You must be logged in to post a comment.

1. 
   Wendy Grumet, ASID
   15 years ago

   ERic,
   Since I am one of the few interior designers using ARchicad, my needs are somewhat different than the ARchitects. My biggest problem is trying to schedule my very busy days to be on the coaching calls in real time. My New Years Resolution is to make an effort to schedule my days to allow me to participate more often. I probably have a some questions that ARchitects will not have regarding interior details and furnishings.
   THanks,
   Wendy
2. 
   John Allan
   15 years ago

   Dear Eric,
   I apologise for the delay in replying to your email of the 19th. Jan. I have been moving my office around, installing more power points and agonising about throwing away things, like old magazines and articles “kept for later”, – hence incommunicado.
   I won’t be renewing my subscription to the Coaching Program as I find your excellent Quick Start Course and masterful Best Practice Course more than sufficient for my needs at present. I also have the latest Master Template to get to grips with.
   Thank you for all your excellent and generous work.
   With regards,
   John.

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     John –
     Thanks for taking a minute to post your feedback here.
     I truly appreciate it.
     Eric
3. 
   Larry
   15 years ago

   Eric,
   I purchased the Best Practices course in March or April of 2011, started up with the first couple, then got busy and sidetracked. Then last November I decided to make a concerted effort to work my way through the lessons. I have been using ArchiCAD for about 10 years plus, so am familiar with it. But I’ve still found some little gem of information I wasn’t aware of in almost every lesson, along with many ‘better ways to do it’ moments. While the coaching calls sometimes seem a little slow, they are full of real world situations, and fuller explanations, so I think they are a valuable addition. And while I cringed a little at another cost, the fact that my 6 month Coaching Call period really ran out around September, and was extended without fanfare to January, was appreciated. I will be signing on for another six months of coaching, and look forward to more revelations.
   Thanks,
   Larry

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Larry –

     Thanks for letting me know how your year has gone, and how you are now making a concerted effort to work through the lessons and master ArchiCAD.

     I saw that you renewed your coaching membership – thank you! I’m glad that we will continue to have the opportunity to work together.

     Eric
4. 
   William Robson
   15 years ago

   Dear Eric, the coaching calls were good. I still have some that I missed to listen to. Also some of the Best Practices and the Quick Start Course.

   The recession is still upon me. When things pickup I will reconsider more coaching calls.

   Thanks again for a great job. Wish you continued success.

   Bill Robson

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Bill –
     Thanks for letting me know how you feel, and about how the recession is forcing you to reduce your costs wherever possible. I will be opening up a limited number of scholarships for the coaching program for people who want to continue in it but aren’t able to afford it right now, so if you’d like to keep going, it may be possible.
     Eric
5. 
   Andrew Polkinghorne
   15 years ago

   Hi Eric,
   I feel bad about not continuing with Coaching Calls subscription at the moment – basically because I believe you should be compensated for the great work you are producing. However, I have invested in the Best Practices Course and, as a student user of AC15, I do not make any money from using the product, and that investment is all I can justify at the moment. (If I was to spend more money on ArchiCAD products rest assured it would be on MasterTemplate 15 and the Coaching Calls – in that order!)
   I look forward to seeing the resat of the Best Practices lessons and thank you for the great materials you have provided so far.

   Best wishes and regards,

   Andrew

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Andrew –
     Thanks for posting here and letting me know how you feel and what’s going on for you.
     I will be offering a limited number of scholarships for the coaching program for those who can’t afford to continue but really would benefit from the calls. I’m sure I can fit you in. I’ll email you privately to follow up on this.
     Eric
6. 
   AntonyCooper
   15 years ago

   Hello Eric
   I enjoyed the coaching programme, but at this time money is tight, so I won’t be able to re-join for the foreseeable future. Thanks for your efforts

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Antony –
     Thanks for letting me know how you feel, and the fact that your funds are limited at the moment.
     I look forward to when you can participate again in the coaching program.
     Eric
7. 
   Dominique
   15 years ago

   Hi Eric
   Sorry, I did not realize that anything was coming to a close. I admit to glancing at email headlines and leaving the rest for a later read. Busy busy, like Tim Ball below for coaching calls. Love the course material but can’t get to/use well the coaching calls.
   1 MySpeed does not work on downloaded MPEG video (watched offline) does it? Downloaded video is what works for my work timetable, regrettably, with independence from access to Internet. So with parts of coaching sessions that cover known material, the sessions can seem slow indeed.
   2 Might there be a way to ask a question outside of coaching call subscription? I had asked you a question at the Best Practice course site after logging in, but gave up trying to find your answer. Of course, you have only so much time and I understand how the coaching calls make sense in that regard. Maybe one could ask the question, get confirmation by email that it would be dealt with in a designated coaching call (along with other questions of course), if one paid for all of that session for later download of recording. You could provide the recording download URL in exchange for payment? Or maybe one could buy individual coaching sessions for download, based on the subjects covered – a table of contents.
   3 I thought that coaching sessions were tied to the best practice course. Was not paying attention I guess. Unfortunately, it will continue not to work for me as currently structured.
   4 Would I still have access to the recorded sessions that I could have attended, after expired access to live and new sessions? I am not sure which ones they would be, or the exact period though. X months from A to B?

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Dominique –

     Thanks for taking the time to reply and give me such extensive feedback. Here are some responses to your comments.

     1. MySpeed has a Premium version that handles downloaded files. It retails for about $100 while the standard version (that only works in the browser) is about $30. I believe you can upgrade your license for $79.99 – see http://www.enounce.com/index.php?Itemid=61&option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=1 for details or to place an order.

     TIP: You can get a full MySpeed Premier license for half-price ($49.99) by starting to make a purchase of a new Standard license for $29.99; at some point shortly before you finish entering all the payment information, it will pop up a message saying that you can get the Premier version at a 50% discount. This would obviously be cheaper than upgrading your current Standard license.

     2. At this point, I routinely answer questions sent in by course members by email as a courtesy and as part of the “service with a smile” mentality that I like to maintain. When the question is appropriate for demonstration within a coaching call, I will queue it up for the next call; if it is a short question, I often simply respond via email.

     I’m not sure whether it will be practical to implement an option to pay for individual sessions, but will consider it in future.

     3. The length of the coaching program membership was always mentioned on the sales page, but has not been emphasized until this point. I had in fact extended everyone to continue throughout 2011. At this point, however, I’m transitioning to a system that will enable me to track the coaching membership separately, which I think makes sense given how much effort it takes to maintain this service for those who value it.

     4. You (and all course members) have lifetime access to the entire Best Practices Course (including the QuickStart Course) as well as all of the 2011 coaching calls. The new sessions in 2012 will be accessible only to people who have continued their coaching membership (of course, this includes those who recently signed up for the course, who get 6 months included with registration).

     Please let me know if you have further questions.

     Eric
8. 
   Ross
   15 years ago

   Hi Eric,
   Have you finished the best practice course as set down in your original programme ?
   I am a little surprised that you are asking me to sign up again. Not sure why if we have not finished the best practice course. I was a bit busy over the christmas and will have to look at your mails again to review
   Thanks I enjoyed the course so far.
   yours Ross

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     Ross –

     I am still working on the Best Practices Course materials (I’ve created 3 lessons totaling 90 minutes of new material this past week), and you don’t have to sign up again in order to get access to these lessons. Your membership in the course itself is permanent – a one-time fee – so you don’t have to worry about this.

     However the Coaching Program (the three calls each month) is now a separate offering. Each course member gets 6 months of membership in the coaching program (well, actually, I extended it for everyone through all of 2011) then has the option of continuing by paying a monthly or yearly fee. This is totally optional – the main benefit is that you will continue to have a place where you can ask questions and get support as you apply the Best Practices lessons in your own practice and on your own projects.

     I hope that clarifies things – let me know if you have further questions or comments.

     Eric
9. 
   william campbell
   15 years ago

   I can’t always attend and rarely have the time to review each call at a later date. I would rather access Coaching Call as an additional service to the Best Practices Course. Log on with a credit card or debit a client funds account.

   • 
     Eric Bobrow
     15 years ago

     William –
     Thanks for the feedback. It’s an interesting idea – to pay for access to individual calls. I’m not sure how I could implement it on a practical basis, but will ponder that. Thanks for the suggestion!
     Eric
10. 
    Tim Ball
    15 years ago

    Hi Bob

    I have found the coaching calls less useful than the videos as the tend to be a bit slow paced. I am quite familiar with Archicad and so the value to me is the occasional better way of working or tip that I get from the videos. I can fast forward through the basics of the videos to get to the good bits and make best use of time.

    It can also be difficult fitting in a fixed time for a coaching call when the top prioirty has to be paid work and looking after my clients. They can also be at awkward times due to the time difference.

    For me the main value of your offering is in the videos which I have found great and would encourage you to prioritise those.

    Tim Ball

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Tim –

      Thanks for your feedback on the calls being too slow-paced for your liking. Here are some suggestions you may want to consider with regards to getting the most out of your time when and if you watch a recorded call:

      1) Check out the Index for the coaching calls, where you can scan for topics of interest, then jump straight to that point in the call.

      2) I will be posting transcripts of all of the coaching calls (I’ve been having someone work on these) which may help in finding these parts, as well as assessing whether they may be worth watching for you.

      3) MySpeed is the video utility that allows you to watch videos at variable speeds without distortion. I routinely watch and listen to training materials at 1.5 times real speed, or as much as 2x, which saves a great deal of time.

      I will definitely be prioritizing the main course lessons this winter to get them done as quickly as possible.

      Eric
11. 
    PatriceBelle
    15 years ago

    Hi Bob,

    I shall most likely sign at a later date to continue the coaching program. For the time being I am behind on the course lessons to date, and have not yet viewed a coaching program (my fault – not yours – I hasten to add).

    Please keep up the excellent work…..

    Patrice

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Patrice –
      Thanks for the kind words.
      I appreciate that you took the time to post your comments.
      Eric
12. 
    Ron Siebach
    15 years ago

    Hi Eric,

    I would like to sign up at a later date for the coaching calls. I need more time to practice and digest the plethora of information I have thusfar learned before I can genuinely ask you any meaningfull questions.

    Ron

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Ron –
      Thanks for letting me know what’s up for you.
      I look forward to the time you are ready to ask me questions!
      (Remember – as far as I’m concerned, there are no dumb questions – some may be more basic than others, but there are likely to be many others in the same place as you are!)
      Eric
13. 
    David
    15 years ago

    Eric,
    I have not signed up for the coaching for several reasons.
    The primary reason at this time is cost. Any additional cost to the struggling business is not possible.
    Second, I am not a heavy CAD user as I am a sole proprietor and CAD helps my business model but is not key to the practice. I will work thru the Best Practice material as time permits or a particular video would help a specific and current effort.
    Third, The couple of coaching calls I attended were a bit slow for my interest. You know your stuff and do a great job, just hard to pick anything up during the calls.
    Forth, personally I find the time periods from the west coast hard to work into my schedule, either in the middle of my “billable” productive time or into the evening during personal time.
    To be fair, I understand I could go back and listen to the recordings, but never have taken the time.

    Thanks for offering but I will have to decline at this time.
    Keep up the good work.
    David

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      David –
      Thanks for your feedback. I wish you the best in your business – may it become more successful this year!
      Eric
14. 
    AntonioTort
    15 years ago

    Hi Eric,
    I absolutely agree with Xabier. I’d like more attention to the lessons. It is supposed that the main part of a course should be the essential content -lessons- and it is also good to get goodies as the coaching program, but as an extra object for those who like or have time enough to talk about.
    About the Spanish translation, I’d be also interested in collaborate.
    Kind regards,
    Antonio

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Antonio –

      Thanks for your comments. I am definitely putting more attention on creating the lessons now. I’ve released three new ones this past week totaling almost 90 minutes, and will be continuing work on them almost every day.

      I will contact you to discuss the Spanish translation – I appreciate your offer to be of assistance!

      Eric
15. 
    Xavier Palou
    15 years ago

    Eric,

    I have enjoyed and loved all your materials: AC-Master Template, Quick Start Course, Coaching Calls and Best Practices Course.
    I would ask you if it is possible to speed a little beat the lessons of the Best Practices Course !!
    You should consider to give something special to the ones who believed in this project from the beginning and now we are suffering as it is taking a little beat long.
    In any case I will sign up for the Coaching Program very soon.
    Pls. it is a good idea to consider translation all the materials in spanish; if you need some help you can contact me.
    Thanks for all your efforts and Best Regards,

    Xavier.

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Xavier –

      I will be speeding up the production of course lessons this winter – it’s my top priority. I have found the process to be very time consuming, since I try to work out for each lesson a sequence that communicates the most information in the shortest time, while building up the concepts in a coherent order. I apologize for the long delay, but things will move along quicker now.

      I will consider what else I can offer to members who joined during the initial launch. At this point, each of you has received far more in terms of the coaching program than I originally promised – one full year with up to 3 calls each month, a total of about 28 in 2011, versus the 6 months of one call per month originally planned. However, you are right, you have been waiting a long time for the course to be completed. Let me think about this.

      I will contact you with regards to the Spanish translation – thanks for offering to be of assistance!

      Eric
16. 
    Jackie
    15 years ago

    Hi Eric
    I have not had many questions to ask as your videos are very good. Do I have to sign up for the coaching program to see the video tutorials? I have been very busy and have not had time to look through all the videos.
    Jackie

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Jackie –

      I’m glad to hear that the video lessons have been clear enough that you haven’t needed to ask many questions.

      You don’t have to sign up for the coaching program to watch the video tutorials from the Best Practices Course or the QuickStart Course. You have permanent, lifetime access to these videos.

      The main reason to sign up for the coaching program is if you want to be able to ask questions about how to apply these lessons in the context of your projects, or get additional assistance for related topics that are not covered in the lesson itself.

      Eric

      Eric
17. 
    EverettMorton
    15 years ago

    I have practiced ArchiCad using your lessons and improved. I been out of work for a year, and I have started to loose focus. I do not have questions now, but modeling better so there is little line work in needed in my next goal. Your lessons have been most helpful, but there is no work. I would like to sign up when I have work, or working with a firm. It is motivation, or depression about architecture. Thank you for your lessons, and hopefully I may purchase question time in the near future.

    Morton

    • 
      Eric Bobrow
      15 years ago

      Everett –

      I am so sorry to hear about your continuing unemployment. It must be really, really tough.

      I’d like to offer you a free extension of your coaching program membership for the next three months – perhaps you’ll be in a better position at that time.

      Let me know if you’ll accept my offer, and I’ll get you set up.

      Eric