The last few weeks have been interesting. I’ve been making a lot of decisions about different things. One of the things I’ve been wrestling with is training. I’m an ESRI CTP. I’ve worked hard to get that designation. It’s an integral part of this company. With that program more or less ending I’ve been offering everyone breaks on training to just just train. It really made me think though what happens when it ends.What do you do when your business partner tanks 1/3 of your business plan……..
I got the chance a few years back to teach URISA’s Open Source GIS Workshop. Actually I did one better than that – I co-taught it with the person that wrote the book. No pressure there. I have taught it twice and both times I’ve learned a bit more. Both times I’ve incorporated things I learned back into my work environment.
When one door closes another opens. I’ve got a lot of thoughts rolling around in my head on why I’m doing what I’m doing. I can’t quite let them out yet – but I can start letting some out.
I’m announcing my first custom class – Introduction to Quantum GIS. It’s a 1 day class and I’m starting out offering it at $275 dollars – it may go up or down. It’s not quite done – I’m still working with the slides and am filling out class exercises. I’m taking a slightly different approach with the class – I’m targeting GIS Professionals and trying to show them how well this software works and how it can be used. I use it not quite every day but I’m starting to get close. I’m turning into one of those guys who will work with about any software to get the most important thing right – the data.
Things we will cover in the class:
- Map Layouts
- Symbology
- Editing Vector Data
- Vector and Raster Data
- Plugins
- Labeling
I’m excited. I’ve had the luck of speaking with a developer on the project. More widespread exposure helps the software develop. Plus, anything that makes me a better GIS person and pushes me more is a good thing. With that said this isn’t the last class I’m going to build – I’ve got an idea for a couple of more and depending on how this class goes there might be more Quantum Classes. Who knows. Watch for a OpenStreetMap class coming this summer.
Email or Call with questions. I’ll answer what I can.
