SkillShare Philly

by Mandy Weger on August 17, 2011

Last night, Mike and I went to Philly and met up with Shannon from You Wanna Talk Jive (Candy Corn on Weddingbee), her boyfriend Pete, and Brooke from Claremont Road (Cupcake on Weddingbee) for an exciting event launch in Philadelphia.

It’s called SkillShare, where regular, everyday people can teach a class on a skill they’ve mastered or knowledge that they possess to other everyday people who want to learn! For example, Shannon is going to be teaching a class on how to hunt for and renovate thrift store items!

The launch of SkillShare last night started with everyone filling out a name tag with their name (obvs) and then what kind of class they might teach. Mike wrote that he would teach a class on Travel Planning since he’s the king of travel itineraries and research. I wrote that I could teach a class on Couples Cooking because I think I could teach couples how to work well in the kitchen together while being creative and having fun. I could probably also teach a class on DIY Wedding Planning, right? ;)

The event got me excited about all of the possibilities when it comes to what we could learn in short, cheap classes. I could learn photography basics without signing up for a ridiculously expensive course. I could pick up tips on how to engage a larger audience for my blog. I could take a course on how to get started in the freelance writing world. These are all things that I’ve been wanting to learn, but don’t really have the money or contacts to get the information from anywhere but Google.

SkillShare seems like a great way to build a stronger community. There’s something really wonderful about the thought that everyone has something to offer the world–everyone has something that they’re passionate about or knowledgeable about that they could share with others. It’s also a great way to meet people in your area who share the same interests as you while you expand your horizons and learn something new.

I really love the idea. Not sure yet if I’ll be teaching a class since we don’t have a lot of time left in the Philly area before we move, but I hope to take a few classes!

What would you want to learn if you had a SkillShare in your city? What would you want to teach?

Pin It
  • http://twitter.com/MintedLife Kelsey L

    Wow, that’s such a cool idea!  I’ve never heard of anything like that.  I hope we have something like that in Austin!

    [Reply]

    Mandy Reply:
    August 17th, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    They’re trying to open this up in Austin! They need more votes to “unlock” the city though–sign up & spread the news! http://www.skillshare.com/learn?city=austin

    [Reply]

  • Shannon Collins

    Thanks for the Skillshare love! It was so nice meeting you and Mike last night!!

    [Reply]

  • http://www.geekinheels.com Geek in Heels

    SkillShare sounds awesome! Definitely something I would be looking into when the kids get a bit older!

    [Reply]

  • http://twitter.com/loverenovations Amanda

    I think it’s a fantastic idea, and I’d love to take some skillshare classes if there was one in Austin!

    [Reply]

    Brendan Lowry Reply:
    August 21st, 2011 at 1:53 am

    Amanda, you can help bring Skillshare to Austin by rallying your community for votes: http://www.skillshare.com/learn?city=austin

    [Reply]

  • http://twitter.com/LazyKitchenette The Lazy Gourmet

    This sounds FAB.  Let’s take some courses!  I can teach….something…. Spanish cooking maybe? Cuban cooking?  I took a mosaic class once.  I can totally teach you how to make a really sweet coaster. ROFL

    [Reply]

    Brendan Lowry Reply:
    August 21st, 2011 at 1:55 am

    LOVE your blog. Spanish cooking would be an excellent class. I’m helping launch Skillshare here in Philly, and would love to chat with you about bringing you on board to teach a class. Email me at LowryBrendan{at}gmail.com

    [Reply]

  • http://hernewleaf.wordpress.com/ Kira

    I wish we had it here but (for some reason) LA hasn’t been “unlocked” yet. I recently took a photography workshop and would LOVE to learn more. Or basically anything else.. Art, jewelry making, furniture restoration, etc. You can never stop learning!

    [Reply]

  • http://twitter.com/brelow Brendan Lowry

    Mandy, thanks for coming out to the event and for writing such an awesome post. I think a couples cooking class would be amazing (I know my girlfriend and I would sign up right away). Let me know if you want to talk logistics!

    [Reply]

  • http://Theworldaroundher.blogspot.com Diana

    What a great idea!! I would love to try this! I really love to scrapbook, so that could be something. Love that you went down with the other Philly bees! PS just found your blog from your guest post on Terri’s blog!! :)

    [Reply]

Previous post:

Next post: