Have you been wishing you could go to ClickerExpo, but holding back because of expense? Minneapolis is your opportunity to attend ClickerExpo and still be kind to your budget. The crisp fall weather promises to be beautiful in early November—40s and 50s, with clear skies, great dog walking weather. Our three-star Marriot hotel is right next to a beautiful park. And, we've negotiated a very special rate of $75 a night. In room costs alone, Minneapolis could save you as much as $150 over three nights!
And now you can save money on registration! Go for the early bird signup, which saves you $50. In addition, for Minneapolis only, three or more people from a single organization can register as a group for $295 each, at a savings of $100 per person. So talk two friends into coming with you, and you'll all save money! For group discount information e-mail events [at] clickertraining [dot] com.
Also for Minneapolis, with so many universities and colleges in the region, and at the request of many local residents we're offering a special student discount. If you are a full-time high school, college, or graduate student, at any school in the US or Canada, you may register for half-price, $197.95. For student discount information e-mail events [at] clickertraining [dot] com.
Plus, if you register by September 15, you'll be entitled to 15% off all purchases from our store. Prepare yourself for ClickerExpo with clicker books, videos, and gear at a real savings!
More personal attention at Minneapolis Learning Labs
This year for the first time we're offering hands-on Learning Labs in which you can try out what you've learned, under the expert supervision of our expert faculty. Learning Labs will be led by popular teachers including Kathy Sdao, Virginia Broitman, Sherri Lippman, and myself (I'm leading Learning Labs on cues and behavior chains). Class sizes are limited and the popular Learning Labs will fill up quickly.
Our previous seasons have taught us that the fall ClickerExpo is always a little more relaxed and less crowded than the winter and spring programs. So Minneapolis will be your best chance for personal attention in actual training sessions from people whose teaching skills and knowledge of clicker training are the very best.
Remember, we're not there to train your dog for you, but to teach YOU to take your training to the next level; many learning lab exercises won't require a dog at all, because YOU are the one doing the learning. And with or without a dog, you'll have wonderful opportunities for individual feedback in Minneapolis.
So how come WE'RE not on Oprah?
We're always shocked when some big TV program or series like National Geographic, or, recently, Oprah, gives air time to some Hollywood-ish dog trainer whose harsh methods and dominance-based verbiage make clicker trainers cringe.
We had a big discussion about this on the ClickerExpo e-list recently (open only to past attendees of ClickerExpo). But how do you get a story about clicker training on these shows, or indeed any TV shows? People with strong backgrounds in public relations pitched in. One excellent piece of advice came from Mikki Capparelli-Lally:
And where do these shows get their ideas, anyway? Sometimes from PR firms. Sometimes from the public. But mostly, I think, from other media. If it's already been in the newspapers, or magazines, or on the radio, it's likely to show up on TV, and vice versa.
So, I think the place to begin is right in your own backyard. Want to see GOOD training get the media attention? Start with your local TV station, your local newspaper, your own city magazine.
In every city in your state there are always local news broadcasters looking for local color stories. Offer them a LITTLE story, something that can be aired in five minutes or less, something self-explanatory, a "Wow, look what they did! I'd like to try that," kind of story. Here are a few ideas:
- Clicker train a whole litter of puppies to high-five, sit in a row (to be picked up), come when called, and maybe target to the station's call letters. This is like a no-brainer, training-wise, and, especially if the puppies are very young, six weeks or so, it's unbelievably cute.
- Show how clicker training saved some shelter dog's life by making it adoptable; video the dog before (shy, over-the-top pushy, whatever) and after. Or several dogs.
- Clicker train a cat or two to ride in a bicycle basket, to do tricks at the vet's office, to walk on a leash, to play the piano; whatever will surprise the newscasters. Or offer to teach their cats to give a high five.
- Clicker train a group of dogs to retrieve a hotdog, then have a contest on camera.
- Show some very elderly people clicker training little household behaviors and cute tricks that make their dogs better companions.
- What's your zoo doing? Maybe they'll want TV exposure, too, for their benign husbandry training systems. How DO you take a blood sample from a rhinoceros? With a clicker, of course!
When you get on the air, you have a chance to promote your training classes, your local shelter, and of course clicker training in general. And if you don't want people calling you to find out more, the station can refer them to www.clickertraining.com for basic info.
Good pieces get picked up by other network stations, and sometimes get syndicated and shown over and over. Papers get ideas from TV and TV from the newspapers. When the media start talking to each other about clicker training stories, that's when the big guys start coming around. We can do it, I think. And at home is the place to begin.
Karen Pryor is the founder and CEO of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and Karen Pryor Academy. She is the author of many books, including Don't Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind. Learn more about Karen Pryor or read Karen's Letters online.
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