Workshop Etiquette
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Kathy DeSch...@attbi.com
I am facilitating a workshop in October for the guild and would like to list some basic rules or things to consider when attending a workshop.
Some examples would be: Arrive to cl*** in plenty of time to set up your machine/workspace before cl*** begins Don't hog the workspace If you are late, do not disrupt the cl*** but wait patiently for the instructor to get some free time to help catch you up.
Make sure your machine is in working order before attending the cl***.
Know your machines basic functions.
I would like to try and make this light and not just a list of rules so if anyone has any suggestions on how to do that - I would appreciate those suggestions. Also, any more ideas on what is basic common sense when attending workshops.
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Kathy in NH :) Mailto:DeSch...@attbi.com "Families are like quilts: lives pieced together, stitched with smiles and tears, colored with memories, bound with LOVE."
"KCK" kcki...@DOGatt.net
Kathy, Considering how quilters LOVE little incentives, how about this: Schedule an adequate time period (perhaps 30 minutes) right before the workshop, call it "machine and materials set-up." Let everyone know in advance that those who get set up on time with a machine which, with they are familiar, will receive a [you name it]?
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K.C. K. ( in Texas) Take out the DOG before sending email Website: http://kckintz.home.att.net/ ...
davand ...@aol.comcuckoo (Nurse Ratched)
How about, questions are welcome but background, private conversations are not.
This is one of my pet peeves, whether I'm the speaker or a member of the audience.
Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply) "I just found out there's no such thing as the real world--just a lie you've got to rise above" ~John Mayer
elain ...@aol.com (Elainejr)
Oh, I know, I know. Another thing along this line that bugs me are the "secondary teachers" in the cl***. You know the ones.....that think they know how to finish the sentence the teacher started?????
Elaine in WNY
"Polly Esther" mistercl...@mindspring.com
You can keep your requests light by adding just a bit of humor. I used to ask those attending our workshops to: please don't bring your children, grandchildren, husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends, or pets.
You wouldn't believe the number of usually reasonable people who think a workshop is a fine place to bring hungry, bored toddlers. Well, then again, you might. Polly ...
"frood" Bu...@GriffinsFlight.com
Well, who wants to have bored, hungry toddlers at home? If you take them with you, you can expect other people to amuse and feed them! ;-P
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Wendy http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm ...
"KCK" kcki...@DOGatt.net
I think the only way to prevent background chatter and "secondary teachers" is to be an engaging, inspiring, and attentive leader that keeps the entire group involved and busy. NOT an easy task, but it gets easier with practice, I'm sure. Kudos to all the great teachers from whom I've ever learned something!
I'm not a teacher, quilting or otherwise, but I DID direct a volunteer church choir for a few years (oh, the stories I could tell) and also had lots of studio art cl***es in college (which were often like workshops, especially when there was a guest instructor).
The best advice is to just steal all the good ideas and experiences from the instructors of the workshops or cl***es you have attended in the past.
When I directed a choir, I often copied one "ditty" from being in a choir under the direction of a master, but it might also work for a quilting workshop: when the group gets tired or fidgety, have everyone stand, face one direction and m***age the shoulders of the person in front of them, then switch directions, immediately follow this with the next lesson.
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K.C. K. ( in Texas) Take out the DOG before sending email Website: http://kckintz.home.att.net/ ...
Julia Altshuler jaltshu...@attbi.com
Think about what you're prepared to do if someone seriously violates rules. I'm not talking about the person who speaks out of turn or tells an inappropriate joke. I'm talking about the person who interrupts so constantly that you're unable to run your workshop and no one is able to learn what she came to learn.
The chances that you'll get a participant that bad are low, but you'll be a better leader if you have your plan in place. Somehow obnoxious people just know who's prepared to kick them out and who isn't. It always bothers me when I receive a lighthearted list of guidelines that ought to be basic consideration and common sense. If the guidelines don't say something about what will happen if people don't follow the rules, it looks like the rules are all a joke, and it doesn't matter if people follow them or not.
--Lia
sandys ...@aol.com (SandySmth)
I've been to lots and lots of quilting workshops and *never* have I been handed a set of rules pertaining to the conduct of the participants. If fact, I'd be quite insulted to receive such.
I do expect to get an accurate list of the supplies I'll need. Also, a map or directions to the workshp site may be necessary.
Sandy in Chapel Hill, NC HREF="Mailto:DeSch...@attbi.com">Mailto:DeSch...@attbi.com</A>
"Chip's Mom" cdro...@mindspring.com
How about instead of calling them "rules" you call them "suggestions for making our cl***time more productive".
Just my two cents ............
Carol ...
Kate Dicey k...@diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
I don't hand out rules about workshop etiquette - except for the one about kids! If the workshop is unsuitable for kids, I say so in the advertising blurb that goes out BEFORE folk sign up. I might include a line that says 'Unsuitable for smaller children (under 12) and those without machine sewing experience'. I'd also include that folk were expected to bring a machine to the group, and that there would be a setting-up time and a start time. People need to know these things well before they sign up, not just with the blurb you get AFTER signing up.
Some of my teaching workshops these days are for parent & child couples, and the kids are as young as 8. It's fun, but it takes extra planning!
One 'drop-in' day was a real experience! I was co-hosting a sewing day in Ramsgate (MIIIIIILES from home!), and we had to take machines and everything with us. There was nothing in the blurb that went out before the day to say small kids would not be safe in the room, with pins, needles, sequins, fabric glue, sewing machines, scissors, whatever, all over, and we had to put a notice on the door! One 4 YO still escaped from his mother and came in... Being fascinated by the old machine I was threading at the time, he turned the handle! That's the closest I've got to sewing my fingers! I returned him to his mother and explained what he'd done, pointing out that it would be far worse for him had he sewn his OWN fingers! She kept a closer eye on him for the rest of the day. We had fun, on the whole!
Maybe my students recognize that I WILL ask them to leave if they disrupt the cl***, because so far (touch wood!) I've never had to do it!
Kate XXXXXX
Julia Altshuler jaltshu...@attbi.com
The problem I have with calling them suggestions is that people don't have to follow suggestions. If you suggest that I bring a lunch and I decide not to, that's O.K. If you suggest that cl*** time would be more productive if no one brings a child under age 4, and someone does bring a toddler who screams when he isn't playing with the electrical outlets, that's not O.K. Call them rules.
People will understand then when you say "Small children are absolutely not allowed. I'm going to have ask you to leave." If someone has the stubborn audacity to say "oh, he's no problem," you can say "the rules (not the suggestions) are that children are not allowed. You are going to have to leave." I've never had to call the police to help me get rid of someone, but knowing that I'm prepared to has been a big help.
--Lia
kayneyPai ...@compuserve.com (Kathy Applebaum)
Some of them like "don't hog the workspace" are going to be hard to make lighthearted. :) One thing I'd love to see in a workshop is something along the lines of "The doors will be open at 8am so you will have time to set up your machine and be ready to sew when the cl*** starts promptly at 8:30." That says that you expect people to be on time, and it also lets the people who want to be prompt know that they won't be sitting out in the parking lot, cooling their heels.
In my painting cl***es, I've had really good luck saying things like "I'm sure I don't have to remind *you* of the common sense stuff like wearing old clothes." That way I *have* reminded them, but they aren't insulted by it.
Good luck!
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Kathy Applebaum (Woodland, CA) longarm machine quilting mailto:KayneyPai...@compuserve.com
Patti Pa...@quik.clara.co.uk
I've never been given a list of rules, either; but I can see the sense of saying something about not bringing children (or pets). It is amazing what lines some people's minds can run on!
One thing which made me smile in a list of requirements for a workshop was: 'your gl***es, if you wear them' .
In article <3D7E7FD2.2011F...@attbi.com>, Kathy <DeSch...@attbi.com> writes
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Best Regards pat on the hill
taria taria.wil...@verizon.net
Well, the third rule is only if you break rule #1. You are already ***uming folks won't follow them. People who have no regard for others still won't. The one rule I remember from a cl*** was Lynn Mann and don't wear perfume because she is allergic. That seemed more than reasonable. I think the same things tend to pop up about cl***es.
People will monopolize the teacher, some will chat while you are trying to listen to the teacher, people will hog space ( have plenty of room and that isn't a problem), people will be late or want to leave early. Making the whole thing light sounds good. This quilting stuff is supposed to be fun for us!
Taria
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Please visit my web page at: http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/taria/index.htm See my Siberian Cat, Lilly, at: http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/lillypage/lillycat.htm CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS BOOK! New email address: taria.wil...@verizon.net
kayneyPai ...@compuserve.com (Kathy Applebaum)
It astounds me that in almost every sewing cl*** I've ever taken, there's someone who is straining to see because they've forgotten their gl***es...
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Kathy Applebaum (Woodland, CA) longarm machine quilting mailto:KayneyPai...@compuserve.com
Marcella Tracy Peek marce...@peek.org
I think that those who belong to a guild should have enough of a clue to know this common courtesy stuff, and those who don't still won't "get it" later. Maybe I've just been teaching too long :-) Anyway....
Let them know when the room is open for set up.
Let them know what time the cl*** starts and then make sure you start it then.
Make sure the teacher has a good, clear, accurate supply list that is given out to every student well before the cl*** begins.
If people are space hogs and you have more than one at a table, take tape and draw a line down the center of each table. No words are necessary for most people, the intent is pretty darn clear when they walk in.
The teacher should really be directing their students as to the rest. At the beginning of cl*** it is their responsibility to say " I like to get the nuts and bolts out of the way and then there will be time for questions.' or "You are each responsible for your own learning, if there are questions, please ask me, don't make your neighbor responsible for teaching you." etc.
marcella
Kathy DeSch...@attbi.com
This is what I ended up with: The time of the workshop Directions How Lunch works and ...
Workshop etiquette/suggestions: Workshop is scheduled to start at 9AM. The room will be open at approximately 8:30. Please arrive prior to 9AM to setup your sewing machine and workspace Please bring a sewing machine in good working order and be familiar with how the machine works Please read the supply list and if there is any cutting or set up work you can do ahead - do it.
Bring all supplies requested.
If you are unavoidably late, please come into the cl*** quietly and wait for the instructor to find some time to catch you up to what the rest of the cl*** is doing. Do not expect individual attention.
Please wear a name tag. It can be your guild name tag or some other one.
This helps the instructor as well as your fellow cl***mates.
This is a good time to get to know your fellow quilters but remember if the instructor is talking that we all should listen or at least keep quiet so that others may hear. There is plenty of time during each cl*** for socializing.
Please, if you receive a call on your cell phone, leave the room so that others can concentrate on what they are doing and not on what you are saying.
If someone comes to cl*** and is insulted, well then they can deal with it. These are all common sense but there is always someone who is missing some or all of their common sense. I think this also gives other people in the cl*** something to point to if they are asking someone who received a call to leave the room or to stop talking because they can't hear what the instructor is saying.
I will be handing out this sheet along with the supply list one month prior to the workshop. It also has my name and phone number on it in case they have questions. I am also giving them my cell phone number should they get lost and if they call during the cl*** I will leave the room. We have not had a problem with children so have not included that line.
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Kathy in NH :) Mailto:DeSch...@attbi.com "Families are like quilts: lives pieced together, stitched with smiles and tears, colored with memories, bound with LOVE."
Lorilynn King lsqua...@qwest.net
Most workshops I've been to don't allow people to use their cell phones except during breaks. Even if the person leaves the room immediately after their phone rings, it's a distraction.
FWIW....
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Lori in Colorado (a.k.a. JJoQ) http://www.users.qwest.net/~lsquared/ My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
Julia Altshuler jaltshu...@attbi.com
I love this idea, but I wonder how it works in reality. Everyone sets up.
Cl*** starts. Teacher begins demo. Phone in handbag rings. Now what?
--Lia
Kate Dicey k...@diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
You ask them to turn the wretched things off before the cl*** starts!
If someone needs the phone on for a special reason, they put it on vibrate and sit by the door so they can slip out when it tells them to.
Kate XXXXXX
taria taria.wil...@verizon.net
You ask them but they don't turn it off. The high school drama production makes a big deal about announcing that phones and pagers need to be off and then 4 phones ring during the show. Go figure. Am I the only one that wonders what has happened to manners?
Taria
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Please visit my web page at: http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/taria/index.htm See my Siberian Cat, Lilly, at: http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/lillypage/lillycat.htm CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS BOOK! New email address: taria.wil...@verizon.net
"Shelly" drowninginfabricc...@comcast.net
Taria, Manners went out the door with taking responsibility for your own actions and respect for others.
Shelly-who could go on but won't ...
Kate Dicey k...@diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
That's when I use The Look that reduces them to a small greasy spot on the carpet!
Kate XXXXXX
davand ...@aol.comcuckoo (Nurse Ratched)
In one of my cl***es in nursing school, you got a zero for the day. That probably won't work in a quilt cl***, but it was VERY effective in an environment where dropping below a C would get you bounced from the program.
Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply) "I just found out there's no such thing as the real world--just a lie you've got to rise above" ~John Mayer
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