Importance of Location SF versus Oakand

The first thing that pops into my mind is the stigma around Oakland.

I've been to SF, but not Oakland so I don't really know, but Oakland has somewhat of a bad name IMO.

To move that into better perspective let's pretend you live in the LA area and are providing acting classes. Would you set up shop in Hollywood or Compton?

As a consumer, I would rather go to Hollywood where all the stars are rather than looking over my shoulder hoping the future of rap music isn't about to shoot me in the back of the head.

BamIPD nailed it right on the head.

If I might continue that train of thought- Anything you're selling (unless maybe its hyphey music dvds) will sound more prestigious if its located in SF.

Hey David,

I'm in the Bay Area also and have heard of your company. If you can't go to SF (or don't want to), then I would try Berkeley. Even though you are right off BART, most Oakland bart stations are in iffy areas. And the ones that aren't that iffy, are only acceptable to people who are used to Oakland, not people who don't really care for it.

Try giving Berkeley a shot, even though there are only 3 BART stations, but I think you can overcome some/most of the Oakland stigma there. Besides if you can teach near the Downtown Berkeley station, there is a theater over further down Shattuck (Berkeley Repertory theater? I don't remember), and UC Berkeley, there should be a good community for your classes in Berkeley.

Oakland/Emeryville area is home to some large tech companies(Pandora, Ask.com, Pixar, just to name a few).

Perhaps the difference in attendance is due to different marketing strategies. Are you marketing your events the same way? Are you marketing your classes to the same type of clients?

Who is your target market? Are you targeting those people or just putting out some information and hoping for the best?

There are almost 8 million people in the SF Bay Area and over 2 million within 20 minutes of Oakland. Highly educated people who are constantly looking for new information for a leg up on their competition. Heck, it's soooo expensive to live here, you have no choice but to keep evolving or have a trust fund to fall back on.

Keep in mind that SF again has a large tech sector, lots of people interested in tech subjects. Perhaps it would be wise for you to do some marketing in SF, pull some business to your side of the bay.

Keep in mind people will travel to take the course if the subject matter is important to them. How are your courses different from your competition in SF?

Oakland is safer than San Jose(heart of the Silicon Valley), in terms of crime.

What is the course subject matter?

Improv. We actively market throughout the Bay Area.
Most of our competitors don't actively market other than
having a web site and perhaps Google Adwords.

My thought is SF attracts more people.
Or perhaps it is the difference in population?

If the subject of your classes is improve, then I can see why SF courses fill up faster. You are right, it's a difference in the population. Additionally, SF is a central point for those coming from Marin, the East Bay and the Peninsula.

Many people are used to taking courses offered in SF. A few years ago, when the Learning Annex was really popular, the courses were offered at various locations around downtown SF. I think people are just comfortable with it. There are things to do and places to go after the class is done.

You may want to concentrate some of your marketing efforts in Berkeley, they do have a nice size and active theatre arts community -- Berkeley Repertory Theatre groups, Berkeley Freight and Salvage Performing Arts, the Jazz School, Berkeley Black Repertory Group,The Julia Moragn theatre groups, etc.. Berkeley has a theatre district on Addison St., downtown.

I think the large performing arts community in SF may be much of the reason the classes in SF fill up so quickly.

Bro, I'm from Oakland as well. I would rather live in Alameda then Oakland.