Making Money

[HilandDoug]

Has anyone else here been asked to give a fencing demonstration at a local school? I've been asked a few times lately to come do 2 hours of demonstration at some schools in southeastern Michigan as part of either an Olympics or History unit the schools are doing. A few years ago I used to do it for free, until a performer friend of mine suggested I charge'em some cold, hard cash. These last few times, I've told the school that I charge $200 for two people for two hours, and they haven't blinked an eye. Next time, I think I'll ask for $200 for two people PER HOUR and see what happens.

Anyone else do this, and charge a fee?

[The0ne]

Yeah, our club does this. . . It takes about 2-2 1/2 hours and we charge 100 dollars which is split between my coach and me.

[Saber-Psycho]

Oh man! I've done so many of those stupid things and haven't been paid a cent!!!

[HilandDoug]

Dude! It's time to start charging!!!

[MikeHarm]

sounds like a fun way to make a living.

[The0ne]

I don't think there's enough money in it to make a living. . . But it's just a nice bit o' cash for trying to help spread fencing. . . I have one this Thursday!

[Triton]

Our high school club has been asked several times to teach mini-courses in fencing to local middle-schools. No money has changed hands, but we have been treated to some okay luncheons... Some of those kids end up coming to our school and joining us for fencing, so we look at it as a good way to make more fencing addicts. (Oh, and we're a private school, so convincing more kids to attend is job security for me.)

[gojujay]

How do you fill two hours? I mean footwork only goes so far...

[HillBilly]

Aw, I came to this thread thinking someone was giving out money... phooey

[fencergal33]

Wow....there's money to be made on that? We've been doing demos for years, and never collect anything.

[Moonitic]

As Gypsy says...."Ya' gotta get a gimmick!"

[HilandDoug]

Our demo went well yesterday. Filling two hours is easy when you have to do five seperate 15 minute shows with a short break between each. We were set up in the cafeteria/gym of the elementary, and brought all 3 weapons, jackets, masks and a scoring box and reels. After the third session of 15 minutes, my reel went bad, and to make matters worse, my body cords were bad! But the kids loved our presentation and had a ton of questions. We also brought 25 masks and put them in 3 rows, and when the kids came in the gym, we told them to take a seat behind a mask. I began by talking about safety, and showed them how to put on the mask. Then me and Sean, my helper, bonked the kids on the head with a saber to show them what it was like. They just loved that part! "Do it again!" "Ouch!" After each demo, some kid would ask, "Can we take these masks home?"

With the set up and take down of the 25 masks, box, reels, we were there for 3 hours. Before we even started they gave me a check for $200, and after, I gave Sean $100 in cash. He was pretty happy, too. I liked the idea of bringing the masks for the kids, and the teachers thought it was great, too. If I get asked to do something like this again, I'll bring the masks again. And I think I'll ask for a little more money.

[SwordArcher]

I didn't know that that could be done! Especially with the uproar about weapons in schools. LOL! Hmmm.... one to think on!

[Dar Tanyon]

My brother and I did a fencing demo at a high school where I was teaching music. During the show, we asked for a volunteer to come up and put on a mask. My brother takes a saber and (gently) raps this kid on the mask. Nice demo, huh? Not quite. Just as the saber bonks him, and with impecable timing, the kid screams and goes down in the best "death fall" I have seen outside the movie theater. The kids go wild. My brother is just standing there with the saber looking at "the body" completely upstaged. I am just about down on the floor. He recovered the speech nicely and we went on from there, thanking the student and getting him OFF the stage before he could do anymore damage. That was the first time we had ever seen that happen. Later during the show we bouted with all three weapons. I got half the crowd to cheer for the "White knight", me, and the other half to cheer the "Bad Knight". The kids had a blast and so did we.

[HilandDoug]

Clark, that's hysterical! I can just see Cliff rollig his eyes at "the body" and the kids going bonkers!

SwordArcher, I understand what you say about weapons in school. However, I was asked to do this demo as part of an educational expose on Olymipc sports. There were other people there showing other sports as well, including some sort of martial art like Judo. When the kids came in and sat down, the first thing I asked was, "What Olympic sport did you just come from?" They'd answer "Judo" (or whatever it was). I asked, "Did they fight?" And the kids gave a depressing "No..." Well, did they ever perk up when I told them that Sean and I were going to "swordfight" for them! I think the kids enjoyed it as much as Sean and I did. BTW, what club do you fence at? Are you new to SE Michigan?

[SwordArcher]

I was just kidding about the weapons in schools post. i thought that it was a good idea and I hope that it is something that more schools will pick up on. And to answer your question, Hilanddoug, yes, I am new to Southeast Michigan and am actually looking for a club in this area (S. Lyon/Wixom area). I was transferred here from Visteon in Chicago, and my old club is just too far to drive to get to. Does anyone have any ideas? I might also like to participate in some tournaments as well. Another question, somewhat off the topic, do any of you know why is RAINS so much here??? I thought that Lake Michigan was beginning to miss me, and it was raining enough to bring it to me! LOL! Thanks! Marilyn

[MikeHarm]

SwordArcher

I grew up in the South Lyon area. I think the closest club to you is probably Schoolcraft's club which meets Friday nights. You should visit one of these fridays, Schoolcraft is open through June I think. Hmm, a new fencer the same age as me, with about the same years fencing experience, thats kinda cool. Should be fun to have a match with ya if you visit.

[HilandDoug]

Welcome to SE Michigan, SwordArcher! No, it DOESN'T always rain like this! This is highly unusual! But to answer your questions, you can find a list of clubs at www.michfencing.org and just click on the "clubs" link. There's a tournament this coming weekend at U.F.O. that I believe is an "E" and under. Again, directions can be found on the website. You'll find that everyone at the clubs and tournaments are pretty social, and after the last bouts are done, there are usually about 30 or so that will go to the nearest watering hole for food and drink.

I think my club (Schoolcraft College in Livonia) may be the closest to you, but there are a lot of others near by, with varying levels of fencers. If you're free on Friday, bring your gear to the Auxillary Gym at Schoolcraft and have a few bouts with us, with my compliments. The beginner class starts at 6, and the club fencing starts at 7:30.

Hope to see you there,

Doug McLaren
Schoolcraft Fencing

[SwordArcher]

Thank you for the invitation, HilandDoug. That is something that I will consider. My next few weeks are going to be crazy at work, so it may be a few weeks before I can get there. Since this is at a college, are there only certain Fridays that you can go to, or is it open year round? I work as a HR Director for Visteon, and we have our mandatory two week shut down coming up at the end of June, so I need to be sure that everything is taken care of before then. If I don't, there will be a MOUNTAIN of paperwork for me in July. BTW, interesting avatar. Is that you? And if so, why are you dressed like that? J/C..... Very nice hair and hat!

Thanks,
Marilyn

[HilandDoug]

Hi Marilyn,

Yes, that's me. Is your avatar you? If so, I was under the impression that you had to have a certain number of posts before you could use a custom avatar. Perhaps Craig has relaxed the restriction. I'm dressed like that because the picture was taken during a show I'm in at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I play Athos the Musketeer in a day-long scenario with lots and lots of stage combat. Our new show will open in mid-August.

Schoolcraft, where I teach, will go through the end of June. You can come any Friday to check out the gym and the club. We are on a break during July and August (where I actually have two months with NOTHING to do on Friday nights!), and begin again in September. Time permitting, I also go to the Renaissance Fencing Club (RFC) in Madison Heights. Lots of very good fencers there, and permanent strips set up as well. Our stage combat group practices there on Tuesday nights, and we should actually start rehearsals on our new script pretty soon. RFC is open 6 days a week, and usually till just after 10 pm. If you make it out to Schoolcraft, please introduce yourself to me. I like to know who's fencing in my gym, since I'm responsible if anything happens. And I hope I'm not disapointing you by telling you this, but my hair isn't really that long.