From: Scott Morris (smorris@internetworkexpert.com)
Date: Sat Mar 14 2009 - 20:15:14 ARST
Did I make any such recommendation?
Did I discourage anyone from taking Narbik's offer?
Nope, I merely pointed out the ramifications and honest logic of WHATEVER
path anyone wants to take. Are we taking this a little personally lately?
Now, if you are telling me that you cover everyone's room and board to take
and/or retake your bootcamp then I will most certainly say that yours is
obviously not equal with ours (or presumably IPexpert's) bootcamps. But up
until that point, the logic and the method are the same. And I'm pretty
sure I said that I agreed with it. (I had to pause and re-read what I sent
to be sure I'm not going nuts)
Did I make any recommendation of the number of CCIEs? I didn't think so
because unless ALL of them are teaching the course someone is attending then
it's a little irrelevant for any one class. So what's my recommendation?
Choose whatever you'd like. Whatever you think is more important. Whatever
you think won't drive you insane in the interim. *shrug*
It wouldn't be appropriate to tell anyone to pick one over another, because
that would become advertising wouldn't it? ;) I'm merely pointing out that
some perceived differences may not be what they appear to be. Sorry to whip
out the logic card.
Am I incorrect? Or pray tell what your recommendation would be to pick one
over the other?
I'm going to hunt some caffeine down because I'm clearly missing something
this evening, and damned if I can figure it out at the moment.
Scott
From: Narbik Kocharians [mailto:narbikk@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:22 PM
To: smorris@internetworkexpert.com
Cc: Darby Weaver; Nick; Cisco certification
Subject: Re: UK Boot Camp
hhahahaha,
Well if Darby says "hey Narbik offers a FREE retake", then, you say "hey it
can not be FREE because you need to eat, sleep and etc etc etc".
When i mention that you need to audit the class and talk to the students and
see if you click with the instructor, you say well "You kind of lose
perspective (IMHO) if you only attend a snippet" so should they audit 5
days? or the entire boot camp?
Then, what is your recommendation for choosing one over the other? The
number of triple and quad ccies?
Well, IMHO, a student MUST have the ability to retake the class and the
class itself should NOT cost the student anything. IMHO, and please
understand that this is my HONEST OPINION, it can ONLY help, it can NOT hurt
at all.
The other aspect of retaking the boot camp is that it helps specially after
when a student passes the CCIE lab.
We all know that you are at the peak of your knowledge when you pass the
exam, what happens after that....well....we get side tracked with projects
etc etc etc etc , and as a result of that you get a little rusty. With us, i
highly recommend that the student retake the boot camp once a year to polish
his/her knowledge even afer passing the exam, unless Cisco has changed
things around, and if they have, the bootcamp should NOT cost the student
what it costs a new student. I know that the student has to pay for the
food, hotel, and etc etc. But hey we offer classes in: LA, DC/VA, Atlanta,
Chicago, Dallas, NY, Amsterdam, BTW, the UK will be on the menu, Malaysia,
Sydney, Poland and Dubai, i hope i did not miss any of the locations,
therefore, that may be close to where you live.
You see how the philosophy is different? but hey NO ONE CAN TELL ME THAT
IPexpert or IE classes or their work books are bad, i recommend it to all of
my students, and this can be verified with them, you should see the
protocols/whatever from different perspectives, THE MORE LABS THEY DO, the
better they get.
IMHO, a perfect bootcamp should have a perfect balance, a perfect balance
between labs and lectures, the instructor should NOT LECTURE, he/she SHOULD
TEACH.
IMHO, if the instructor uses projection and explains/reads what he/she sees
in the slide, hey.....my grandma can do the same....but then again she is a
dual CCIE.
IMHO, the boot camp should NOT cost an arm and a leg..
Once again, these are SOME of the things to look when YOU are choosing one
boot camp over another.
On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Scott Morris
<smorris@internetworkexpert.com> wrote:
Technically the same concepts can be applied to anyone's bootcamp. But
let's look at it:
Come once, learn the fundamentals - basically, you're going to go in not
knowing nearly enough to get a real benefit from it, so you'll spend a lot
of time with the deer-in-headlights look and pick up some fundamentals.
You'll do some lab work, spend a lot of time looking at the answers and even
though you may learn, it can be a frustrating experience.
Come back and learn more - Now here's the part where you run into the idea
of what has ALWAYS been my philosophy on attending a class. Know SOMETHING
about every topic. Avoid that deer-in-headlights look. If you have some
basis, you can ask good questions. Things will make sense to you and you
can get into the finer points.
The more you know about a subject, the better off it is. Even if you think
you are well prepard, you'll always get that "knew that, knew that, knew
that Oooohhhhhhh.. THAT's what that is for" with the occasional little
glint in there. As well as any specific questions you ask.
You CAN do that with any training. Kinda falls under the "repetition is the
mother of all learning". but the question comes back to do you do work on
your own first, then attend the bootcamp at the point it was designed for?
Or do you try the brute-force method?
It's definitely your (or your company's) travel money. Even with free
re-attendance to a class, you still need to eat, sleep and travel And be
off your "normal" job.
So keep in mind there is nothing unique to this philosophy for one trainer
or another. it's just that (again, my opinion) I think it's a better idea
to avoid the frustration level of attending without being prepared.
And, by the way If you attend one bootcamp unprepared and then attend a
different one perpared, there isn't really a basis for comparison between
the two as you knew more for the second one than for the first. :)
Just a thought, YMMV
Scott
From: Darby Weaver [mailto:ccie.weaver@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 2:29 PM
To: smorris@internetworkexpert.com
Cc: Narbik Kocharians; Nick; Cisco certification
Subject: Re: UK Boot Camp
Hey -
Here's some advice that anyone considering any class or bootcamp might want
to consider - especially if it is on your own dime:
1. Are you ready for the class?
That's a big question. Only you can answer that question.
2. Have you at least read the command configuration guides and command
reference guides for each technology?
Common Sense - not quite so common actually - Probably not.
Bootcamps and 5-Day or even 10-12 Days Class move incredibly fast. Expect
to spend 4-8 hours on any subject -even BGP, Multicast, or Qos.
If you have not at least read the material - what did you expect someone to
blow smoke in your nose so you just magically learn those topics in 3-4
hours... Strangely enough it never EVER works this way. Lightbulbs go on
for people who spend a lot of time studing these subjects before the class.
Not the quick fix, last minute types.
3. Do you have a firm grasp of frame relay, bridging, arp, and switching
topics like Spanning-Tree....
If not, chances are you may not have enough time to get it in 8 hours that a
class may spend on all those topics - and remember about 50-60% or better of
your time is going to be hands-on...
4. Do you know your IGPS.... if not.... what was the point of going so
quickly again? These topics make or break a CCIE Candidate. You either own
them or you don't.
Remember the class is there to round you out. Learn the finess details that
otherwise might slip by even a well-prepared candidate.
5. Again - Know before you go...
If there is anyone who would like to add please be my guest.
Remember one of the first Disclaimers you will here in any class kinda goes
like this:
This bootcamp will not do the work for you. It is usually meant to be a
finishing school. Not a starting school.
Narbik may be the exception - since he says come now... learn the
fundamentals... then.... don't go to the lab... come back in 6+ months and
try the class again after you've had time to practice at the expert level.
IE provides a good foundation and solid base as well.
However, one should know how to configure things before making the jump in
any event.
IMHO
Darby Weaver
On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 10:10 AM, Scott Morris
<smorris@internetworkexpert.com> wrote:
You kind of lose perspective (IMHO) if you only attend a snippet. Because
you perhaps lose some of the background or previous humor about whatever was
being discussed.
I suppose do whatever makes sense to you, but >I< would try to look at the
whole picture instead of looking at snippets and expecting a worthwhile
comparison. *shrug*
Scott
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Narbik Kocharians
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 12:16 AM
To: Darby Weaver
Cc: Nick; Cisco certification
Subject: Re: UK Boot Camp
I think i like that idea, you should audit Anthony's class and talk to
students and do the same with my class and pick the one you like. That is
the best way. Some times you click with a person and like the way he/she
teaches the class. But i would recommend going there the third or the forth
day so you can get a true sense of what is happening. Just a
recommendation...
On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 5:50 PM, Darby Weaver <ccie.weaver@gmail.com> wrote:
> No company. I'm not advertising.
>
> Just an FYI - :)
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Nick <ccieaz@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Darby,
> >
> > Thanks for the information, and that is a good price.. But my lab date
is
> > 5th May, so was looking for a date before then.
> >
> > BTW, what company do you work for, I dont see a signature?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Nick
> >
> > 2009/3/13 Darby Weaver <ccie.weaver@gmail.com>
> >
> > Narbik is in Milton Keynes very soon. Details soon - not sure exactly
> >> when.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> May, which I will do tomorrow daytime. The quick details are the course
> >> will be running in Milton Keynes on the the 18th - 23rd May. I have
> >> negotiated the rate down to #1650 inc VAT which is a great price for an
> >> excellent course.
> >>
> >> I will post up all of the details tomorrow about the course, the
> location,
> >> the venue and how to book (through my company).
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 2:08 PM, Nick <ccieaz@googlemail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi All,
> >>> Does anyone have any suggestions of a UK based boot camp this which
> takes
> >>> place before May?
> >>>
> >>> I am looking for a 5 or 6 day hopefully in London somewhere.
> >>>
> >>> Also I am interested in a boot camp that is not focused purely on
> >>> information from a deck of slides!
> >>>
> >>> Any recommendations will be great.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks
> >>>
> >>> Nick
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net <http://www.ccie.net/>
> >>>
> >>>
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