Last Friday and Saturday we had our second annual Bar Method Convention. Both years, franchisees gathered at the flagship studio in San Francisco for seminars, master classes, updated materials, discussion, and fun. In the last 12 months, we have grown from 21 to 33 studios including new locations in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada. Seven studios are currently under construction, among them facilities in Palo Alto and New York City. (See the photo above of Manhattan studio owners Amy and Kristin working out in that city's Central Park).
Both this year and last, the studio owners began to arrive a few days early to take class and meet or reconnect with each other. My partner Carl and I get a thrill watching these reunions. There’s no better word to describe the sight of studio owners connecting but joyful, and I can understand why they feel that way. This year Amy and Catherine, co-owners of the Manhattan and Chicago studios (respectively), came early to teach each other classes in an unused studio room. Later, many of the owners of the seven studios currently under construction arrived bubbling with stories of how hard it was to get all their building permits and how much fun it is now to be seeing their studios coming together.
Bar Method franchisees are a breed apart. They are without exception radiant, talented and driven. They share a passion for and dedication to the Bar Method as a life path.
As this year’s convention got under way, I noticed one striking difference between last year’s event and this one. Last year, we all focused on learning the basic components of studio ownership: management, marketing, and developing our website. This past Friday and Saturday, it was clear that the studio owners had advanced light years in these areas. However, although we did discuss these subjects, our focus shifted to something more essential: the quality of our classes.
It turns out that during the last 12 months while the franchisees have been focusing on this issue, those of us at the Bar Method’s headquarters have been putting in place new programs to increase and maintain quality. We’ve brought on a corps of teacher-evaluators and teacher-trainers. We’ve expanded our teacher manual and have developed an online Bar Method-wide teacher evaluation system. Meanwhile the franchisees have taken it upon themselves to regularly visit each other’s studios. Often the visiting franchisee teaches a few classes, then meets with the teachers at the studio she's visiting to coach any teachers in need of guidance.
What I used to fear as the result of our growth, namely a disintegration of quality, has failed to materialize. The opposite has occurred. Due in part to the dedicated efforts of our franchisees, the quality of our classes has risen and is continuing to rise. I want to thank our studio owners for enabling us to defy conventional wisdom. Their commitment to quality makes it possible for us to bring The Bar Method’s workout to more and more people every year with the knowledge as we get bigger we also get better.