[Sca-cooks] class sign-ups vs. first-come first-in

[Elise Fleming]

Shoshana wrote:

 > I do not know the real reason but I think it may have been a mixture 
 >of a lot of thing - 1. People there first week could sign up and fill 
 >all the spaces leaving nothing for those who arrive war week...

No.  People were never allowed to sign up in advance that way.  At the 
beginning, they could sign up after 12 noon of the day before and it 
finally morphed to after 8 am of the day of the class.

 >2.  those that do sign up don't show up leaving classes with empty 
 >seats that could have been filled by willing learners,

That was one of the deciding factors.  If people saw that the class was 
fully booked, they didn't come to see if everyone would show up. 
Sometimes a large percentage of those who had reserved a place didn't 
show and people who really wanted the class missed out.

 >3. not enough people to man the tent for sign up,

Not ever a problem, at least when I ran classes.  At first, people had 
to get to the lists which caused a crunch at the tables.  Then, we 
passed the various lists down the line of those who were waiting, 
starting with the people who had arrived first.

 >4.  people forgetting to try to sign up because at one time you had to 
 >sign up a day before.

Not generally a problem since after two years or so, the sign up was in 
the morning of the day of the class.  However, people had to either be 
present early in the morning or send someone to sign up for them.  I 
recall one morning going up for a shower in the bathhouse around 6:45 
and someone was already sitting at A&S Point waiting to sign up!

 >5.  I'm sure there were other reasons.

See above.  The two biggest negatives were people who had reserved a 
spot and who didn't show up, and the mere fact of having to get up to 
A&S Point before everyone else who wanted that class.

 >I think you can still limit the size of your class - you just have to 
 >accept some unhappy people or people who will try to bargin with you 
 >"well, just let me stand in the back" and such.

I don't think there is a problem now with people watching.  Yes, class 
size can be limited.  It's on a first-come, first-served basis, which 
can have problems of its own.

Alys K., class coordinator for PW 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
-- 
Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/