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Thursday, February 02, 2017

Archoncad Vectorworkout Subscription 10 Years Old!

10 Years Old!
Who would have thought. When I started this 10 years ago the internet was still new, the idea of online training was still in its infancy. Now, it is everywhere. I started this subscription service with a few members and now we have hundreds of subscribers.

In February 2007 we started the ArchonCAD subscription website. Before this I had run the Vectorworks user group in New Zealand. It used face-to-face meetings in three different parts of the country. In 2006 I was forced to make a change to my travel arrangements. Hence, it forced me to redesign my business. The result was the Archoncad subscription website. We started out in February 2007 with 10 supporters. We had an idea that we could continue regular user group meetings over the Internet. The purpose of the subscription website is to increase the skill level Vectorworks uses so that they can:
  • work more efficiently
  • work with higher productivity
  • work with more quality
In the 10 years since we started we have written more than 100 manuals and created over 2500 movies. Over the last 10 years things have changed slightly. The basic philosophy has remained unchanged. We have a new manual every month and we have user group meetings. We now have Special Interest Group meetings. These allow users to get into more detail about specific topics. We recently started a Special Interest Group for the entertainment designers.
In the last decade I have learned that:
  1. Users who attend online sessions learn more.
  2. Regular training is fundamental.
  3. Knowledge is perishable.
I have several users that attend as many sessions as they can. Sometimes I wonder why they attend so many sessions. For example, Larry has been a subscriber to the Archoncad website almost from the beginning. Larry attends almost all the sessions that are available. So one day, I said "Larry, you must know almost as much about Vectorworks as I know, because you have been coming for such a long time. Why do you keep coming?" Larry responded, "Well Jonathan, I learn something every time I come. It might not be the tool you use might be the way you use it. But every time I come to one of your online sessions I learn something and that makes it worthwhile coming."
Many professionals need to attend Continuing Education (CE) or Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Industries keep changing and these professional organisations know that training has to be on a regular basis. Vectorworks is no different. Vectorworks keeps changing and training has to be on a regular basis. 
A couple of months ago I wrote about knowledge being perishable. People who think that they still know how to do something they haven't practiced are wrong. Look at the example of a sports team – Even a professional sports team practices the basics on a regular basis.
Birthday Offer! Buy One - Get One Free
For this month only you can get a free Vectorworks Course. When you buy two courses, you get the second one free.
Just use this coupon when checking out:
birthday_2017
Limited time! February 2017 only!

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