River Poet Design

The person who coordinates the class (sets up the class location, handles emails and payments, etc) is entitled to take the class for FREE provided that there are 10 paying students.

My minimum teaching fee for a two day (14 hour) workshop is $1250 for up to 10 students, and then $125 per additional student, plus any applicable materials fee (usually about $10 each.)  Having a minimum fee seems better than having a minimum number of students, so that a smaller group can still have me come and teach, provided that they charge a higher amount of tuition per student. 

For example, if your group of 7 people would like for me to come, it is still possible to do this without meeting the 10 person minimum, provided that each student pays $179 for the class.  More students mean lower prices, and I will do my best to advertise the class to attract more students.

I am NOT a morning person, so my preferred time frame for classes is 10 am to 6 pm.  If this doesn’t work out for you, I will teach as early as 9 am, but any earlier than that could be hazardous to my health and that of others!  The class really does need to be 8 hours in length per day, since there is SO much info included.

Travel expenses have skyrocketed in the past year or two, and so I have been forced to add a travel reimbursement to my fee.  I am willing to travel as inexpensively as possible, and this part of the fee needs to be on a per class basis, so I can’t estimate it until I know where your class will be held and whether I can be housed with a guild member.  While I prefer to stay in an inexpensive motel, I am willing to stay with a member of your group in order to keep my expenses to a minimum.  I have never incurred travel expense reimbursements higher than $500, and it is usually much less, around the $250-$300 range.

I need firm counts on the number of students attending approximately one month in advance of the class.  The class coordinator needs to take deposits or full payments from students to ensure that they will attend the class.  Many times I have arrived at a class that was supposed to be 15 students, only to find out that 5 have cancelled out at the last minute.  I make travel decisions based on how many students I have attending, and if I arrive at a class and find out that I will be paid $625 less than I was told before I got there, it really does hurt.  My solution to this is to ask that there be no refunds given after 30 days prior to the class.  If someone still needs to back out, they will receive the full instructional materials from the class, and a “pass” or “credit” to attend a future workshop.  I feel that this is a fair and equitable way of handling this situation.

I usually book only one or two classes per month, so there may be a long wait until I can come to your area.  Please understand that I am willing to work with your group to find a date as soon as possible to schedule a workshop, but I cannot travel much more than twice per month, which may mean that a class needs to be planned as much as a year to 18 months in advance. 

Photos may be taken at any time during my class: of my work, my demos, etc, and I encourage you to do so if it will help you remember important steps.  I do ask, however, that step-by-step photos of my techniques not be posted online or shared with others who were not in attendance.  Photos that show finished products, other students or me teaching in general are definitely good to post online…it’s really just a step-by-step series that I would object to.

I do ask that my copyrighted hand outs not be shared or published, but I am not asking you to not share ANYTHING you learned with your friends and fellow artists.  I encourage you to share bits of information with others, as I make my living from word-of-mouth about my teaching and my work.