PRODUCT TRAINING SHOULD BE FREE

OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS AN EXPENSIVE AND UNSAVORY TREND has emerged in the cinema industry - the charging of onerous fees by manufacturers to attend training courses on their products.

For dealers and exhibitors all manufacturers' training programs should be at the expense of the manufacturer.  Because a dealer is an agent of the manufacturer.  The dealer represents, promotes, sells, and pays the manufacturer for the product.  And then, in most cases, installs, services, and educates the end-user on the proper operation and maintenance of the product.  As for the exhibitor, the same holds true.  Why should an exhibitor pay to train on a product they are purchasing.

Both Christie Digital and Barco Projection offer training courses on their D-Cinema products, costing upwards of  $5,000 per person to attend.  This is the exact opposite of what should be the case.  The manufacturer should be paying attendees to train on their equipment - not the other way around!

This is but one more reason why using a reputable full-service dealer adds value.  The dealer should be technically capable of professionally installing any product they sell and train the exhibitor on how to operate and maintain it as part of the cost of the purchase of that equipment.

If any exhibitor feels the need for training on a cinema related issue they should attend a workshop offered by Cinema Training Central (http://www.cinema-training.com/).  For example, CTC offers a workshop entitled "Digital Cinema/3D - All The Options" for $395.  This workshop covers all of the current D-Cinema projection and related server/software options, plus all of the 3D systems (digital and film based).

Don't be too quick to sign up for training that should rightfully be free with the purchase of major equipment.  And depend on your cinema dealer for training , not the manufacturer.

Best and Happy Movie Going
Jim Lavorato