If you/your kids are involved in martial arts (or any sports organization, really)

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

This is part question and part vent. Youngest DD is involved in a martial art. The academy is a chain, which I didn't know at first and don't necessarily love, but I do love the teachers at her branch and the manager, and DD is happy there, so whatever. I do have two complaints. First, they want the kids there 2-3 times a week. Fine, that's normal. But in addition to that, they're constantly doing extra things--community events, charity events, promotional things, "for every check-in on FB..." campaigns, baseball games, beach cleanups, etc. These are all great things, but holy moly, it's constant. There's no real pressure, but I homeschool, work for pay, manage our home pretty much all by myself, manage one extrovert's social/class schedule, and chauffeur/host for one teen's schedule. I find the extra requests/exhortations so overwhelming! Do most dojos/academies/sports organizations do this much extra stuff?

 

And here's the vent. They asked everyone to get on the FB group so they have one access point for important information. The owner of the franchise (a couple of dojos locally) uses that FB loop to spam us all constantly with parenting articles, local news, positive memes, articles about how martial arts help kids with autism/ADHD, etc. I would say two out of every five posts are actual necessary information. Everything else is this fluff. Everything she posts has a positive message, but I actively try to cut down on extra "noise," especially on FB. I've started missing important details because I've started inadvertently tuning the group posts out when I see her name on them. I know there's not much I can do about it, but it's making me nuts. DH doesn't really get my stress over this, but he also never checks his FB feed, so he doesn't have to deal with it! /ventover 

 

Thanks, I feel a bit better getting this off my chest *sigh*

Edited May 28, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Butter]

We have "extra" stuff, but it's not like what you listed.  At Christmas there's an angel tree one of the assistant instructors at another school runs for presents for children in the dialysis unit at two local hospitals.  At Thanksgiving there is food for the food bank.  Right now my own daughter is finishing up a book collection (used and new books - more than 200 were collected!) to give to a couple local charities.  None of that stuff is outside of the dojo, though.  It's just "bring it with you when you come."  My older two are on the demo team so there are community performances, but that's just for the dozen kids on the team.

 

As for the FB group, we don't have one.  I like the page for our school and necessary information is on there (but more often e-mailed out).  No parenting articles or anything like that, though.

[JustEm]

Dh is the head instructor at a non chain martial arts studio. They strive to do at least 2 events a month. It brings in money and new students. It is great exposure for the studio so the community gets to know them. That type of exposure has gotten them into some local public and private schools as a weekly special class. It is all about marketing.

 

But they certainly don't expect students to attend every event. They know some will, others pick the ones they are most interested in, and many don't attend any.

 

As for Facebook. That is another marketing strategy. But having it being the only way to get important info out isn't smart because of the fact that people like you and me find the daily posts of unimportant thing annoying. That is why our studio also emails important info. They do not emailp the inspirational and motivational stuff.

[SKL]

Hi, my kids' TKD school sounds similar, but it does not bother me.  As you said, there is no pressure to participate.  I wish I could do more, but like you said, we are super busy, and this is not the only organization soliciting volunteering / donations.  :)  So I just do whatever works for me, and I am pretty sure nobody cares.  If anyone ever asked, I would say we were booked in advance with other volunteer opportunities, or we gave through another organization.

 

My approach to FB noise has been to stop seeing all my friends' "likes" (it takes some time but helps).  I also unfollow friends who post a lot of stuff I don't want to see.  I don't mind seeing the posts from my kids' TKD school, so I haven't tried to stop them.

 

I "liked" my TKD school's FB page, so it shows up on my "pages feed."  I don't know if you can still see the "liked" pages in the "pages feed" even if you "unfollow" the page.  Might want to try that.  Otherwise, just unfollow the page and make a note to check it from time to time, say, once or twice a week.

[yucabird]

Our MA instructors tend to tell the kids about events, which tend to be MA-related (tournaments, seminars, etc.), then they follow up with a short note/handout the next class.  I’m very happy with this system.

 

My younger takes ballet, and last year her studio started using an app for notifications (and lots of last minute changes).  I found it highly annoying and complained about it; I’m sure others did too.  This year, they are back to their previous system:  notes handed out as well as tacked on the board.  I’m very happy with this system.  The admin asked me how I’d prefer to receive occasional, last-minute messages:  via app, text/e-mail, or phone.  I’ve had one e-mail this year.  I’m happy.

 

It wouldn’t bother me if the studio holds lots of events unrelated to MA, as long as students aren’t required or heavily encouraged to attend [the non-MA] events.  I wouldn’t mind going to FB to receive important messages, but spam posts would bother me.  We have a lot going on, and it is difficult enough to organize our weekly calendar.  I’d probably say something because it shouldn't be difficult for them to give you necessary info; you shouldn't have to search and waste your time.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

...

Edited December 18, 2016 by *lifeoftheparty*

[Guest]

Our place has a FB page but I made it very clear our family was not ok with social media. She suggested I set up a page to have access to their info anyway. I suggested she find a way to get me paper or emailed versions if she wanted my $300 a month. That seemed to solve the problem.

[SKL]

I should add that our school also informs us of important dates etc. by email and snail mail as well as on the dojang walls and verbally in class.  So you don't have to get their fb posts to know what's happening.  :)  I liked their page because I actually like seeing what they are up to.  :)

[HS Mom in NC]

TKD.  Not a chain
We have extras, but nothing like you list. 
The FB page is the TKD school stuff and nothing else. 
Important announcements happen in class and there's a handout sent home if there are lots of details.
We get a monthly email with important information.

I'm not temperamentally inclined to tolerate the kind of stuff at your martial arts school.

[El...]

At our dojo, the owner has the business on Facebook, separate from his own feed.  Anything inspirational or historical that he wants to broadcast goes on his own page, and less on the business page.  I follow both, but I enjoy both.  He only emails schedule items and promotions lists.

 

I agree that yours sounds like a bit much.  I wonder if you could let them know, somehow, that you're drowning in their messages and missing the important information due to being overwhelmed by so much content?  Maybe they'd leave out the parenting memes, etc.

[happypamama]

Ours has two studios but is not a chain.  They do occasional extra events, like summer day camps or nerf nights, but there's no pressure to attend those.  They do a have a new demo team, but I don't know much about how it works; I barely heard about it, so there's definitely no pressure there.  They do have a FB page and a FB group but only share stuff pertaining to class schedules (like holidays) or the occasional MA-related video, although often the owner will share MA-related videos on his personal page, rather than the business page.  Nothing annoying or objectionable.  We also get emails once a month with upcoming events, or as needed with reminders, since some people prefer FB and others prefer email.

 

Students attend the number of classes per week that they want to attend, and payment is set accordingly.  I got no pressure when I just wanted my kids to do one class a week, but we found that as my oldest, in particular, advanced, a second class was really helpful.  So my older two go twice a week, and my third child will remain at once a week until he's older/has advanced more.

Edited May 28, 2016 by happypamama

[idnib]

Our non-chain school is well-known locally, almost a right of passage for many of the local kids. They hold classes every day and you can show up for the class you want.

 

They probably have a FB page, but I've never checked. They email only when the school will be closed for a holiday, as a reminder. All of their marketing is done by flyers in the studio, or they post to a local parents list for our town, which allows ads once/month.

 

I enjoy the way they run things and would not join a studio if it required me to join their FB group for vital info I couldn't get some other way. It just wouldn't work for me. I do have a FB acct, but I only check it 2-3 times/year and that's enough for me.

[Tsuga]

Oh ugh.

 

Social media. It's how you get the name out there. Familiarity, just post post post post. There's a playbook and volume and brand recognition and volume and volume and volume are basically the top five rules.

 

Just--flood them, they'll have to say yes to something.

 

I hate it. I'm not on FB.

[gypsymama]

We aren't doing martial arts yet although the kids are asking about it so we'll likely add it this year. I would be annoyed at what you mentioned. Like others said we don't have just one thing going on. Constant additions, changes, messages etc would drive me batty. My kids participate in a lot of activities (although mostly seasonal so not all at once!) and it can just get to be too much when you have multiple activities with multiple kids.

 

I did have an issue last year with soccer. I asked for information before signing up to see how this would fit into our schedule. I was given: 2 wks of practices one day/wk followed by 6 wks of Saturday games, no practice once games started. Awesome. So I can manage two weeks with 3 days at the field then it'd be Saturday only the rest of the season! I even volunteered to coach the youngest so her league didn't get dropped. Umm... not how it worked! My son's team continued having practice and my daughter's did as well, except her coach wanted TWO practices each week. I know that shouldn't be shocking but seriously... that meant 3 days of practice plus 3 games each Saturday and we had a co-op I was teaching 2 classes at on Friday (which was never a game/practice day). I was only home on Sundays and by the end of the season I was practically in tears from the constant running and stress. I expect that with league/comp sports but this is youth rec and I asked for that reason. Ugh. My home body self is not cut out for that. Nope nope.