??? Simple Contact on the Texas Gulf Coast

[HeadStrongPT]

Or at least very close to the coast in Houston.

I've been doing some preliminary discussions with Barrett regarding a potential course in Houston, TX sometime in the latter half of 2014. We are still discussing particulars but wanted to gauge how much interest there might be here.

I figure we are going to need around 18-20 participants and I think that is pretty doable but was curious if those here had any opinions.

Let's bring Barrett (and many of you) to Texas! Who's down?

[Jguid19]

I would like for both Barret and Diane both to come down south. Not enough quality con ed course down here at least in Louisiana.

[Jguid19]

Also Rod are your going to be doing any courses I would like to take yours again now that I have a little more understanding of the information

[John W]

I'm in- most likely as my wife's trusty side-kick. :thumbs_up

[Diane]

The latter half of 2014 is pretty wide open for me so far.

[HeadStrongPT]

I'm working out numbers right now. I'd really like to find a way to get you both down. Maybe I need to talk with Rajam (sp?) about this.

[Curious One]

Or at least very close to the coast in Houston.

I'm interested.

I'd be even more interested if you would also be planning to work in your lecture on your presentation on the multi-system features of injury and pain.

Of course, if Diane were also coming down and would allow me in her course, I'd certainly be up for that too, if time permitted.

Do you know where you will be holding it in Houston? If you need a venue idea, I know the Feldenkrais Certification course that just completed this year, leased a room here. I visited for a class and can say that the room was clean with a kitchen facility, easy to locate and had a lot of parking. As I recall, it is open for anyone to lease (not group specific). If you haven't held a seminar at the Big Airport, or near Hobby before, I know of a few useful venues in both areas as well.

If I can be of assistance, please contact me via PM. I am very familiar with the Houston area and do have a few contacts - so I may be able to help with making some other connections with DC's and Massage Therapists who might be interested, if it looks like you need to get more bodies to fill the courses.

I look forward to hearing more about what transpires and the time of year the plans will be made for.

BTW, receiving CEU's is not a necessity for my attendance as I can take something for those in other places if they are not available for DC or LMT. Bundling multiple courses would be more beneficial for me.

[John W]

Rod,
Here's the link to Rajam's website with contact info.

[HeadStrongPT]

Thanks very much. I'd love to throw that in there but anything I contribute would likely pail in comparison to Barrett and Diane's work.

I'm going to try and host it at our clinic here in a suburb east of Houston. I'm thinking a format very similar to the one recently done in San Diego. Still very conceptual at this point but I'm very excited to have a chance at doing this.

[Curious One]

Thanks very much. I'd love to throw that in there but anything I contribute would likely pail in comparison to Barrett and Diane's work.

I'm going to try and host it at our clinic here in a suburb east of Houston. I'm thinking a format very similar to the one recently done in San Diego. Still very conceptual at this point but I'm very excited to have a chance at doing this.

East of Houston sounds like a great plan - helpful for those Louisiana and Beaumont folks out there.

If you change your mind, please know I'd love to hear your seminar. Maybe it could be the precursor to the events to get people into the groove... ramping up to D & B's work. *poke prod ... encouragement*

Sometimes just hearing different content and multiple ways of speaking is enough to jog useful bits of ones brain, ya know.

Hope you will keep this thread at the top of the food chain, and I'll try to bump it up intermittenly, too.

[Barrett Dorko]

Perhaps someone who recently attended the San Diego workshops can offer an opinion.

Go ahead. You know by now that I'm more likely to say, "I don't know" than anything else.

[HeadStrongPT]

That makes two of us Barrett. I've never hosted a course (other than my own) before. I'm a blank slate and ready to make this happen.

[Diane]

It was the first one Rajam ever organized/hosted by herself.

[Curious One]

I figure we are going to need around 18-20 participants and I think that is pretty doable but was curious if those here had any opinions.

I've never hosted a course (other than my own) before. I'm a blank slate and ready to make this happen.

In case it helps, I've been on the Alumni Board for DC College in the past, and was on the committe for hosting and preparing for a number of licensing renewal conventions. Although that is on a much greater scale and was over fifteen years ago, I am certainly willing to lend a shoulder to toss ideas around with if you like.

Of the top of my head, I think the big questions to ask/things to think about, if you need about 20 people to make it work are:

• create a paypal account for the payments for those planning to attend the course & create a page on the back-end of your website that is dedicated to the class information, making it easier to spread the information. You may also want to create a questionairre of some of the following items, since you are looking to gather a larger amount of people than Rajam did - in order to guage the best way/place/date to hold the course.
• ask if you can get enough people to commit to driving to your office (since you mentioned a need of about 20). It is Houston, so I'd think you could, but even in a big city a group of 20 always seems hard to get unless you've got a lot of advertising going on.
• if you need extra treatment tables to be brought, ask who lives in the area that has portables to bring.
• to find out if they would be more willing to come if you did host it at a venue on/near the airport site. If you find out that the numbers say they will come most likely if they can fly in and stay at a hotel the meeting is at, you may be better off getting a metting room and providing for a block of rooms at the same site hotel and charging a little more for the course, which saves people having to rent a car or hunt up a buddy to ride with.
• if you have to host at an airport site, make sure the hotel has a decent kitchen, since that would be the second option to driving to your office, and in that case most people would likely have forgone a vehicle and will nead a decent place to eat while staying.
• ask if you host a 2 or even 3 day event, if people would be more likely attend one or the other. And, what amount of days are most people willing to be away from their offices or work. ie. Would they prefer to come to a course on a Friday night and then continue into the week-end, would they prefer starting the course on Sat., would they prefer for the course to be Sun. & Monday? ... that sort of thing.
• find out if you need to provide CEU (Continuing Education Units) for the therapists or not. Would they be more willing to attend if they could get those? And, how do you create that option?
• ask if providing a list of things to do while in Houston would be useful to help some people create a mini-vacation, perhaps allowing for a few more people to attend than normally would. ie. Would they want to travel with significant other, spouse, children (while children are out of school) and what month would be most beneficial?
• and, Houston mugginess & heat. If you have a lot of people coming from up north or out of country (Europe/UK), you may be better off offering the course in October. No need to make weary travellers puny if you don't have to. (I'm thinking comparison of how many people want to do a family vacation with children would likely be limited {July/August travel}, but you may get some people who get a great air ticket to come from Europe/UK if purchased in advance. If you find you have a number of one or the other, you may want to plan accordingly.)
• You also probably want to have some sort of last minute cancellation fee, so that you are covered if people nix out on you at the last minute, because it is a lot of work on your end to put it all together and then only have 5 people show up.

Of course, I am thinking that it will be a lot easier on you if you can host it at your office... the main thing is if you can get the 20 to travel there. If they say they will, then there is no need to ever even think about the hotel issue.

But, I do think Rajam may be more useful since she hosted this particular seminar in her city and it was so recent.

[nickmPT]

The format was excellent in San Diego, but we did also have around ~10 people so it was more intimate.