Greetings:

This is from Mona. I first took the beginner class in early spring. My
husband Kyle joined the training in June. We are very new to aikido
and our dojo but want to share a few thoughts.

1. For people who have never done aikio before, the beginner class is
the key. I would not have tried to learn aikido, if we did't have a
beginner class. In my opinion, beginner class is not only a good
source of revenue / membership but also a wonderful way to grow the
influence of our school. If we only care about money, maybe we can
just increase fees... Then one day we become a school for "the elite
rich group". Ok I'm just joking but you get my point.

2. But I'm also against the free beginner class idea. For one thing if
we really make them free, we might attract more people beyond our
capacity. Also the fee does screen out the people who are not quite
interested. Personally having paid 60 dollars was one of the reasons
why I stayed with training :). I'm glad I didn't give up of course.

3. A few thoughts on how to attract more beginners.
* We are very close to UW. I know UW has aikido course but we might
be able to still draw some people from the students,faculty, their
families and maybe UW hospital related population. A student discount
comes to mind.

* If the enrollment is very seasonal, how about a temporary discount
during the "slow season"?

* Revise our beginner class flyers. In addition to time and fee, we
can add a few words on the benefit of studying aikido and why our
school is a good place to start.

* Make a list of the "regular spots" / (a coverage map/ sorry I work
for a wireless provider :-) where we intent to post flyers. Then
members can sign up on who will help with posting at where. So the
marketing efforts are more organized and targeted.

* Can also try to spread the words by asking other websites to add a
link to our school website. We have a few geeks here who probably are
more into online things than me :-).

I know it takes time and energy to implement any action items. But I
think having the discussion on money issue is a great start. People
like kyle and I had never thought about the financial challenges at
dojo at all, let alone how we could volunteer.

Thanks for listening. Look forward to the meeting!

Mona