“You Don’t Have to Wait for the Next AVE Class”

Custom Classes with AVE “YOU DON’THAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT AVE CLASS”

You find a class in the AV Educate Course Catalog that you want to take.

There’s only one problem.

It isn’t currently on the schedule.

Or maybe it is, but the date doesn’t work.

You’re on a show that week. Your team is traveling. The class is being offered in another city. Or you simply don’t want to wait months for it to come back around.

So what do you do?

Build your own AVE class.

That is one of the biggest reasons we offer Custom Classes, and it is something we don’t think enough people know about. Custom Classes aren’t only for large production companies, It can be for

• A warehouse.

• A venue.

• A production team.

• A group of freelancers.

Or simply ten friends who all want to learn the same thing. And in many cases, it starts at $2,000 per training day for up to 10 students. Let’s explain how it works.

WHAT IS AN AVE CUSTOM CLASS?

At its simplest, a Custom Class allows you to bring AV Educate training to your group on a schedule that works better for everyone involved. There are a few ways we can approach it, Maybe there is already a class in the AVE Course Catalog that you want. We can work on bringing that class to your group privately.

Maybe your company owns equipment your technicians need more experience with. We can look at adapting training around that equipment.

Or maybe your team has a very specific skill gap or workflow that needs attention. We can talk about building training around that need.

“Custom” does not always mean creating an entirely new curriculum from scratch.

Sometimes it simply means taking the training AVE already provides and coordinating it around your people, your needs, and a timeframe that works for everyone.

$2,000. UP TO 10 STUDENTS.

This is probably the easiest way to understand the program. A Custom Class starts at $2,000 per training day for up to 10 students. If you are a company, that could mean training ten members of your crew for $2,000. But here is the part individual technicians sometimes overlook.

You can split that cost.

Imagine you want to take one of our one-day classes. You know nine other technicians who want to take it too. Ten people. One class. $2,000. That works out to $200 per person when the cost is divided evenly among ten people. Now a Custom Class isn't simply a $2,000 expense. It becomes a shared experience that you and your peers created because there was something you wanted to learn.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR US TO PUT IT ON THE CALENDAR

We love our scheduled AVE classes, but we also understand the industry we serve. AV schedules are weird, Freelancers travel, Shows get added, Calls change. One week you’re home, The next three you’re gone. Trying to find one date that works for everyone is difficult, Custom Classes give you another option.

Instead of asking:

“When is AVE teaching this again?”

You can ask:

“Who else do I know who wants to learn this?”

Start with our Course Catalog. Find the training you want. Talk to your coworkers, friends, or other freelancers. If you can put a group together, reach out to us. Then AVE starts working on the rest.

YOU BRING THE PEOPLE. AV EDUCATE COORDINATES THE REST.

There are a lot of moving pieces behind an AV training class, You need the right instructor, You need equipment, You need a facility, You need dates that work. And all of those things need to be available at the same time, That is the part AVE handles.

Once we understand what you want to learn and who needs the training, we work to coordinate the trainer, gear, facility, and timing between everyone involved.

You shouldn’t have to find an instructor, rent a classroom, track down the right equipment, and somehow get everyone’s calendars to line up on your own.

That is our job.

You tell us what you want to learn, You bring the people, We work on putting the pieces together and even cover the food

COMPANIES CAN DO THE SAME THING

The model works just as well for companies. Maybe you have ten employees who need more LED experience. Maybe you purchased a new video system and want more technicians comfortable operating it. Maybe your warehouse team needs a better understanding of QC. Maybe your technicians understand how to connect a system but don’t fully understand the signal flow behind it. Or maybe you simply want to invest in your crew.

A Custom Class starts at $2,000 per training day for up to 10 students.

Those students could be employees, regular freelancers, warehouse technicians, show-site technicians, or a combination that makes sense for your operation.The goal is not training for the sake of saying you provided training. The goal is solving an actual problem.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE?

We add another trainer.

Our structure is simple:

1 trainer = up to 10 students

2 trainers = up to 20 students

If you want to train between 11 and 20 students, the instructional cost becomes $4,000 per training day because we bring in a second qualified trainer.

There is a reason for that.

We want the people attending an AVE class to actually get access to an instructor and, when applicable, hands-on time with the equipment. We don't want 20 people standing around watching three people touch the gear.

HANDS-ON SHOULD ACTUALLY MEAN HANDS-ON

This matters to us. You can put 30 people in a room, connect a laptop to a projector, and call it training. That isn't what we are trying to build. If we are teaching LED, we want students working with LED. If we are teaching switching, we want students working with a switcher. If we are teaching signal flow, we want people following the signal through an actual system.

Students should have the opportunity to build.

• Connect.

• Configure.

• Operate.

• Make mistakes.

• Troubleshoot.

• Ask questions.

• And do it again.

Keeping our student-to-trainer ratio at approximately 10:1 helps us protect that experience as the class grows.

THE SHOW SITE SHOULDN’T BE THE FIRST TIME YOU GET TO PRACTICE

This is one of the biggest reasons AV Educate exists. Live events are incredible places to gain experience. They aren't always great places to learn something for the first time.

• There is a schedule.

• There is a client.

• Other departments are waiting.

• Doors are opening.

• And when something needs to happen, it needs to happen.

That doesn't leave much room to stop and ask:

Why?

• Why does that signal go there?

• Why did changing that setting fix the problem?

• Why did the system work in the warehouse but not here?

• Why are we wiring it this way?

• Why did the experienced technician immediately know where to look?

In a classroom, we can slow things down. We can intentionally create problems. We can let someone make the wrong decision and see what happens. We can troubleshoot without a client waiting. We can explain the why behind the workflow instead of only showing which button to push. Then, when something happens on show site, you aren't seeing it for the first time.

YOUR GEAR CAN BECOME PART OF THE CLASSROOM

For companies, Custom Classes can go another step further. Sometimes the best equipment to train your crew on is the equipment already sitting in your warehouse. If you own a particular LED system, processor, switcher, console, projector, camera system, or other piece of equipment, we can look at incorporating it into the training when appropriate.

That changes the conversation.

Instead of:

“Here is how this type of system works.”

We can start talking about:

“Here is how your system works.”

Your crew can build it.

• Wire it.

• Configure it.

• Operate it.

• Break it.

• Troubleshoot it.

• Reset it.

• And do it again.

Without a client waiting for doors to open.

CUSTOM TRAINING ISN’T ONLY FOR NEW TECHNICIANS

Training is often associated with onboarding. That is only one use. Experienced technicians need training too. Maybe your company just purchased equipment nobody has spent enough time with yet.

Maybe you want more people capable of prepping and QCing a system. '

Maybe your senior technicians keep answering the same fundamental questions from newer crew members.

Maybe different technicians have developed completely different ways of accomplishing the same task.

Or maybe you have great operators who are ready to understand more of the engineering happening behind the equipment.

Those are all reasons to train.The goal doesn't always have to be creating ten experts. Sometimes success is creating ten people who understand the system better than they did yesterday.

• People who can identify a problem.

• People who can communicate what they are seeing.

• People who know what to check next.

• And people who know when they need additional help.

• That makes the entire crew stronger.

SOMETIMES YOU DON’T NEED THE WHOLE CLASS

Custom training also allows us to have a different conversation. Maybe you don't need a complete LED course. Maybe your team specifically needs more time with receiving cards, mapping, cabinet configuration, QC, and troubleshooting.

Maybe you don't need a complete video engineering course.

Maybe your technicians need a stronger understanding of signal flow, EDID, resolutions, scaling, and how those concepts interact with the equipment already in your inventory.

That is where the conversation starts to become truly custom. We can look at the problem you are trying to solve and determine what training makes sense. Because sometimes the class you think you need isn't actually the training your team needs most.

THE PEOPLE TEACHING YOUR CREW STILL WORK IN THE FIELD

This is an important part of the AVE model. Our trainers actively work in the areas they teach. They aren't removed from show site. That means the conversation can go beyond what the manual says.

• What happens when the truck is late?

• What happens when you inherit someone else's setup?

• What happens when the equipment doesn't behave the way you expected?

• What happens when you have ten minutes instead of an hour?

• What happens when everything worked perfectly during prep and suddenly doesn't work on show site?

Those situations are difficult to teach from a manual. They come from experience. AVE's job is to connect that experience with the technical knowledge behind it.

COMPANIES DON’T HAVE TO BUILD AN ENTIRE TRAINING DEPARTMENT

Building internal training takes work.

• Someone has to develop the curriculum.

• Someone has to teach it.

• Someone has to stay current.

• Someone has to create exercises.

• Someone has to coordinate the equipment.

• Someone has to schedule the room.

• And someone has to find time to do all of that while still running the actual business.

Custom Classes give companies another option. You bring us the training need. We work on the education. Depending on the class and situation, that can mean coordinating trainers, curriculum, equipment, exercises, facilities, and scheduling.

Together, we create time where the goal isn't getting through another show. The goal is getting better at the next one.

YOU CAN EVEN OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR LOCAL AV COMMUNITY

There is another version of this model that we love. A company can bring AV Educate in to train its own crew and, when appropriate, open additional seats to technicians in the surrounding AV community.

• The company gets to invest in its people.

• Local technicians get access to education.

• Both the technicians and the company share information

• And everyone gets an opportunity to train together away from the pressure of a show site.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, that fits directly into why AV Educate exists. Better-trained technicians don't only benefit one company. They strengthen the workforce that all of us depend on.

SO, WHAT DOES A CUSTOM CLASS ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?

There isn't one answer and that's the point.

• It could be one of the existing classes from our Course Catalog.

• It could be an adjusted version of one.

• It could be training built around your company's equipment.

• It could focus on a particular workflow or skill gap.

It could be for freelancers who got together because they all wanted to learn the same thing.Or it could be a company investing in its entire crew.

What matters is answering a few questions:

• What do you want to learn?

• Who needs to learn it?

• What do they already know?

• What equipment is involved?

• What problem are we trying to solve?

And what should everyone be able to do when the class is over? Those answers help us determine what the training should actually look like.

START WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN

If you're an individual technician, start with the AV Educate Course Catalog. Don't just look at the calendar, Look at the classes. Find something you want to learn and start asking around. Maybe nine other people have been waiting for the exact same training.

If you're a company, start somewhere slightly different.

Don't ask:

“What class can we buy?”

Ask:

“What do we want our people to be better at?”

Then bring that answer to us. We'll work from there. Because sometimes the right class is already on our calendar. And sometimes you shouldn't have to wait for us to schedule it.

Sometimes you build the class yourself.

Equip. Enable. Empower.