McGoo U: Frequently Asked Questions

McGoo U.  What is it?  

I started teaching cookie decorating in 2013.  I met and taught amazing people.  Basically we had cookie decorating playdates.  I taught mostly in my home, but also had the opportunity to teach internationally and domestically including as a presenter at the first CookieCon and as the keynote speaker at the second one in Salt Lake City, Utah.  There is nothing like sitting and creating something beautiful with new friends!  

I loved being creative and helping people step by step get amazing results!  The only part I didn’t like was how many people were missing out!  I got asked many times to film the classes and make them available online so anyone could attend and cookie along… McGoo U Online was born.  This subscription makes it possible for people who can’t make it to a class in person feel like they are right there, decorating along.

McGoo U.  Where is it?

The first time I taught was in Italy in 2013.  It was there that I realized how much I loved teaching and brought it to my home where I could easily set up and bake for my students.  I taught first time cookie decorators and students who have been decorating for over 20 years.  Each of them left with beautiful cookies and new friends.  It was so fun creating with them and getting to know them.

Now that I am creating McGoo U Online, we film it in Kansas City in a beautiful studio that has all the latest technology, HD cameras, a sound studio, a dreamy kitchen, even a green screen!  It has been such a blast to work with the Real Media studios because the camera crew and producers and editors are awesome!  They are super creative and are as excited about this project as we are… and by we I mean my husband and I.  Mr. John has been a huge supporter and has been working as hard as I have on pulling everything together. 

These 5 segments are featured every month:

  • McGoo U class:  This is where I teach 3 seasonal cookie designs step by step.  I try to use a variety of techniques and teach skills you can add to your cookie decorating arsenal.  Basically, I’m teaching you to become a cookie decorating ninja.  Each month a printable list of supplies with links to specific tools is published along with the video so you can cookie right along with the class.
  • Expert Lab:  Visiting cookie professors from all over come and demonstrate one of their specialties in the McGoo U kitchen classroom.  It can be anything from an original cookie design or a very specific technique.  Past featured cookiestars include Maryann Rollins of The Cookie Artisan, Georganne Bell from LilaLoa, Callye Alvarado of Sweet Sugarbelle’s, Pam Sneed of CookieCrazie, and I can’t wait to show you all the fabulous cookiers who are coming up!   
  • Mixing It Up!:  We’ve just decorated and created and now it’s time to sit around the kitchen table and chat with our visiting cookiestar.  We chat about what inspires them, their family, future projects, and everything in between.  Mixing It Up is our chance to get to know our virtual cookie friends a little better.  
  • After School: School is out!  We can take off our backpacks and get a little… a lot silly.  This segment is all about having fun and getting into crazy situations.  These “After School” specials have taken us to a cemetery in the middle of the night, led to a fist-fight, baking in the nude-ish, and gotten us kicked out of the mall… All in the name of fun.  Anything goes in After School, but it is usually a cookie-driven comedy skit where the visiting guest star and I poke fun at cookiers, at ourselves, and get into some trouble.  Stay in school kids.  
  • Extra Frosting:  There are two things I love:  watching the process of something being created and not wasting anything (which includes time because some days I have the attention span of a gnat).  “Extra Frosting” fits the bill perfectly.  This segment is where I use up the extra frosting from class and create a cookie design off the top of my head.  This is also a recipe for a potential disaster so there is an element of danger involved.  It is all done in time-lapse so it shows the whole process from start to finish, but it isn’t so long that you will get distra….  Wait… what was I saying?  Where am I?
  • Smart Cookie: Whether you are a home baker, a hobbyist, or a business cookier, this segment can help you cookie smarter.  Some months this short class will focus on how to simplify a cookie design for bigger orders, in other months it will be conversations with the fantastically brilliant accountant, author, business consultant and recurring guest, Marquita Miller.

McGoo U.  When is it?

A new batch of McGoo U episodes comes out the first week of every month.  Because there is a lot involved with editing and production, there is a bit of flexibility as to when they are posted, but it is always within the first 7 days of each month.

Our filming schedule is every 3- 4 months.  We fly to Kansas City and work really hard, have a lot of fun, and film all our segments.  

McGoo U.  How do I get my hot little hands on it?

There are two ways to go about it.  There is a yearly or a monthly option and here is how it works.  

Yearly option: you get new episodes every month with constant access to all past and present segments and episodes 24/7/365 (that is to say unlimited).  As a bonus, you get some extra perks every once in a while that are exclusively for yearly McGoobers.  The videos are not downloadable so they are not available unless you are a current subscriber.

All accounts are set to auto-renew.  This is so you can lock in your original or promotional price (if applicable) and can be changed at any time by you, the account holder.  You may choose not to renew and/or cancel the auto-renew option at any time through your preferred method of payment.   

Monthly option: you get 30 days of watching that month’s McGoo U course. Once the 30 days is over, it will automatically renew for the next month unless you change your settings.

All accounts are set to auto-renew.  This is so you can lock in your original or promotional price (if applicable) and can be changed at any time by you, the account holder.  You may choose not to renew and/or cancel the auto-renew option at any time through your preferred method of payment.

{Link to subscription options below}

McGoo U.  Why isn’t it free?

McGoo U officially got up and running with the debut month of episodes in October 2014.  From the beginning we have worked hard at bringing the best guests who teach a variety of techniques, quality video production, and creating excellent content.  When you’re in your kitchen decorating in your jammys you don’t have to think about microphones or if your hand is blocking a close up shot and you certainly don’t have to think about what to say!  Decorating cookies in front of 4 HD cameras is a whole new experience!  

All of this to say: I WISH I could have an Oprah moment and tell you all of this comes at no cost, but quality filming, flying in guests and making them feel welcome, feeding a crew, not to mention hauling ourselves, costumes and cookies to Kansas City is not free.  Affordable is a relative term, but I have really tried to stuff as much awesome into this affordable package I call McGoo U Online.  If you were to take one of my classes you would pay the same amount, but with a year subscription you get TWELVE classes, plus additional content from other outstanding teachers.  Just think: all this amazing content each month for less than 3 of your iced, half caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, sugar free, cinnamon, dolce soy skinny lattes.  

McGoo U.  Why do you do it?

I love it.  I love the cookie community.  I love meeting kindred cookiers.  I love creating with others.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  cookies are the answer to world peace.  If the leaders of all the countries could have a summit where they decorate cookies together this world would be a better place.  

I want to show off my guests and have you get to know them.  I want to show their genius, their thoughts, and their sense of humor.  

I want viewers to have fun while learning.  I want to cookie with everyone and if I can’t do it in person, I want to do it virtually.  

 

 

 

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Rowaida Flayhan

    Hi, I would like to know about the annual subscription. Will I get to keep the videos or will they expire
    Thank you.
    Best wishes
    Rowaida Flayhan

  2. Becky

    Can you move back and forth in the "class" video? I don’t always have enough uninterrupted time to do the whole thing but can’t figure out how to get back to where I was. Also, it would be great to be able to see a tricky part again without re-watching the whole class.

  3. carmen nixon

    Once I pay the annual subscription how long I will keep the videos?

  4. Maria hernandez

    Quiero saber si Los videos Los voy aver todo el tiempo q yo quiera o caducan cada mes osea al mes se me boran?……I will know if I can seen a videos any time I want or a videos every month erase……

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