I am an active member of a local skiing club for which I organize several skiing courses during the winter season. Here are the top 5 questions I regularly receive from participants:

1. Is the event suitable for me/somebody else?

From people who have never participated in any event of the skiing club or who want to register one of their kids, I often receive the question whether the course is suitable for the participant or not. Although the information for whom the course is suited is shared via the program, the question is continously raised.

2. Are there still free seats available?

The skiing club organizes a big event which allows anyone who is interested to participate in any event to register. The registration event is the first possible date where registrations can be made (to make a fair offer to all interstees). After the registration event, interstees need to contact the organizer of the event of interest and send in a signed registration form (signature is required for authorization of direct debit payments).

For the events I organize, I can answer the question directly as most often, I know the status of the registrations by heart. For events which are organized by other colleagues, I do not know the status of the registrations and consequently I cannot awswer the question. I have no other choice than referring the interestee to a colleague.

So although there is an upper limit on the maximum number of participants for each event, and although the status of registrations should be known by the organizers of the events, there is no central overview on the status of registrations. Least of all one that interestees can check themselves. Consequently, people keep on asking.

3. Is my registration valid?

When somebody wants to register for an event after the registration day — here, they normally show up in person and hand in their registration form, and I can talk to them directly —, they need to send in a registration form via mail. As there might not be any free seats available any more, or because they could have made a mistake when filling out their registration form, people often want to know if their registration is valid and if they do have seat.

4. Is there any other event offered by your club which suits my needs?

Although the skiing club offers many courses to address a large target group (from kids to adults, from beginners to pros), people keep asking for certain kinds of events according to their interest (e.g., a beginners course for their son, aged 8). It seems that finding a suitable event is a problem even though the individual courses are described in the program and on the website. Also, the interestees do not really care if the event is offered by our skiing club or another one.

5. Do you know if XY participates in the event?

Skiing courses are social events, and many participants are loyal to our skiing club. The loyal participants personally know many of the instructors and enjoy a day on the piste with them. Also, spending a day off in a group with friends is more fun that going to the Alps with a group of people which are unknown. Consequently, people keep on asking whether a colleague XY of mine would participate in any specific event or if a friend XY of them already has registered for the event.

What are your experiences?

I would be interested if you have received similar or other questions when it comes to organizing events. Leave a comment or drop me a note via email on the kind of event and questions you received. I am happy to discuss with you.