Rink

Basic Skills Group Classes Customers in group skating classes have different needs in the summer with vacations and other planned summer activities, and families will simply not spend money on programs they cannot attend. Flexibility in fees and schedules are necessary for success during the summer months. Common comments heard during summer registration include: "I don't want to pay for the entire session since I know we will be missing at least two classes." "Can we only pay for the lessons we attend?" "What about make-up lessons?" One good solution is to compact your programs, such as turning sessions of six to eight weeks into mini-sessions of two to four weeks. Another successful solution is to offer a punch card for summer lessons so customers can purchase a card for five or ten lessons and come as their schedule permits. The downside to this, of course, is that you never know how many people will attend each class from week to week (staffing challenge). The upside is that you will get your money up front, and it is up to the customer to utilize their sessions. Coaches will have to be flexible, but with prior lesson planning, it is definitely manageable. Packages with a combination of lessons and open practice times are also popular. Private booster lessons worth the same amount of money can be substituted as make-up lessons as well, for those customers who miss two or more, provided that they pay the instructor accordingly. Here are a few keys for group lesson success in the summer: • Be creative. • Be flexible. • Condense sessions into shorter time periods — mini-sessions. • Develop different payment options — punch cards are a great option. • Offer specialized camps — one week at a time. • Offer day clinics throughout the summer. Seminars/Clinics A seminar or clinic can be either one or two days in length with a guest coach or special focus. Offering special seminars and clinics will bring additional revenue streams for your facility, while also bringing value to your customers in athletic improvements, enthusiasm, coaches' education, publicity and a lot of fun learning something new. Every discipline of figure skating can be organized into a seminar for all ages and abilities, starting with Basic Skills. Ideas for seminar programs include: jump and spin focus for test/competitive skaters, synchronized training seminars to start a new team or before try-outs, ice dancing, adult skaters only, choreography, off-ice strength and conditioning, or a combination of any of the above-mentioned topics. Begin your planning stages by surveying your coaching staff to find out what they are interested in and what their students may need to focus on. You will need the support of your coaches to fill the seminar with their students and help you advertise with other rinks and coaches. Keys for hosting successful seminars/clinics: • Usually seminars are hosted by a rink or figure skating club. • Stick with 1-2 days in length. • Maximum of 6-8 hours per day; more is not always better. • Divide the time with a variety of on- and off-ice presentations. • Sort and separate by level if warranted by number of registrations. • Advance flyers and registration brochures must be prepared and distributed. • Average fees to attend should range between $75-$125 per day per person. • Major expenses include presenter fees, expenses, ice rental, administration fees and additional staff. • To increase attendance, hire a well- known, highly-respected presenter. Benefits for the facility hosting a seminar: • Selling dead ice time during the summer months. • Attracting new customers from other areas. • Adding credibility. • Free publicity in the newspaper and media. • Selling additional hours of practice ice to rejuvenated skaters after the seminar. • Investing in your coaching staff. 36 R INK MAGAZ INE march/april 2008 One good idea is a punch card so customers can come to lessons as their schedule permits. SUN FUN in the

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