On The 3rd Day of Christmas at The Dojo...

...we planned our Christmas/holiday party. And if you don't traditionally have a Christmas or holiday party at your dojo, now is the perfect time to start.

Here's why you should have a Christmas party this year. Not only should you have a Christmas party, you should also have a Spring Fling, a School's Out party, a 4th of July Picnic, a Back-to-School Buddy Night, a Halloween Party...

Heck, you should take any excuse to have a party for your students. See, having these parties affords you the chance to show your appreciation for your students. And, they also provide your students and their family members the opportunity to interact and bond outside of class.

For both of these reasons, holiday events and seasonal parties serve an incredibly important function in your overall retention strategy. I can tell you, based on my experience running schools and with coaching school owners, those school owners who regularly hold special events for their students tend to retain more students longer than those who don't.

So, if you haven't planned a holiday party yet, plan one today and announce it ASAP. And just a hint - parents hate it when you spring this stuff on them, so if you're just announcing it this week, it might be best to have it after Christmas. But, that's your call.

And what do you do during a holiday party? Well, if you mostly have kids in your school, for starters you let them invite their friends. Then, you have a fun martial arts class for about the first 20 minutes or so, and you play some games with the kids (holiday themed of course).

After that, everyone mingles and enjoys some holiday treats (encourage parents to bring their favorite holiday treats, and you supply beverages and chips). Make sure to play some Christmas music in the background, as it'll help set the mood.

Then, at the end of the night, hand out some holiday goodie bags to the kids. You don't have to spend a lot on this, but giving the kids a goodie bag with some Christmas candy and maybe a toy surprise is a nice way to cap off the night.

And if you have an adult-focused school? I suggest meeting somewhere at a local social house - no place that's too rough or wild, mind you - and that you simply afford your students the opportunity to hang out and mingle over a drink or two.

Or, host a holiday party at your house, if you're comfortable with that sort of thing. Just remember that it's your responsibility to set an example and not look or act the fool. 

The bottom line is that you are doing this to show appreciation for your students, and to let them SEE how much you appreciate their presence at your school. (And keep in mind that you want this to be a positive experience, so take off the instructor hat for the night and just be social.)

Finally, remember to take plenty of pictures and video (but nothing that would embarrass anyone, of course) because we're going to use that later. In fact, you should be taking pictures of your classes and events (like belt promotions and tournaments) all year long.

More on that later in this series, but for now, just spend 30 minutes or so today planning your holiday party and creating an announcement/invitation flier to hand out tonight and tomorrow night to your students at the end of each class.