Having been around in the NAV world for some time already and (partly) being occupied with educating and informing my NAV pro fellows, I always claim to know that there is a continuous need for “education and information”. In what ever format, at whatever time and level.
Back in 1999 the main source for getting informed and educated where the local Navision Software subs. By means of the product itself, with all the manuals in those nice blue carton boxes (I cherish to one I still have at home) and the help system. By means of the sessions that were organized to get the partner channel updated. By means, and not in the least, of the product courses offered to the channel. Internet as a valuable resource was only starting and far off of where we are now. With msdn help, a vast number of blog and forum posts, and how-do-I videos. All of them have proven helpful to all of us.
But in this move forward I also claim that we tend to let go of valuable resources – or should I call it formats? Resources that have been there for ages; more specifically: classroom training and expert workshops. With the emerge of instantly accessible resources, it seems somehow that these are expected to replace on-site training. Clearly with the deprecation of the certification, for Dynamics NAV and GP, last year, and the discontinuation of all training material, Microsoft has given fuel to this expectation. As altmodisch as classroom education might seem, every time again I witness that they are of great value for many of us as the direct interaction between students and a trainer, vice versa and also among students, cannot be replaced by pre-“recorded” information. No matter how useful these have proven to be.
Being together in one room is a surplus and goes beyond sheer knowledge transfer or sharing. It’s about … being in it together … being supported by an expert and your peers … conquering the subject with a group … cross the swords of knowledge, skills and experience … I know, the self-educated can do without, but that’s only a part of us. Each different learning style is in need of a different format.
For the very value of Classroom Training & Experts Workshops I …
- … stepped in to the adventure of the Dutch Dynamics Community in 2010
- … picked up the gauntlet Mirjam Berntsen of Mprise threw at me in 2012, asking me to conduct a in-house NAV Development course after almost 10 years of having been absent as a trainer
- … started with Martijn van der Laan Areopa in 2014, to offer Dynamics pros experts workshops and support these experts in sharing their knowledge to help bring the NAV ecosystem to a higher level
- … joined Mark Brummel this year in NAV Skills to provide NAV implementation teams with methodologies and tools to enable them to bring their development to the next level and to spread this around the globe with help of local Learning Centers
- … boarded the Credentialing Council of the Association of Dynamics Professionals, to be of help in getting the certification re-introduced (and hoping that we even go beyond that, but that’s my secret agenda)
Surely Classroom Training & Experts Workshops will not die that easily and as long as they’re around take advantage of it.