Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2012-05-28 08:28:55 - Graham Ellis
Well ... yesterday was one of the busiest days I can recall, and it was a Sunday. We've moved a very long way from the UK (and our business) being Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
There are - normally - a couple of compromises to it being a "weekend" day on Sunday - such as breakfast starting at 08:00 rather than 07:00. Except that - this weekend - there was an event at the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics, to which we are the closest hotel, and judges staying with us wanted a 07:30 breakfast. No problem - as long as we know the previous evening (and we did).
Our "classic" training courses - such as PHP Programming - start on Mondays, and are designed for delegates with some prior programming knowledge. But sometimes we have a delegate who hasn't programmed before, and requires a gentle introduction, covering the basic principles of programming such as sequential operation, BODMAS, variables, conditionals and loops. And for such delegates, we'll run an extra day in front of the main course. So yesterday was the start of Learning to program in PHP - a PHP course that's extended by a day, and provides that first programming introduction in the same language as the rest of the week.
From small beginnings, these extra days have really found their niche, and we had three delegates - an ideal number - on the course that started at 09:00. On Sunday! I love these newcomer groups - it's very hard work for me as tutor to think back and remind myself of the basics, but it's intensely rewarding. And I end up demonstrating lots of things that can be done too, with a really enthusiastic group, so that I'll often finish w-a-y after the official 5 p.m. time. We were looking wider at topics like Google Analytics into the early evening - there's a limit to how much programming newcomers can do in a day - but we were all enjoying it all.
It's been a lovely weekend, and a busy weekend in Melksham too, so all of our hotel rooms which weren't booked by course delegates were booked by "Hotel Only" guests. Running the top-rated hotel within the town of Melksham (Trip Advisor current ranking) means that we can fill up even though we hardly advertise. And at the weekend, it means that our guests hang around, enjoying a leisurley breakfast - yesterday most of them chose to eat in the garden. See Well House Manor Hotel site for more details ;-).
Sunday is also a big "changeover" day. Apart from the "learning" delegates, everyone checks out, and Sunday arrivals are delegates for the Monday start of the course, and visitors to other businesses in Melksham. So that's quite a lot of rooms to change, and potentially late checkins, station pickups, etc. Sunday - most certainly - is no longer a day of rest!