Workshop Requests
General Guidelines
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- Please read this article completely. If you do not understand anything, please contact us before requesting a workshop.
- Requests should be submitted 2 months in advance of the requested date.
- We provide workshops to groups with 10 or more participants.
- We can only provide each group with one workshop per month. You may make multiple requests but each requested workshop must be scheduled for a different month.
- Requesting a workshop does not require advance registration, an account or sign-on. Simply fill out the request form and submit it.
Workshops are available either in-person or online
- In-Person
If you request a Workshop Presenter to conduct a workshop in-person, . . .
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- ensure you can provide the Presenter and your group with the necessary physical and technical resources.
- please understand our Presenters must follow government health recommendations and regulations. For the safely of everyone, cancellations may be necessary – sometimes on short notice – if it should be so dictated by health and safety guidelines.
- consider a backup plan to provide your group with an online session if an in-person session is not possible.
- Online ( via Zoom)
If you request a Workshop Presenter to conduct a workshop online, . . .
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- our volunteer Workshop Presenters are trained to conduct our sessions in Zoom meetings. You must provide a Zoom Meeting for the Workshop Presenter and your participants. This requires having access to a paid Zoom account.
- ensure you can provide our Presenter with “co-host” privileges so that the Presenter can use Zoom’s “Share” feature to present PowerPoint slides and other workshop content.
- ensure you can schedule the Zoom meeting to allow enough time for the presentation and questions. Our workshops are typically 1-2 hours. Please note that the free Zoom service does not allow enough time for most of our workshops.
- ensure you are comfortable with using Zoom and can provide technical support for the Presenter and participants, and be present and available to assist as needed.
To request an in-person or Zoom workshop
- Ensure you are selecting a session from our most up-to-date brochure as availability of individual sessions may change. When considering your schedule, please allow 1-2 hours for each presentation and sufficient time for the Presenter to set up and ensure the technology is working.
- Complete a Workshop Request Form. Please include any additional instructions that may be important (e.g. mainly non-English participants, language interpreter present, request for a specific Presenter).
Response from the Seniors’ Health and Wellness Institute
- You should receive an automated acknowledgement of your request by email within a couple of hours. However, acknowledgements can sometimes be delayed. Please allow up to 3 hours for an acknowledgement.
- If there are any additional concerns about your request, we will contact you within 2 business days (Monday-Friday). If there are no immediate concerns, you may not hear back from us again until 10-14 days before your selected workshop date.
- If you submitted a request but did not receive an email acknowledgement within 3 hours, please email our Workshop Booking Coordinator.
Confirmation of Sessions
- Requests for sessions are sent to our volunteer Presenters 3-4 weeks in advance of your requested dates.
- Presenters respond by specifying which sessions they are available to present.
- Once your requested session is matched with an available Presenter, you will receive a confirmation that your workshop is booked. The confirmation contains instructions and contact information for you and the Presenter. You and the Presenter are responsible for making final arrangements for the workshop. If you have already consulted with a Presenter that has agreed to do your workshop, please note this in your request.
- We do our best to confirm Presenter at least two weeks before the date you requested for the session. If we are unable to do so, we will contact you to discuss your options.
Tips
- Plan at least one month ahead. To provide our team with time to plan, schedule and coordinate with Presenters, we are booking workshops 3-4 weeks in advance. But don’t hesitate to make a request even if it is on shorter notice. We can sometimes accommodate. We will contact you and provide you with options.
- Ideally you would gather as many participants as possible for any given workshop. Given the preparation and travel time required for the Presenter, it is suggested your aim would be a minimum of 10 seniors committed to attend. Should the number drop below that minimum, please contact the Presenter assigned for your session to discuss your options.
- Schedule only one workshop per month. If we receive conflicting requests – scheduled for the same month – we must cancel all the conflicting requests.
