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Open Table for Yoga Bookings?

February 3, 2010 •

As a busy yoga enthu­si­ast, I some­times won­der what would hap­pen if yoga stu­dios within a given metro area agreed to an “Open Table” model for class book­ings. (Open Table is a cen­tral­ized reser­va­tion ser­vice for restau­rants that oper­ates in major cities, includ­ing iPhone and other smart­phone apps.)

In an ideal world I’d take 6–8 weekly classes in suc­ces­sion from the same teacher at the same stu­dio, to ben­e­fit from her care­ful class plan­ning and sequenc­ing. But in 2 years of tak­ing classes I’ve never been able to attend all 8 classes due to fam­ily or work-related sched­ule con­flicts. As a result I’ve joined a sec­ond local stu­dio to have an alter­nate place where I can take classes when I face a con­flict with my pri­mary stu­dio. Each one uses Mind­Body for book­ing pur­poses, so I have two sep­a­rate accounts now.

From a busy student’s per­spec­tive, it would be really great if I could book classes using a cen­tral­ized reser­va­tion sys­tem that showed me all the classes avail­able today (or at later dates) within, say, a 20-mile radius. For each class on offer I’d want to see infor­ma­tion about the yoga style or tra­di­tion, the teacher, the rel­a­tive dif­fi­culty of the class, pre­req­ui­sites (if any), time, loca­tion, pric­ing, etc. Like the Open Table restau­rant model it would be nice to see some­thing com­pa­ra­ble to menus and pho­tographs of the venue, if it’s a stu­dio I’m unfa­mil­iar with. I’d also want to be able to fil­ter the class list­ings by teacher name, yoga tra­di­tion (such as Anusara), dif­fi­culty level, etc.

This raises a larger ques­tion of the busi­ness model. Would I pay the cen­tral book­ing ser­vice, and have it dis­burse funds to the stu­dio? (My per­sonal pref­er­ence as a stu­dent.) Would there be a finder’s fee paid by the book­ing ser­vice to the stu­dio, with stu­dents pay­ing for the class directly to the stu­dio? I don’t know. Cer­tainly from the student’s per­spec­tive, being able to book and pay online in a sin­gle trans­ac­tion is the most con­ve­nient approach.

What I do know is, I’d take more classes if such a book­ing sys­tem were avail­able, one that allowed me to book and take classes on the spur of the moment, as time per­mits. Such an approach could be finan­cially ben­e­fi­cial to the stu­dio own­ers, if they could fill up more classes… They might even offer spe­cials on classes that are gen­er­ally sparsely attended.

Per­haps this is some­thing that Mind­body could explore.

Are Digital Models Influencing the Business of Yoga?

December 17, 2009 •

My Seat­tle yoga stu­dio is under­go­ing what its founder calls a “rebirth,” over­haul­ing its web pres­ence, expand­ing the class ros­ter, and offer­ing online class reg­is­tra­tion and pay­ment options. Finally!

This is a smart deci­sion, as they have lim­ited space, a grow­ing num­ber of qual­i­fied teach­ers, and increas­ing demand for their classes and work­shops. On one note­wor­thy Sun­day,  [Read more…]

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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