A training cooperative is an interesting idea, but I think it
would have to be a bit more involved than some of the postings
would lead one to believe. Basically, I don't think one can do
an effective training cooperative without charging. People need
to get paid for their facilities if they are used very much,
and the instructors should get something as well. The truth is
it costs money to maintain space and equipment, and it generally
costs an instructor a bit of money just to teach a class. On the
other hand, I don't think one needs to charge the sort of rates
most commercial training companies charge which seem to run from
$30 per student hour for low level classes and well over $50 per
student hour for higher level classes. For example, PEAK in Corvallis
ran a pretty decent training program that charged $10 to $15 per
student hour for many years. (They have since closed it.)
As far as facilities,
- I would be willing and interested in using the area we
used for the last Advanced Topics Meeting for a training
cooperative if it made financial sense to me.
or
- I'm sure MicroSharp would be interested in some sort of
an arrangement. Potentially, they have space for multiple
class rooms. Unfortunately, they are in East Vancouver,
but they are close to main roads.
Likewise, I think we could make deals for furniture, white boards,
projectors, and so on. Some of these would be pretty poor to start
with, but that is life. (By the way, Allen Montgomery from Alliance
Internet Solutions is loaning PLUG a projector for four months.
It has some problems, but it is nice to have.)
I guess, I think a good goal would be to charge $15/hr retail
with some sort of discount available so most "PLUG members" paid
about $10/hr. This might be broken up as:
$5/hr to any reseller who signed someone up.
(However, discount cards would be passed out at
PLUG meetings, so meeting attendees could sign
up without this fee. Or something like this.
Also, the discounts would be available to other
Open Source Groups like the Eugene and Mid-Valley
Group.)
$5/hr to the instructor.
$5/hr for facilities and PLUG.
(most of this would go for things like paying for
broadband if it is at my house and equipment.
Maybe PLUG could eventually afford a projector.
Maybe PLUG could afford to get 501(c)3 status?)
Ok, I'm a bit unsure about all the details, but this is the
general idea. Is this something that would interest people?
Or is this a dumb idea?
Sincerely,
David Mandel
Chief Activist
Portland Linux/Unix Group
1440 NE 59th
Portland, Oregon 97213
(360) 260-2066 at work
(541) 730-5285 cell
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David Mandel, Product Manager http://www.MicroSharp.com
Other Affiliations
David Mandel http://www.DavidMandel.com
Portland Linux/Unix Group http://pdxLinux.org
LinuxFund http://LinuxFund.org
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