Suggestions for organizing workshops

Though the curriculum is designed to be presented in four separate sessions, it can be adapted to several presentation formats. Selection of the workshop format depends on the educator, the audience, access to the Internet and computers, funding and the availability of other resources. The curriculum is written for presentation by one educator, though depending on one’s experience with artisans, two or more may easily divide the content and enhance the presentation through professional and personal experiences. The content is based on research and an extensive review of literature as well as the experiences of the author and other contributors.

Suggested workshop organization	Alternate workshop organization
Module I - 2 hrs Module II - 3 hrs Module III- 3 hrs Module IV- 3 hrs	Module I & II - 5 hrs Module III & IV - 6 hrs

If presenting the workshop strictly as a lecture with no participants at individual computers, the time frame can be reduced. This format presents limitations, however, in that participants want to see and experience Web sites that may be similar to their products. If at all possible request that participants bring one or two of their products to show others. You can better understand the visual needs of the product in an Internet business setting. The value of having a mix of experienced and inexperienced artisans in one workshop is that they share their experiences and provide prospective to the artisan type of business that you, as the instructor, may not have. The group activities, particularly in Module I, provide for sharing of ideas and products, while the business plan activity at the end of Module IV, also provides a venue for sharing among artisans.

An audience that is highly experienced with years of work as an artisan, but with little or no Internet experience, will require more intense education regarding the Internet than a person who already has a Web site and is conducting business via e-commerce. It is beneficial to sort business experience information gained from promotional material and to have some basic understanding of what the audience expects from the course. A registration template is included to help gather some of that type of information.