. Our REALLY big events only happen once a quarter.
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