SOA workshops Vs. OTHERS?

[SteadiBoy]

Hi!

I've found a smaller course in my city which costs way less than the SOA one:

 

Does anybody could compare the SOA workshops with any other course you may have heard of? I mean, besides being instructed by Garret and some special movements (Flying cam eg.) would be there any other advantage to pay 4 times more?

 

This one is given by a respectable rigs rental/producer local company and even its not the same hours-long you can take extra ones and still pay less than SOA.

 

5-day Programme (2.5hs each - 12hs total) with 7-12kg and 2-4.5kg rigs-types:

 

Introduction / Basic notions / Vest regulation / Arm regulation / Stability exercises / Basic positions / Ways of displacement / Start-End techniques / Lateral walking / Advanced positions / Rugged terrain / Obstacles / Staircases / Running / Inverse positions / 360º rounds / Low mode / Continuous shots / Final tests

 

Thx!

L

[Afton Grant]

2.5 hours a day, is that correct? I'd imagine that's your price difference right there. My workshop put in over 12 hours a day for 5 days. Quality time in the rig is extremely important.

 

SOA is worth the money.

[SteadiBoy]

Its 13hs total ($15/hour) vs. SOA's 50hs ($100/hour)

 

On SOA you attend with 20 more people...

 

...but in this course you attend with just 2 or 3 others, so you get plenty of dedicated time with the rig.

 

And for $25/hour you can take the full SOLO course, so you it's a one-on-one you w/ the rig and the instructor.

 

What do you think?

[Afton Grant]

I'm sure there are other workshops aside from SOA that are definitely good investments. I would suggest to do whatever you can afford. I would definitely make the point that the cost of an SOA workshop is well worth it - for a lot of reasons that aren't necessarily on the printed schedule.

[Tomas Szklarski]

I took the one in Penn. in October 2004. Sure we had 20 people or so, but we were split up into 4 groups of 4, if I remember correctly. There were 4 different instuctors that we saw all day as the groups switched instructors.

 

Instead of just getting the view from one instructor/operator, we got 4 views on how they each operate or what they have experience operating. Telling us tricks they use or how to combat certain problems. Plus they had "helpers", I don't know how else to explain it, that were also operators but weren't the main teachers and you could talk to them about operating or ask them what your doing wrong or just whatever. I have learned stuff about the business from the SOA workshop with talking to all the operators there that would have taken me years to figure out for myself.

 

I have done both kinds of classes, the SOA and just a single teacher, both were great for me, I learned and still learn from these classes. The SOA one was great to have a bunch of students with you who also were learning this thing and you all could talk about it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and learn from eachother about what works and doesn't work. It's worth the investment if you can afford it. I am not sorry I paid the money for it and don't regret it.

 

You can't think about it as a per hour basis, just becuase your not in the rig the whole time doesn't mean you aren't learning, you are watching another person doing it and seeing what he/she is doing wrong or right and comparing it to what you are dong. You see what works for other people and then you can try it and see if it works for you or vice versa, what doesn't work. You are always learning at the workshop even if you aren't flying the rig.

 

-Tom

[Mikko Wilson]

I'll 2nd Afton's and Tom's (i actually attended the same workshop) coments!

 

- Mikko