The right place to post quality training on this site?

[maniago]

As a Noobe, I read through jstein86's post on an SSI training class fail, and was wondering where good training experiences with an LDS is getting touted where on the forum? Kudos? I've read the Kudos section and not sure that that gets the vis that perhaps a good OWC/primary training place ought. Besides, I'm not sure that Kudos is a universally understood term (?).

The sticky on finding a good class via "interviewing" for a neophyte is not effective, at least for OWC IMHO, because most folks are going to just go to the nearest LDS or, like jstein, a GROUPON push or similar. Quality is assumed like with new cars these days. Not always true, but there we are. Thanks

BTW I make my first pool dive tomorrow. "Ah, yez, you velly velly gleen Glasshoppa" (name that show). Been looking forward to it all week....

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Frankly there is no one place that I know of. Usually people who have good experiences post them wherever they happen to be. It may be in a specific region or trip reports. And like many good things those threads don't develop the traction that bad experiences do. People love a train wreck and will gawk and offer up endless opinions. And if an instructor or shop thanks the poster or starts to say how much they enjoyed it and that others are welcome, it is viewed as self promotion by some who complain and the thread gets pulled or edited.

Sad but true.


Kung Fu is the answer by the way.

 

[maniago]

Yeah, that's not a winner. Bandwagon-ing on peoples failures seems to be a national past-time for us Americans (can you say "reality TV"?). We need some place for the positive business experience too, or we're not fully servicing the greater good. After all, we have to train and buy gear.

If we'd need a rule on such a forum then it ought the that you have to disclose your connection if any.

 

[TSandM]

Class reports can be posted in the appropriate level forum -- OW classes in Basic or New Divers, Advanced classes in Advanced. Everybody loves a good, positive class report! But if your intent is to make the instructor or shop more visible to others, putting the report in the appropriate regional subforum might be more likely to reach eyes that are looking for local advice or ideas.

Also, be prepared . . . one of the things about being an OW student is that you don't have a big basis for comparison, to decide whether the class you are taking is a good one or not. You might get some replies that are critical of some of the procedures or techniques used in your class. That isn't personal!

 

[maniago]

Also, be prepared . . . one of the things about being an OW student is that you don't have a big basis for comparison, to decide whether the class you are taking is a good one or not. You might get some replies that are critical of some of the procedures or techniques used in your class. That isn't personal!

Absolutely! That said, I'd hazard to say that every noobe has a basic understanding of good training no matter what it is (note the afore mentioned bad review post) and since such a review would be one noobe to another noobe on the most entry level noobe training, I'd think it would be of use. I don't know. Maybe not. It was just a thought.

Re: Kung Fu, too bad we don't have shows that teach good lessons any more. I guess theres more money in ones that teach bad! But not off me! haha

 

[RonFrank]

I would suggest good experiences be placed in the regional forums. Telling folks world wide that you had a great experience and recommend a wonderful dive shop in Nowhere, UT is not much good for the Dive shop, or people in Hong Kong who are reading.

Also tell WHY the shop deserves kudos.

 

[maniago]

I would suggest good experiences be placed in the regional forums. Telling folks world wide that you had a great experience and recommend a wonderful dive shop in Nowhere, UT is not much good for the Dive shop, or people in Hong Kong who are reading.

Also tell WHY the shop deserves kudos.

Ah yes regionals. Good one. Copy all on the "why". Thanks

 

[seriousdiver]

I know at least in the DC area we have a lot of people that use yelp.

I picked my LDS based on their yelp reviews, they had all 4-5 star yelp reviews while their competitors had 2-4 star yelp reviews...

One LDS was constantly called out for spending an entire class "selling" gear and having large class sizes.

Had my first class yesterday and while I'm exhausted the teacher was great and there were only 4 others besides myself. Instructors are great and I'll most likely be giving them a 5 star review after I'm done.

Yelp has it's pitfalls(like auto flagging 1 review users) but it's a pretty accurate portrayal of the business in question...

Unfortunately reviews tend to become biased over time(positively or negatively) because it tends to be a vocal Minority posting and often shills for the company.

 

[alan_lee]

Word of mouth and referrals are usually the best source of information. The whole Groupon thing is a bit popular here too, but usually turns out that the real cost is hidden, eg. the listed cost only shows the theory portion of the Open Water. It's usually difficult for a prospective diver to tell the difference between a good class and a bad one, so most would just go to the LDS that's the cheapest. The unfortunate thing is that there's no basis for comparison. Best thing to do is to visit the LDS and speak to them, especially if you have concerns, and check out their pool sessions. I'd reposted Walter's excellent tips on choosing an excellent scuba class on my blog (April 2010), in which there's a lot of great tips. I believe it's a sticky in the folder.

Good luck and have fun!