Soaring Product Training at SSA Convention

Hi,

In 2005 the SSA setup the first "Soaring Software Academy" the day before
the SSA convention. It was a huge success with 100 to 200 guests at the
free training.

In 2006 we broadened the "Soaring Product Academy" training to include SN10
and LX7007 hardware training in addition to Soaring Pilot, SeeYou, StrePla
and WinPilot software products. However, the turnout was much less than in
2004. I believe that those that attended found it to be very useful. I
think the lower turnout was partly due to the repeat of the training from
the previous year, and less promotion by myself in the weeks preceding the
event. I wonder if a few posts on r.a.s. a week in advance would have
helped...?

The SSA has asked me if a room should be reserved for a day of training at
the 2007 Soaring Convention in Memphis, TN on Wednesday, Feb. 7th. I have
mixed feelings. I would be glad to do training, but due to the lower
turnout last year, I wonder if it may make sense to take a year off. I will
be there setting up my booth on that day in any event, so I'm willing, but
it is a lot of work on a very busy day. If people feel that the training is
valuable then I would be glad to participate. I imagine the previous
speakers would also be glad to do it, but I haven't asked them yet. I
imagine we could find some new speakers as well. Perhaps new topics on
popular products such as Cambridge 302 or LX Colibri training would bring
new students.

Important Note
Last year I offered to help the SSA schedule the speakers and the SSA
received several angry phone calls from a few of my competitors stating that
if I setup the event they feared that I would not be fair to them. Other
competitors stated that they appreciated that was trying to help and bending
over backwards to accommodate them. I passed the ball back to Gaynell
Temple at the SSA and that seemed to help things settle down. This year I
don't want to make that mistake. I am not planning to schedule the
speakers. Gaynell can do that. But I do want to help get the ball rolling.

Gaynell has asked me whether a room should be set aside for training again
this year. I thought it would make sense to poll r.a.s. readers to see if
they think the training should occur this time around, and ask for potential
topics of interest. I have asked Gaynell whether 2 rooms could be made
available this year, because some of the topics could go longer and we have
more topics than the time would allow in a single room.

The training day is intended as a day for product training, not marketing or
sales presentations. It is designed to help customers get the most out of
their soaring products. However, many past students have been using the day
to figure out which product they want to buy, which is fine of course.

Below are some topics I'd be glad to do if there is interest. I certainly
don't need to be the trainer for all of them. I think it makes sense to
pick topics that will get a sufficient number of students.

- LX Colibri training - This has never been covered in detail at this
event. It would cover uploading waypoints, airports, setting up tasks,
entering pilot data, task declarations, etc.

- Cambridge 302, 302A and 303 training - This has never been covered at
this event. It would cover using the 300 Utility on a PC and Pocket PC to
upload waypoints, task declarations, download flight logs, etc. 302
settings, using a 303 LCD navigation display. Using a 302 or 302A with a
PDA. Etc.

- Borgelt B500 training - This would also be a new topic. It would cover
setting up the B500, doing a firmware upgrade, creating a waypoint file and
sending it to the B500, and using the GCD display unit in flight.

- Glide Navigator II training

- StrePla (for PC) training

- pocket*StrePla training

- SeeYou Training - I'd love to do this one, but it would probably be done
by Roy McMaster and Andrej from SeeYou.

- SeeYou Mobile training (my SeeYou Mobile training CDs will be ready
before the convention) - I'd love to do this one, but it would probably be
done by Roy McMaster and Andrej from SeeYou.

- ILEC SN10 training - Creating waypoint and airspace files, entering and
flying a task, turn area tasks, etc.

Other topics that have been popular in the past.
- WinPilot
- WinPilot 3D
- Soaring Pilot software (for Palm Devices)

Please make a posting here on r.a.s. if you are interested in attending any
of these or any other topics. I will recommend them to Gaynell Temple and
she can work out who will speak and when.

Thank you,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com