Trade School Denver

I have a sister that has a degree in Communications/Spanish and a Masters of Non Profit Organizations. She is a runner, reader and loves adventure. She also, admittedly, get bored very easily. Because of her love of adventure and her short attentions span she and a friend, with the same tendencies, started Trade School Denver (https://www.facebook.com/TradeSchoolDenver).

They both love DIY and traded stories and ideas for new and different crafts. One evening they were hanging out, enjoying a glass of wine and were talking about how cool it would be to learn stuff for free. Like how to make wine or new knitting methods. (yep, she knits too) "What we need," they said, "was a school to teach us DIY and other interesting stuff." With that an idea was born and my sister Andrea and her friend started Trade School Denver.

Trade School Denver is a free school where you get to learn new things for free. Here is how it works.
Each month my sister and/or her friend find a new topic to feature. For instance they did "How to make mittens out of an old wool sweater" and "Learn about tequila."
They contact an expert to see if they would like to teach a free class on their topic of interest. They then find a location to have the class. For instance, they have held classes at yarn shops, coffee shops, libraries and other donated space. They have even had a class on Drag Racing and at that one you had the option to pay a fee to actually drive a drag racing car.

They have been doing this for a year and it has taken off. How did they do this? With Facebook. Yes, they have only used Facebook. They show a website but their FB site has been the most effective way to drum up "customers" as well as instructors. On their site they post the past and current events, post pictures of the events and have posts from attendees. They show insets pop-up windows for the "experts" they are featuring and then give the event details in posts.

They are able to schedule the events around their work schedules but have a great relationship with their attendees who understand that the coordinators as well as the instructors are all 100% volunteer.

They are on a break right now as my sister is travelling for work and her friend is busy but please check out their FB to see how they used Social Media to educate, communication and establish a relationship with fellow DIY and Social Adventurers. Maybe one day I can follow in my Little Sister's footsteps and start my own Trade School Twin Cities.

Trade School Denver
Community Organization
Swapping skills, making community.