We are excited to announce a new trial program for Special Workshop Prices for Members! Every class schedule since we have been open we have had a dozen or so, FREE classes each schedule just for our Members. The student only pays a kit fee which includes all the materials they will need to make the project. This Kit fee is required at time of class registration to reserve their spot in class.  The day of class, students have several color/metal choices for their project that day, and often students buy extra kits after class to make more later. 

 

These classes have been very popular for us so we wanted to see what it might look like if ALL of our Contemporary Project classes for cold connection did not have a class fee but instead just a required kit fee, that would work the same as our free classes have, where students select a kit the day of class. All of our Contemporary Project classes have always had a kit option available and the majority of students choose to go with a pre made kit instead of gathering or buying all the individual materials.

 

Most of the kits for the free classes before were between $20-$40 because they were smaller projects (mostly bracelets) completed in 2 hours.  Our new kits are more substantial because the project is. Contemporty Project kits will run between $30-$95, with an average cost of $45. These classes are 3-4 hrs long, and the projects (mostly necklaces) are generally larger and use more materials, and/or higher quality, materials. Creating beautiful kits for each class is very labor intensive as well. I approach these kits like a special gift that will evolve into something beautiful. Kind of like when you give someone the start of a plant, or rose bush,  you've been nuturing carefully to make sure its going to be spectacular when it grows up. (When Mark is editing, this is where he will roll his eyes!) 

 

For each class listing in the catalog it will say "Kit fee $" (Or just the price listing online) and this will be the amount to be paid to reserve your space in class and it will also take care of your first kit in class! So that "Kit Fee" is the only price Members pay, and it includes all materials needed for that project! You will select these kits on class day where there will always be multiple choices.

 

This is very exciting news for Members! I always believed our classes were an excellent value before, but now an incredible one! So just a few caveots to be very clear:

 

- All cancelations policies still apply. The intial Kit Fee paid to hold your space acts like a class fee in the event of a cancelation or no show. Members can transfer classes with 3 days notice. With less then 3 days notice or in the event of a no show - this fee will be forfeited.  Unlike prior Free classes, we will not be able to provide the kit or handout if a class is missed. With 3 days notice we are happy to transfer you to another date or another class or for credit - whatever you would like to do. Class kits or instructions will not be available if the class was not attended.

 

- This new pricing plan applys mostly to Cold Connection classes. We have done a slight variation with hot connection giving Members a better value for those as well. Instead of a class fee, Metal classes will have a smaller "Studio Fee" + the kit fee to reserve your space. Then like the other classes, all materials are included & kits will be available in class.

 

- Most Important-we want to be transparent that this is a trial promotion for this class session Jan-Apr 2016.  While we are fairly sure we'll be able to continue these special prices for Members, (or we wouldn't have started it) we won't be 100% sure until we have some months of data.

 

Assuming we'll be able to continue free classes to Members, the cost of the Membership would need to increase somewhat to reflect these new benefits. We will always make sure it is still an incredible value. There are a couple ways we could explore this. Renewals could be raised from $55 per year to $95 - which would still be less then the cost of 2 class fees. ($30 each) So if you took 2 or more classes within one year it would still be cheaper to renew than not. 

 

Most likely we would offer 2 levels of Membership so you could choose which one was better for you depending on how many classes you take per year, if

you take mostly cold connection vs hot connection. On a Cold Connection class you save $30 per class, on a Hot Connection class the savings is around $15 per class because there is still a small studio fee. We can look up your class activity & figure out the better value for you based on your past activity pretty easily.  Most Members average 12 classes per year (1 per month) or $360 / per year in just class fees - not including the kit or materials. It is twice that for our more active Members - or $720 per year in class fees. So a $45 increase in membership fees seems like a no-brainer - but everyone is different.

 

However it ends up, we will make it very easy for you and definitely make sure it always delivers incredible value.  At the same time we have a responsibility to our business - as much as we love & value our Members, if we dont make it work for LJDC, there won't be any Membership to take care of!

 

For right now there is nothing for you to decide except which classes to take !

 

- Viki Lareau