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DECEMBER 09

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the dot-com crash and 9/11, both individuals and companies have smaller training and travel budgets, and educational conferences have folded due to high expenses and lack of attendees. As the economy has changed and technology has improved, the growth of online training has helped to pick up where these alternative meth- ods of teaching have fallen short." OPPORTUNITES: "The market for online-distributed content is burgeoning due to new formats and growing worldwide audiences. From broadband Internet access through gaming/media centers in the home, to iPhone and other mobile media in everyone's pocket, content is accessible from nearly ever y corner of the globe. New markets include foreign audiences as content becomes more acces- sible and the demand for software training grows." THREATS: "Many companies who offer content for sale online face the thiever y and illegal distribution of their content through torrents by those who believe that all content should be free. While that's a never-ending and difficult battle, a key to the continued suc- cess for companies like lynda.com is the fact that the experience of being a lynda.com member can't be duplicated and isn't solely based on the training content alone." OUTLOOK 2010: "Along with all other content and media, on- line education resources will continue to grow by increasing content and their customer base. There will be more courses, new topics, new kinds of courses, and more efficient types of content presenta- tion. Improved technology will allow fur ther collaboration with classroom teaching and better peer-to-peer and instructor-to-stu- dent video interaction. While the economy promises to improve, consumers will continue to be frugal with their budgets, and will continue to seek sources from which to improve their skills and keep competitive to ensure financial security." CHRIS MAYNARD Owner/Operator CMIVFX Princeton, NJ (www.cmivfx.com) CMIVFX has seen increasing growth in its online visual effects training programs. The training company offers HD Train- ing on Demand (HDTOD). Customers may log-in from anywhere in the world to access their training videos. A long list of programs CMIVFX covers includes: Autodesk, Avid, Apple, Adobe, Eyeon, Maxon, Nuke, Side Effects and Zbrush. STRENGTHS: "Education is always going to be there. Its stability draws those individuals who need the consistency of job security. The visual effects and computer graphics industries are still on an in- cline and education needs, whether free or commercial, still need to be satisfied at all levels of complexity.The key to success is making a better product than everyone else. In this industry it can be quite difficult to stand above all the rest. Our clientele are acute individu- als with a keen eye, which helps keep the quality of our materials extremely high. Ninety-three percent of our customers return to purchase from us again." WEAKNESSES: "One weakness in the VFX educational ver tical market involves organizations trying to make a quick dollar. Unquali- fied trainers flooding the market with random material can dilute the ability to turn a profit, and they often terminate their effor ts, which can hurt others.Training is also subject to theft and the cross pollination of training companies. One company may take learning materials from another and prosper from it, thus propagating a never-ending chain of dilution. "Another weakness is user opposition to new instructional prod- ucts for new markets. We may literally get cursed for trying to help Video Symphony: Students who become digital content creators can "play a huge role in shaping content for online instruction," says Mike Flanagan. www.postmagazine.com December 2009 • Post 43

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