Meet Faye Stevenson!
Faye is a certified Romana's Pilates® instructor and owner of Bayside Pilates in the San Francisco area. She is serving as booking manager for Pilates for Dressage Clinics and has put this page together to help you plan a successful clinic, from inception to completion.
Based on our experiences, we've listed the steps to produce a successful clinic!
Gather information:
Who wants to be involved in your area (who in the riding community, and who in the Romana's Pilates community)? These will be the "sponsors" of the event.
Visit romanaspilates.com to to find a local instructor who has the same training that Janice presents in her book and workshops. We will endeavor to help you make this connection if possible.
Find a USDF GMO in your area that might want to participate in sponsoring the clinic. Go to www.usdf.org to find your local Dressage Club. If you are a member of the Club, bring this clinic up at your meeting!
Identifying the Sponsors will determine in large part the facility(ies) for the event: a space for doing Pilates Groundwork and an arena for Pilates in the Saddle sessions.
Decide upon Sponsors, Location, and Dates:
Sponsors:
If there are two sponsors, for example, a Pilates Studio and a Dressage Club, you will need to designate one party who will be responsible for signing the contract with Janice. Sponsors will need to have a consistent and reliable means of contacting one another since there will be a lot of details to communicate. Establish each Sponsor's responsibilities early on.
Location:
The two necessary sites (for Groundwork and In The Saddle) can be together or separate depending on what is available in your community. Space for Pilates Groundwork can be a barn aisle, a living room, or, if possible, a Pilates studio. Janice needs enough room for participants to lie down on a mat with a foot of space between mats. An enclosed riding arena is necessary for In The Saddle, meaning at least a fenced-in area. An indoor arena is preferred to keep distractible horses from becoming distracted! Since there might be three riders at the same time, sufficient room for three horses to trot at one time is necessary.
If the spaces are separate, the schedule will need to accommodate travel time and lunch time between the morning Pilates and the afternoon riding sessions. Janice does have a Powerpoint presentation that she gives in the morning session so a projector and a screen or wall to project on to (you can use a white sheet too) would be great.
Dates:
Contact Faye or Janice and suggest several possible dates.
When picking a date consider the following:
Obtain a schedule of local workshops, events, and competitions; holidays, school calendars, or any other events specific to your community. Avoid conflicts with these dates as much as possible.
Leave sufficient time for marketing (you want word to reach as many potential participants as possible).
Make a deadline for registration that leaves the appropriate amount of time for marketing efforts to be absorbed and responded to in the community (take into account holidays, vacations, other events, etc.).
The deadline for registration should leave enough time to cancel the clinic in the (very) unlikely event that too few people register to cover costs. Note that a 30-day notice for cancellation is required to avoid any fees. ½ of the agreed upon fee is due in the event of a cancellation less than 30 days before the event.
Develop a Marketing Plan:
You know your community best, but here's what has worked for others:
Sending a postcard or flyer to Pilates studios in the area (for instructors who may be interested, or for their clients who ride horses)
Posting on local online calendars within the riding and dressage communities
Posting flyers at local tack shops, barns, and other watering holes for riders
If there is a local riding organization, asking them to let their members know about the event
Local newspaper advertisements
Website listings (each Sponsor should have the event information up on their website)
If either the Pilates studio or the riding organization/stable owner is interested in using this event as a promotional opportunity then you might consider sending a press release to local publications (timing usually varies with publication)
Fixed Costs:
Janice's fees for one-day or multiple-day clinic (see Booking a Clinic for details)
Variable Costs:
Janice (travel and accommodations)
Insurance for event and clinician
Marketing (if necessary...Clubs have in house marketing!)
Space Rental (if necessary)
Mats for participants to take home (we have a good recommendation below)
Lunch for everybody (crockpots for store-bought soup and sandwich platters work well)
Book Travel and Accommodations for Janice:
Travel Specifications for Janice:
Janice's local airports that she will and will can use:
Yes: Bloomington, IL
Yes: Indianapolis, IN
Yes: Springfield, IL
Yes: Chicago, Midway
No: Chicago O’Hare (or last resort!)
Please, if possible, Non-stop flights only!
Janice hates flying so will drive if the venue is within 8 hours drive.
She will consider staying with a host as long as she has her own room.
Decide on Costs to Participants:
Based on your costs of production and local market
Establish Target Numbers of Participants:
What is the minimum number of participants needed to break even?
What is the maximum number of participants that can be accommodated? You want to be sure that you have enough square footage to accommodate everybody during the Pilates Groundwork session (figure 14 sq ft minimum per person).
Finalize Overall Plan, Complete Contract with Janice and All Involved Parties
Distribute Marketing Materials
Collect Registrations
Order Mats 1-2 Weeks Prior to Event
Effective and inexpensive mat are blue foam camping mats that can be found in most camping sections of Big Box stores. We have also ordered them from the website below. Best to check in with the manufacturer ahead of time because they don't always have the number of mats that you'll need and you may have to shop around. http://www.ourcampsite.com/15815.html
Send Itinerary, Payment and Travel Tickets
These should arrive to Janice no later than two weeks prior to the event.
Maps, Directions, Schedule
Make sure Participants all have directions to sites and know the afternoon schedule.
Nametags for Mats
When you know the final number of participants it's nice to make some sort of nametag and elastic band for storing their mats (then you're not left with a bunch of mats at the end of the day). Elastic headbands from the drugstore work well to wrap around the mats. Also it doesn't hurt to put the name and phone number of the barn or Pilates studio on their nametag as they will be taking it home....
Have a fun Clinic with Janice, everyone is sure to learn a ton!
