I always wondered if payment of fee for pe. public personal development seminars or workshops is really necessary.
My idea was that maybe this financial part of the picture can be covered by some form of sponsorship or similar to cover the costs for participants. Especially for people who are coming for pe. additional knowledge about earning money and are by definition low on financial side of the personal story. So I said to myself that I will pay close attention to see what can I learn and simply check by observation if it would be beneficial to develop a kind of "pro bono" seminars for wider community.
So, in first few months of this year I had more than 20 seminars and workshops. I invited some participants for free on purpose, send some free invitations to paying participants to bring some additional friends to workshops where they will participate as their guests etc.
Interestingly I found that "free lunch" is really not so interesting point. Contrary to my expectations it turned out that interest to get as much as possible from the workshop is significatly lower by those who came for free (as guests or just companions) as to those who payed to participate.
It proved that point is actually closely related to one's decision and his/her perception of the value of the seminar/workshop which it will be attented.
You can say "what's new here ?" but conclusion is actually interesting: best outcome participants will get if they pay for seminar/workshop from their own pockets. Drop in overall interest of particular participants is also noted in cases where pe. company (or institution) pays for the group pe. five participants.
So, my logical advice is: do not do seminars/workshops etc.on personal development issues for free. And it also applies the same if you are participant - do not take the subject easier just because it was for free. If you are doing seminars, do your best on your topic but you must charge something if you want best for your participants. It might not sounds as popular as it might be but if your intention is genuine, at least think about this seriously.
All comments are more than welcome.
Interesting observation from facilitator's point of view. I have been in several seminars for free and can agree with you. You simply do not take as serious as you should if you would have to pay for it. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It has to do with the perceived value of the service/product provided. Just because it is offered as "free" or sponsored, participants somehow see it with less value ...
ReplyDeleteAlso participants are not as vested and the stakes are not high.
When I do offer a sponsored event now, I ask for a commitment. I need participants to play at 100% and to share what they learn. That's my condition for their qualification to the sponsorship.
That has not eliminated the issue entirely as there will still be those who agree but do not show up. But it does helps with the filtering process.
Love to hear your views.
Louisa
Louisa, you are absolutely right bringing commitment into focus.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!