If you haven’t used the word barter recently, it still means what it did in your fifth grade history class—the exchange of goods in lieu of money. And for those of you who don’t already know, Trade School Indy is rocking the barter for knowledge world.
From cocktail making and screen play writing to vegan cooking basics and how to dress better as a man. Trade School Indy pretty much covers all of it. (Want to know about the classes before they fill up? Get on the Trade School email list.)
And this isn’t just local success. Our branch of Trade School is one of the best branches in the world, and we’re playing with places like Paris, New York, London, Los Angeles, Berlin, Manila, and Toronto.
For the last two years I’ve been attending classes and making new, more-than-Facebook-friend friends and drinking drinks and eating cheese and making books and fancy coasters with supplies, none of which I actually paid for. Not to mention it’s just something different that you don’t have to plan for, you just have to show up.
I mean, come on, that’s a pretty awesome deal.
So, I’ve been telling just about anyone who gets within ten feet of me about it. How it’s one of the best things you can do if you’re new to Indy and are still trying to make new friends. And how it’s one of the best things you can do if you’re not new to Indy and are just trying to find something new to do (or maybe you want new friends, too).
The classes are generally around 10-20 people, so they’re not overwhelming and plenty of the participants, if not most, really do come by themselves.
And if nothing else, these classes are the absolutely best fodder for interesting conversation. Want to impress your coworkers? Try throwing out what you know about making a PC or homemade chicken stock.
I can’t promise every class is the catalyst to a more exciting life. But I do know that this non-traditional, continued learning is good for your brain. And it’s tons of fun.
Now the coolest part of it all is that Trade School Indy is moving to an optional membership model. I know that the primary driver is funding and blah, blah, blah. But as a long-time user of Trade School, I’m super excited about what this means for the quality and frequency of the classes and for the development of Trade School Indy as a sort of community.
Plus, it’s only $25 (or you can barter volunteer hours) to be a member for the whole year, and the way I see it is that that’s seriously the best membership opportunity in Indianapolis.
In fact, I’m so excited I’m actually thinking of signing up for one of the teaching fellowships. Maybe I’m a little nervous about that, but I’ve been told the teachers get a lot of one-on-one help to refine their ideas and plan for their classes. We’ll see. Either way, you should totally check it out and become a member with me.
Also, all these lovely photos have been borrowed from the Trade School Indy Facebook. I’m sure they’re okay with it.
