Local events such as festivals, sports events, and even store openings are excellent programming opportunities. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be in a community sponsoring a major event such as the Superbowl or the Olympics or the Pan American Games, but every community has plenty of local events, and they can be the basis for successful new classes.
Most important is that you know what is going on in your community.
- Read the local paper. Look for special events, openings of new businesses, local festivals, historical events, anniversaries of local historical interest, etc. For example on program offered a very successful series of gourmet cooking classes in collaboration with a new gourmet cookware shop that opened in the community.
- Listen to the issues that are being discussed by community leaders and look for major changes in the community in terms of employment, demographic changes, arts event, etc. In one small community, the implantation of microchips in the wrists of employees for scanning time clocks, vending machines, etc. became the topic of a popular discussion group (as well as making international news). In another, the removal of a 100 year old dam resulted in a great deal of interest in learning more about the local ecosystem.
- Network, network, network with as many organizations as you con including hospitals, arts councils, business groups, civic clubs and explore possible collaboration. In one community, a university arts program sponsored an opera performance, and the local class program offered a very successful class called A Night at the Opera.
- Look for local trends and interests. For example, an unusually rainy summer resulted in lots of flooded basements in the Cleveland area. A local program offered a class on how to keep your basement dry, and generated a landslide of participation.
New Course ideas abound in every community. Not only can you enjoy the benefits of high enrollments in new classes that tap local resources, but also, your image can profit when you develop a reputation for being current with regard to what is happening in your town.