I’ve spent far too much time on computers this year, making CDs 11 & 12.  So next year it will be great to visit more of you.

Although I do huge workshops for large publishers, universities, governments or international charities, I also love to do smaller scale workshops for teachers just like you.  So along with Tanzania, India, Europe, Hong Kong & India, how about a workshop in your town next year?

To help you out Elizabeth has very kindly written up how she organised the workshop in her town:

Hi, I’m Elizabeth Haffner. I have a Diploma in TESOL and I teach English at a primary school in Austria.
In November 2009, I organised a Genki English workshop with GE founder Richard Graham.

How did I do that?

Well, actually it was quite easy:  I decided I would like to organise a workshop here in Austria so I wrote an e-mail to Richard to ask him if he would consider holding a workshop in here, and if so, when would it be convenient for him. He wrote back with suggestions for dates (in our case in November). I asked him what his requirements would be for the workshop, especially technical requirements, which he told me and then we confirmed the dates and the cost of registration fee for the participants. Then I had to look around for a suitable venue.

I went to many places, but all of them were very expensive and would have made the cost of running the workshop too high.
I mentioned this to my headmistress and she said I could use one of the classrooms at the school for the workshop at no cost. This was a huge relief as it meant I could keep the cost of the workshop low, and Richard could set up his laptop in the classroom and use the blackboard and the screen for projecting the images on to. Richard mentioned that sound is often a difficulty at a workshop, so I provided a big (big) loudspeaker which made the sound quality so much better for everyone. The speaker could be plugged in to Richard’s laptop. The school is easily accessible by public transport, another plus for the participants.

Once the location was fixed, I wrote an advert for the workshop. On the advert I provided the date and time of the workshop, the address of the venue, the cost of the workshop, my contact details, a deadline for when registrations need to be in by and paid for, and what the participants could expect during the workshop (this is VERY important as some participants came expecting something quite different to what they got!)

Then I advertised the workshop on GE and other language forums, sites etc.

When people started to register, I sent them the address of the local tourist board so they could contact them and arrange their accommodation themselves, according to their personal requirements and budget. Some people will take advantage of this service, others will not. However, the more participants there are staying in one hotel tends to create a more social atmosphere, especially if the hotel is near the workshop venue so no great amounts of travelling are involved.

The workshop coincided with Advent here in Austria, so workshop participants could enjoy Advent in the Alpine Republic (it also meant I didn’t have to go to any great lengths organising a “social programme” for them … good for me as I don’t live in the town where the workshop was held and I had a small child waiting for me at home to get back to).

Then it was just a matter of keeping a record of registrations, whether the fee had been paid or not, dealing with last minute registrations (or cancellations), refunding if necessary (discuss this with Richard first) and checking the venue before the whole thing kicked off! Making sure tea, coffee, water and biscuits were available for breaks. And yes, dealing with any difficulties that might arise during the workshop ….

Some people might want a conformational invoice slip at the end of the workshop for tax purposes or for proof of continuing
professional development. Have something prepared in advance as this saves posting or e-mailing at a later date.

As you can see here, the rest is up to Richard and the participants!https://genkienglish.net/teaching/category/austria

Organising a GE workshop Check List:

1. Contact Richard about the possibility of holding a workshop.
2. Confirm the dates, the fee and the technical requirements. (Beware of fluctuating exchange rates. Some participants might query the cost of the workshop if the exchange rate is different from the time the workshop was confirmed!)

3. Find a suitable location, preferably at no cost or very low cost which is accessible by public transport and somewhere nearby where participants can eat well and not too expensively.  If there are a few participants staying in the same hotel, they can usually manage to organise their own social programme.

4. Create an advert for the workshop. On the advert provide the date and time of the workshop, the address of the venue, your contact details and a deadline for when registrations need to be in by and paid for. And what the participants can expect from the workshop!

5. Provide the address of the local tourist office or organise accommodation yourself (this is a huge amount of work!)

6. Keep a record of the registrations and e-mail addresses and fees paid.

7. Think about providing snacks – coffee, tea, biscuits etc. for the breaks.

8. Before the workshop starts, check the venue to make sure everything is OK.

9. Have something ready should participants require confirmation of participation.

10. Have your lists (and mobile phone) with you at all times.

11. Realise that you will have to trouble shoot at some time.

It’s worth it. Enjoy!

Thank you very much Elizabeth, we all had a fantastic time there!

If any of you have questions, please feel free to write them up in the comments or send me an email.

When is your town getting genki? 🙂