The Value of Workshops and Certifications
There’s something special about being able to work with people face-to-face every day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and changed our collective experience with in-person work has become different. Very different. So different that some were even called heroes by simply going to their jobs.
Those dark days of early 2020 feel far away now, like a fever dream that creeps back into view when we see or hear the wrong thing. It affected all of us differently and still does. For me, a primarily virtual employee since the first quarter of 2021, the stark contrast and value of experiences that are face-to-face changed.
Especially conferences. The Climbing Wall Association Summit of 2022 was as much educational as it was a reunion. In a lot of ways, the CWA Summit has always been about networking; whether for business and finding products or buyers or learning from speakers across the world and picking their brains. The pandemic made this front and center, and ever since the CWA has worked to make structured and unstructured networking part of the fabric of the show itself.
Looking at the CWA Summit schedule from the last four years, it is jam-packed. Education, networking, Trade Show Floor hours, keynotes. We even began to supply lunch, in part so people could spend more time together. With so much going on every day it's tough to find time for half day or full day workshops.
Enter Pre-Conferences. Though they add to the cost of the show itself, many of them are mini-CWA Summits. They include networking, education, and connection. They’re taught by highly qualified individuals, most of whom you’ve probably at least heard of if not admire.
For the certification side (view our certification schedule here), they compact many different CWA Certification events into one period, so it can be more cost-effective to certify more people at once in one place. We have hotel deals and connections to save money on lodging, and you know exactly when you need to be there more than a year in advance, so you can optimize your travel purchase. For the staff that were already attending the CWA Summit, it’s saving you money; you were already going to pay for that person’s travel you only have to extend it maybe a day or two. The deals and combined hotel expenses in many cases can also save money, as opposed to waiting for us to host a Certification Summit to your backyard.
For the staff you weren’t going to send, but wanted to certify later in the year, it allows you to get near two-for-one savings when you add up room and board expenses.
Most of these workshops are taught by renowned institutions of the indoor climbing industry, folks who have been doing it longer than the better half of employees will be in the industry.
Our experience with in-person conferences is changing. Around the world, since the pandemic, people are re-learning the value of simply experiencing something in person. This extends to you, and your staff. Aside from the monetary savings that occur from getting a pre-conference workshop or certification ticket, their value can be judged by the experience that people have. How much they retain, their excitement for learning during the conference itself, being primed for meeting people from across the world who do what they do.
At the end of February, late registration fees will be kicking in for these workshops. We’re all too aware of the financial climate we’re living in, and that is more reason that these workshops are important.
By combining them with your CWA Summit experience, you’re paying yourself in the future.
About the Author
Jake Byk is the Content Manager for the Climbing Wall Association. He's an avid hiker, mountaineer, lover of hard-to-reach places and long drives. If his phone isn't on airplane mode exploring some far-flung region of Colorado, you can find him at home, perfecting his espresso addiction with his three cats and a wonderful partner.