What to Expect

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The OSR Seminar Experience

So, you’re in the fortunate position of being able to consider attending a seminar by OSR. You like what you’ve heard or read about OSR seminars, but you’re not entirely sure about what to expect from the experience. Let us tell you what it’s like, step by step.

Before You Register

Getting the information you need about training options from OSR is one of the first important steps in your OSR seminar experience. Whether you’re a software engineer, manager, training coordinator, or executive management, our seasoned seminar staff want to help you choose the most appropriate training option for you or your team. In all honesty, we don’t want you to complete a web form, submit a credit card and register for our seminars on-line. We want you to seek assistance from our specialist staff to help you make the right training decision. Tell us your background and your goals. Voice any concerns you may have, get additional clarification on a seminar outline. Describe the unique situation you’re in and let us help you find an equally unique solution. Now is the time – after all, it’s in both parties’ best interest to ensure that you will receive maximum value for your time and money.

Once you’re happy and ready to move forward, our seminar staff will work with you or your company’s finance department to process your registration and confirm your seat in your chosen seminar.

Accessibility & Special Services OSR strives to secure training venues that address ADA (or equivalent) accessibility, alternative diet/food preparation, and other needs as may be required by our students. Such facilities and services are not always available, thus we recommend contacting the OSR seminar staff for specific needs and guidance in these areas.

Before Your Seminar

The week of your training is on the horizon. You have received logistics information concerning the event. We know our students travel from disparate locations around the globe so maybe you have a last-minute question concerning travel to the venue. Or, maybe you’re winding down on a project from the week before and have some spare time to do some preparatory research before the event. Special meal requirements? Need recommendations of where to stay? Whatever the case may be, call us. Email us. We know how hectic it can be juggling work and travel. If there is something we can do to make your days leading up to the event easier, please, by all means, let us know!

Some helpful suggestions:

There’s always the chance that a seminar gets cancelled. “Stuff happens”. Only in a highly unusual case is this going to happen on less than two weeks notice, but, well, events outside of our controlcan occasionally occur. Therefore, please do yourself a favor and don’t make non-refundable travel arrangements unless you can manage the cancel/change fee and use them otherwise.
If you’re traveling to your seminar, especially by air, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements to arrive the day before your seminar starts; We’re sure there are early morning flights that you could take on the day of your seminar, but hey, you or your company has invested in your training experience…missing part of the first day is almost guaranteed to leave you stressed and in “catch-up” mode.
Prepare: If you have time, read-up on your Windows internals or more detailed topics in advance; do some research; when provided for your seminar, dig into the suggested pre-reading material.

At Your Seminar

This is where the magic happens. This is where we impart our wisdom, experience and definitive expertise. Don’t expect to fall asleep. We’ll be keeping the presentation animated. Because our seminars are designed to build upon previous material, you won’t want to miss anything. Enjoy the continental breakfast spread, unlimited coffee and beverages, and just when you think your head is ready to explode, we’ll break between 12:00-1:00PM for lunch so you can relax, network with other attendees, or just refuel for the next session. Depending on the pace, number of questions, and whether there is lab time involved, we’ll usually finished up each day between 4:30-5:30PM. Use the evening however you choose, but come back the next day refreshed and ready for more…we will be!

Some suggestions to make your time at the seminar as comfortable as possible:

Arrive on time. We start promptly at 9:00AM with “check-in” on the first day starting at approximately 8:30AM
Dress casual. Jeans and t-shirts are perfectly appropriate. Bring a sweater/sweatshirt in case the room is too cold
We’ll provide you almost everything you can think of. Breakfast, an unlimited supply of beverages and snacks, handouts, pen, paper, etc. If there’s something else you need while you’re there, just ask!
ASK QUESTIONS. In a public seminar, we won’t be able to cater the seminar to you alone, but if you don’t ask questions to ensure you understand the material (and help us understand that you’re grasping it), you really only have yourself to blame. Again, maximize your experience…you paid for it!

After Your Seminar

Bottom-line: Our intent is not to perform a “brain dump” on you and whisk you out the door with good luck wishes. We know that sometimes that burning question only comes after you’re home and have had the time to digest the material. Maybe it doesn’t come up until months later, and you’re deeply involved in your project. No matter. You can relax, because now you’re a member of the OSR seminar “family”.

If you’ve taken a course from us, we hope and expect to hear from you if we can help clarify the material from your course. This is why we provide you with the email address of the OSR engineer who teaches your seminar. Send us your question. Ask us for pointers to more info. This is one of the privileges you get after you have taken a seminar with us. And, while we can’t promise to provide you with unlimited software support via email, we can tell you that we still regularly answer occasional questions that we receive from students more than ten years after they’ve attended just one of our seminars. We think you’ll agree, that shows our dedication to your success.