Flare Roadshow - anyone been or going? is it worth it?

[nickatwork]

Hi all,
I noticed there is a madcap road show hitting London soon. I'm considering going, but I don't know if it is really worth while. I attended the 3-4 day training session ages ago and even that I felt was too basic and not anything I want to repeat.

Has any one attended one of these? Is it worth while, did you learn anything useful or were there any good discussions etc? If it is just a heres how to use Flare over the course of a day then I'm not really too fussed.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Nick

[whunter]

I went last year. If I were a newish user or a user who hasn't had much time to explore various features, then I think it would be worthwhile. But as a more experienced user, I didn't really get anything out of it. I don't know whether they significantly change the agenda from year to year or if it is more or less the same.

[RamonS]

I went a few years ago and I liked it a lot, especially that you can pepper the MadCap folks with all the questions you have.

[nickatwork]

OK cool, thanks for the info. Think I will pass on this one.

[Phlawm53]

I've gone to the 2011 and 2012 roadshows here in S.F.

What I found most useful about the Roadshows was the chance to chat with other Flare users.

Beyond that, my own view is that the Roadshows provide the most benefit if one has already gotten one's hands on the most current version of Flare. That's because the Roadshow's morning presentations provide an overview of the newest release's salient product features. If one has played a bit with the new version (at least its 30-days trial instance), the Roadshow provides a place to get a broader perspective about the new release, and to ask version-specific questions; if one has no experience with the newest version those sessions probably won't be as useful or interesting. (Afternoon presentations discuss CSS and other product capabilities that aren't necessarily version specific…)

That is to say that the Flare Roadshows are pleasant enough but may — or may not — be "worth it" depending on what one is hoping to accomplish while there. If one has big expectations, one will most likely be disappointed…

Cheers & hope this helps,
Riley
SFO