question on Stepping Out socials

[yippee1999]

I recently started taking classes at Stepping Out, and when the 8:30p classes end at 9:30p, on certain nights there is then a social in the main studio. Students that were in the studios surrounding the main one then spill out into the main room and chit-chat with fellow students, change back to their street shoes, or else take a seat to stay for the social.

I guess anybody who stays for the social is supposed to pay a separate fee to attend. My sense however is that there is no scientific way for them to make sure the students that were already within the confines of the studio have paid, is there? I only ask this cuz.... I was there last night after a class and planned on staying for the social. For some reason I thought if you were already there for a class that you didn't have to pay. Then a woman who was apparently manning the door where the paying "outsiders" would enter peeked her head in, and announced that anybody already inside, that was staying for the social, should see her to pay.

I didn't see many people going outside the room to pay her. Do you think SO just hopes the people already inside will be honest? Do lots of people hang out in the bathroom or something to avoid paying?

I was sorta irritated that I had to pay, but nonetheless I went outside to do so, only to realize I had no cash on me. I asked if I could pay with credit card and she said "not to ME you can't". So at that point I felt pretty irritated (mainly by her tone, and fact that I wasn't so sure everybody else was indeed paying) and I just left.

But I'm curious what others' perception of these after-class socials at SO are.....

 

[alemana]

they crack down periodically. when i first started going there 3 yrs ago, i never paid for the 9:30 socials when i was already in the studio... but that began to change with some management changes. the folks who then started running things on a day-to-day basis began clearing the ballroom to make sure everyone pays.

since then the studio has been completely sold to new owners.

 

[Dancebug]

(I don’t how what I write here is relevant to the subject on this thread.)

Based on my experiences with different ballroom venues, the more committed and passionate the owners/teachers are to dancing and teaching, the less shrewd they are as business owners. The owners of the studio (our coaches) where we currently take lessons never even ask for the payment for lessons or practice time. Even when they raise lesson fee, they rarely tell us. We often somehow find out and feel bad, realizing that we owe some money to them. Basically they run the studio based on the honor system, so if a student wants to get away without paying, he can very easily. But we don’t want them to go bankrupt and have the situation that they have to close the studio. We want them to be around at least as long as we want to learn and dance. So we always make sure that we pay to the penny. Sometimes we go overboard and we make sure that others pay too, especially when we have the key and let people in to practice. But I have to add we don't have to ask anyone in most of the cases.

 

[alemana]

yeah, that generalization does seem to hold some water.

also a thing that happens at (in my experience mostly independent) studios is that the "hardcore" students, who are paying for example for "unlimited" monthly group classes, or take lots of privates, or whatever, often get some perqs that more casual and/or newer students do not. i'm not talking about perqs that may be built in to the 'unlimited' scheme - i'm talking over-and-above. i never danced anywhere where i had to sign a contract.