As another summer wraps up and many of us now settle back into the rush of school and work, I wanted to pause for a moment to thank our teacher and friend, Michael Malitsky Sensei, for the 23 years he has given to us managing the business of this dojo, anchoring our community, and sharing his Aikido with us. It will be an adjustment for all as he and his family transition to their new home and next chapter of life.
Sensei, we wish you the best and hope you come back often to teach, train, or just have a beer and a good laugh with us!
As Matt Lowry Sensei assumes the role of dōjōshu and I ramp into the role of dōjōchō, we want to make a few “housekeeping” updates:
1) New Website
We’ve launched a new Great Lakes Aikido website at https://www.greatlakesaikido.org and will continue expand it in coming weeks. This site has a live calendar and blog for announcements. Please check these often for information about class schedules (or cancellations), events, and other news. Many thanks to Calliope, my daughter and our newest sankyu, for the design and testing of this mobile-friendly layout. Please let us know if you encounter any issues or have suggestions.
2) New Opt-In Email Announcement List [ACTION REQUESTED]
Our old email announcement list will be retired soon. We are moving to an opt-in email model that will allow us to comply with current standards around bulk commercial email. We will also start sending email from info@mkt.greatlakesaikido.org. Please add this to your email allow lists to be sure we don’t end up in your junk mail folders.
If you wish to continue to receive announcements from Great Lakes Aikido, you MUST fill out the “Start a conversation” form on https://www.greatlakesaikido.org/contact/. This will add you to our email contacts list:
3) New Dojo Management System [ACTION REQUIRED FOR ALL MEMBERS]
We have adopted dojo management software called GymDesk. This gives us a single application for membership records (including tracking progress toward promotions), email marketing/recruiting, and registration for classes/events. The payment processing continues to use Square on the back end, so nothing changes for credit card processing, but we will now be able to automate invoicing and tracking recurring payments. GymDesk also allows “Family” accounts where a primary account holder can associate other accounts (e.g. spouse, children) and manage payments for all of them.
Because of this, we are requesting that all current members create accounts for themselves as follows:
- Go to the signup form at https://gymdesk.greatlakesaikido.org/signup
- If you are an active member, select “Member”. If you plan to visit or train occasionally, select “Visitor”. The difference is whether you will choose a recurring payment option further down the form:
- Current members should select a membership plan. If different arrangements need to be made, please register as a “Visitor” and contact me directly:
- IMPORTANT: Read and sign the “Waiver of Liability” and “Media Release” forms. Acceptance of the “Waiver of Liability” is mandatory to participate in classes per our insurance (see #4 below). The Privacy Policy is for your information and does not need a separate signature:
Also note that there is some information that must be filled/selected within these documents:
- Complete the rest of the form, including setting a strong password for yourself.
Once you have registered, you will be able to login to the member portal and manage your profile and account. You can also access your signed documents there.
4) New Corporate Structure and Insurance
Great Lakes Aikido is now a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). For the purposes of check writing and other paperwork; the legal name of the dojo is now GREAT LAKES AIKIDO LLC. We also have a dedicated office phone: +1-224-331-2821. This change was made for insurance, liability, and tax requirements in the transfer of the organization. Please be aware that the change of corporate structure does mean that we need everyone to sign the new liability waivers through the member account creation above.
Whew! That was a long one!
Thank you so much for making it to the end of this post! Major transitions can bring chaos and uncertainty, but they also create opportunities for reorganizing and new growth. I’m excited to see where we grow from here and look forward to seeing you all on the mat soon!
Best,
Daniel
—
Daniel G. Epstein
道場長 – dōjōchō | 副指導員 – fukushidōin
Great Lakes Aikido www.greatlakesaikido.org