courses and certificates

[rod willis]

could anyone advise me of any courses that specialise in av, for both the professional and domestic markets I would like to offer my future customers some specialist work if required and would like to have appropriate certification.

best regards

rod

[steve in derby]

I am also looking for courses in AV based in the East midlands.
Please will someone point us in the right direction.
Steve

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

WWW.CEDIA.ORG don't know adress for UK...try www.cedia.co.uk

You'll find lots of courses listed for the June Expo in Birmingham

Gordon

[MAW]

Technically you need to be 'in the trade' to go to CEDIA expo, and attend any of the courses. And pay through the nose if you are not a cedia member. Perhaps a 'friend' in the trade who is a cedia member would be willing to help you there.

[rod willis]

Thanks for the advice, it is a little dispiriting that a grounding courses and a structured training path is not readily available to beginners in this side of the industry, I will just keep looking !!

[Bruce1310]

A new grounding/beginners course has just been introduced by CEDIA. Will run over two days...one before CEDIA expo and one during. Open to all, not just those in the trade.

B.K

[MAW]

www.cedia.org.uk for cedia here. Where are you based, Rod? A local firm in need of installers might easily help you out here.

[Trudge]

The course for a basic grounding is the Technical Foundation course. The course content at CEDIA is pretty good, they seem to have really changed their welcome policy to those outside of the CI industry this year.

If you want to go on it, today would be a good time to get interested - the first part of the course is next Tuesday in Hitchin - I know because I am going on it (been in CI for about 6months, and just beginning to get more interesting jobs than plasma hanging...).

The next part is on the week of CEDIA EXPO (w/c 27th June @ ICC Birmingham).

Got some of my notes / presentations from last year's Designer Track at CEDIA if they would be useful...

Trudge

[richjthorpe]

Just out of interest, how much does a course cost ? Lets say the 2 day Technical Grounding.

Thanks,

Richie.

[Trudge]

Just out of interest, it would cost £560 as a non CEDIA member, which is what I am... as part of a package scheme that CEDIA are doing this year. They also offer packages for whole tracks and the exams.

Hope that helps...

Trudge :)

[rod willis]

I have spoken to CEDIA about their foundation course this Tuesday, it sounded like a good start however i was not able to make it at such short notice and they could not tell me when the next one is due except to say they may make it a regular course next year !! so not much help then!!

I may need to speak to some local installers and try and find some good books that can give me at least a grounding in this area but I think this may be easier said than done.

In answer to the question live in sunny Plymouth

Thanks for all the responses to this post

Cheers

Rod

[MAW]

Hiya Rod, Plymouth is not likely to be a cente of activity CI wise! Here in Surrey it's thriving. We have relationships with housebuilders who are nationwide, there is a sharp division about what we do pre wire wise geographically. Surrey and London you wire for everything, further out you just wire for RF distribution. That's simple economics, a big prewire costs 1000 upwards. Don't be too discouraged though, stick a card in your local Richer sounds for starters etc. Presumably you have some experience?

[hornydragon]

if you are in the trade in anyway a good way to start is manufacturer/distributor courses, (not SONY etc) VEDA courses are quite good, need an account tho......... i have done some cedia training and it was very good but the infrasctructure still isnt there for UK not like the US. a basic electricians course (domestic stuff could be a big advantage)

[Trudge]

I take the point about Surrey and London, the developers etc there are far more switched on about wiring for the future and providing multi-room audio, lighting control etc. (you lucky man, MAW!!!!)

To give you an idea (perhaps similar to Plymouth), Cambridgeshire is beginning to move that way, but slowly. About 10% of the developers we contacted (over 100) were interested / had investigated options on "technology". The key is getting over the investment in the cabling / taking the service line on customer specifiying the end hardware and installation.

Also find some other local CI companies who are "normal" and wouldn't mind you coming along to see what happens, punch down some Cat5e, talk through the design process etc. If you are ever up the Cambridge neck of the woods, I would be happy to help.

I know from experience how a newbie can be viewed (who the f are you was one respnse to a friendly enquiry about how to get into the industry!!! so there are some people with their heads in a funny place) - partly the reason for me getting the grounding in place to get the lingo, practical experience in place. My background is sales and marketing, but a keen amateur on the home cinema, and technology in general front.

I would vouch for Horny's view on Veda (now known as Armour HE) courses, they are great for understanding the products and what they do (obviously the ones that AMHE supply, but their lines are good - Lutron, Sonance, Linn etc.). CEDIA was a great help last year, and about £500 well spent on just meeting other CI people, learning the basics etc.

This is a realtively new "industry" and it will take some time, and some increased activity on CEDIA and other manufacturers, retailers parts to bring it into the broader market.

Again, hope this helps,

Trudge (6 months in, and enjoying the ride...)

[rod willis]

Thanks Trudge

Funny enough I was actually living on the Essex side of Cambridgeshire not a few months back and i would have taken you up on your offer, i may still try some fitters around here and see if I get any joy or perhaps annoy cedia so much they run another foundation course


Thanks to everyone for their kind attempts to help and some very good advice
it is making me even more determined to break into this field.

Cheers

Rod

[MAW]

Likewise Rod, if you were heading up the M3, I'd be happy to see you.

[Plasman-uk]

You could try here: http://www.infocomm.org

It is American based on-line training but provides a recognised certification

[vex]

I am going to start a new thread for those who want basic training and see what we can put together.

I am happy to put together the cable / infrastructure / distribution systems and I'll see if I can get a screen / hardware supplier interested in doing the other bit.

Post there if interests.

Chris

[Plasman-uk]

Have a look here. http://www.infocomm.org

[SeanT]

Yep, the ICIA / Infocomm come recommended by me to, as my new boss swears by them - I'll let you know what the online courses are like soon ;)

[eviljohn2]

How did you get on with the Infocomm course Sean?

I'm due to start the Essentials of AV course leading to the CTS qualification over the next few weeks. :)

[simon_evo]

as far as the audio part goes get yourself on a sound engineering course its so annoying having to deal with the misinformed sales staff at the local seven oaks etc etc who have not one clue about sound and genuinely believe that Denon and crap B&W hifi rubbish sounds great :clap:

[SeanT]

as far as the audio part goes get yourself on a sound engineering course its so annoying having to deal with the misinformed sales staff at the local seven oaks etc etc who have not one clue about sound and genuinely believe that Denon and crap B&W hifi rubbish sounds great :clap:

We use Denon CD players for pro applications as they have pretty good firmware and reliability with good control over what is going on. They sound fine (and I suspect we also have them as we got them cheap, that's the usual reason for our owning anything on the hire fleet)

Bowers and Wilkins hifi speakers from personal experience are spot on and I'm a Kef lover!!!!

I think you chose the wrong examples! BOSE might have been a better starting point :rotfl: (yes, I know the pro gear is good, I use it weekly)

eviljohn2, it appears that every time I mention the Infocomm courses (which I will get put on in due course) to the boss he gives me a work related project to get on with...... :rotfl:

[SeanT]

Have now finished the Infocomm course, it's a walk in the park for anyone in the industry but like any formalised training course it serves to fill in gaps in knowledge for the experienced and teach from scratch for the novice - it's not a bad little course, hopefully get my CTS soon. Only real gripe is the americanised crap that you don't really need to know.

[eviljohn2]

Finished the course myself today too. :smashin:

As you say, it's pretty much a waste of time for anyone already in the events industry but nice to formalise the "knowledge".

My gripe is the complete omission of anything regarding event lighting and power distribution.

[creative-av]

Hi Guys,

What courses did you take with InfoComm? Did you have to pay the £55/course?

Thanks,

Steve

[eviljohn2]

Essentials of the AV Industry for the company I work for covered any costs involved. If you're interested in the domestic side of AV then it probably isn't much use I'm afraid. :)

[SeanT]

My gripe is the complete omission of anything regarding event lighting and power distribution.

Probably a stupid question, but can you recommend a course which has those two omitted bits? Feel free to ask if you have any questions about such, I'm still learning too and spending a lot of time puzzling my way through random documents on the internet about the law and three phase power / pat testing / lighting etc. - ie. things we could get in serious trouble over but for which there is no formal industry training available :thumbsdow

[creative-av]

Thanks Eviljohn2.

No problem with the costs as I run my own IT company but really want to start learning other things and the AV industry appeals to me.

Did you find the course worthwhile? Are there any others that you can recommend?

I thought about applying for the International Membership as you get discounts from them. Has anyone else applied to become a member of Infocomm?

Thanks,

Steve

[SeanT]

The firm I work for are Infocomm members (aswell as Hire Association Europe) and they have been pretty helpful in the past - probably not much point getting a membership though unless you are an AV company imho - the training courses you should do if they interest you though :)

[eviljohn2]

three phase power / pat testing / lighting etc.
The difficulty here is that's there's no real substitute for experience. With that in mind, have a look over at www.blue-room.org.uk which is a more relevant forum than this for such matters.

3-phase power isn't too tricky, check out the Wikipedia article. It's only really a case of adding up once you know the power formula and then trying to follow best-practice (ie. don't cross phases etc).

Lighting is another huge subject and there's plenty of info available on the web, try checking out some of the FAQ on University theatre group pages.

In response to Steve, I'd say that the course is worthwhile if you're an AV novice or need to prove your knowledge. I can't say that I learnt a huge amount though; then again my background is very technical so for those with a more creative past it could be more beneficial. :)0

[creative-av]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll do the free course and go from there. Am really interested in getting to the know the installation and technical side of AV. Maybe I should ask JoeF, Liam or Maw for a job!

Steve

[MAW]

Remind me where you live, Steve. Things are hotting up round here.

[creative-av]

Hi Martin,

At the moment I am renting a flat in Woking but own a house in Edenbridge, Kent and also Eastbourne. East Sussex. We are renting in Woking as my work is based in Basingstoke(my company pays for the rent).

I currently work as an IT Contractor but am getting to the point where a change of direction may be a good thing!

Thanks,

Steve

PS your PM inbox is full.