Busy Week and Training Growth

This week has been extremely busy for me at work.  Normally I average two classes a week, with time in between to work on preparation for each class, managing my inbox, and research for new teaching methods. This week, I am teaching every day, with two full day classes and three 4-hour classes.  That means less time for prep (the classes are all different subjects), less time to correspond, and less time to prepare for some upcoming training at the end of the month. 

Now, while all this work is exhausting and tends to be confusing (jumping from Linux to Microsoft Office to Mac), it is a good sign of growth to our program.  As of last week, we hit a record registration for this time of the year.  More people are signing up for our classes than before, and more people are retaking classes for newer versions of software.  

So how does one deal with such growth?  Right now we are nearly at a breaking point, and need some additional contract instructors on board.  Also necessary would be more administrative staff, which we hope to have on board soon.  And there seems to be a growing need for training in other parts of the State, which suggests more travel in the near future.  

So what does this all mean in the long-term?  Growth across a larger area to provide more training facilities in our growing market.  It also means more staff, either as contract instructors or as full time instructors.  

The second question is how we managed to grow.  The answer is with diversity.  Our demographics are so wide within Technology education that we manage to provide quality training in a number of areas that are often overlooked by other training facilities.  After all, we are the only Apple Authorized Training Center in the State of Utah, and as such provide a growing variety of training in a commonly overlooked but growing market.  

The exciting thing is the potential growth coming in the coming years.  It's a real exciting time, if rather stressful for the instructor covering classes for others on vacation in the Summer.  Luckily my marathons will be run by the end of the month, giving me more time to work on my most recent research project:  distance education for tech classes.  ^_^