"Hi this is Carl from Web Courses Bangkok", I feel like I have said that a thousand times over the past few weeks, but it is something I am very proud to be able to say. WCB has both been a labor of love and a passion for me and I wanted to share both it's conception and future as the year comes to a close.
Teaching is in my blood
Since I can remember I have always loved teaching and it was the main reason I started WCB. When I first came to Thailand I had a change of career from Web Design to English Teacher. While I was here I always kept up-to-date with the ever changing world of the Web. I put my skills to good use as a Freelancer and became the Web Manager for a small company in January 2008.
I had always been passionate about Web Standards and beautiful web design and I began teaching my Thai staff the wonders of DIV based layouts, accessibility and simple effective design based on usability. It sounds like it should be a happy ending but what I was trying to teach was far different from anything they had ever done and hard from them to apply. It was at this time I had the idea of teaching and bringing Web Standards to Thailand.
It starts with an idea, need and domain name
Ideas need a home and I purchased a cool lilttle leather notebook that I carry arround with me to this day. As soon as I had the idea to create a training centre, the ideas kept washing over me like a tidal wave. As more and more ideas came I knew I needed a name. Some ideas I came up with were:
- Design Training Bangkok
- Computer Training Bangkok
- Learn Web Design
- Web Design Courses
- Web and Design Bangkok
Finally I choose Web Courses Bangkok as it scored well on the keyword analysis and was versatile enough to include other cities should I decide to expand.
Got the Who. now the What?
My little leather notebook was filling with ideas of how to pull the course together things like, having worksheets to cover the topics, video tutorials to help trainees learn the tools and links to all the best sites packed with information. This was all well and good but I needed the meat of the course, I needed the topics, timing and aims.
I started by listing all the topics of what I believe is needed to make a professional and successful web designer. I quickly realised I would need more than one course to fit them all in. I began to then group the topics into beginner, intermediate and advanced. I then took the topics for the beginners course and began grouping them into a four week course. This was the hard part.
For a long time no pattern immerged just a lot of chicken and egg syndromes as to know one thing the trainees must have first covered another. I also battled with the fact I did not want to teach just Adobe products but the ideas behind good design so that our trainees could use any package to create fantastic web sites.
Finally a pattern established itself and the what came a lot quicker once I had the four foundations to the first course:
- Week 1 - Planning
- Week 2 - Design
- Week 3 - Development
- Week 4 - Going Live!
Growing Our Ideas Online
Four months after coming up with the idea and researching the content I did my very first class with two friends. They kindly agreed and I choose them because I knew I could rely on their honesty and constructive criticisms. Luke Nichols and Mike Dando were the very first trainees of what was to become Web Courses Bangkok. The course was over four weeks and took place on room 1065 of Lumpini Place, yes it was my condo and all I had were a few worksheets, a rough plan, a 2ft white board and a whole lot of enthusiasm.
As the course progressed I learnt more than I had done in a long time. Armed with the feedback from my first course I began changing my home made recipe into a professional course that now had a clear aim.
Web sites like Smashing Magazine, NetTuts, .net Magazine, Boagworld and many more were the source of constant inspiration and good advice. Thanks to them my ideas grew online and the beginners course was ready for paying customers.
Location, Location, Location
When I was freelancing and looking for inspiration, I would always goto the TCDC. Hours would simply disappear in the fantastic creative environment on the 6th floor of Emporium. It was here I wanted to do the first "real" course and use their nice meeting rooms. I was so sure of being able to run the courses there, until we got our own office, that I created this introduction video:
I later found out that they only gave 1 hour internet access and so I had to find plan B.
Plan B was another favorite work place of mine, the Bug and Bee in Silom. It was a great place with lovely Coffee and unlimited free Wifi. Helena and Errin were my very first paying customers and after they completed the course they told me how fantastic it was and this gave me the desire to really do WCB full time and put my future into it. Still WCB needed a home...
I was still working hard as a Web Manager but my heart was not in it, I also worked as a freelancer and I mentioned to one of my clients that I wanted to do WCB full time and I just needed a place to do it. Gert of Vischu.com came to the rescue and offered his office as a place for us to run courses. This was a massive opportunity for me to take the course to the next level.
Leap of Faith
It quickly became apparent that I could not do two jobs, I was working from 9-5pm and then rushing to the office to do 5-9.30pm for Web Courses Bangkok. Luckily It was time for a change so I consulted my girlfriend and told her I wanted to create my own company and leave my job. Taya was very supportive and offered to help me set everything up. Taya now plays a key role in the company and I owe her a massive thanks for all the help and dedication she has given us during 2009 and through into 2010.
We chose a recommended person to setup the company, Gung of EasyVisaRun.com did a fantastic job of organizing a Work Permit and we found the relevant amount of share holders.
My leap had succeeded, I had the official company, a work permit and premises. With the help of Peter Upporton of Admin Outsourcing Bangkok we had a fully legal running company ready to make money and create web experts.
Our Fantastic Trainees
You can only go so far alone and I am so lucky to have had some amazing trainees Google "web design courses in bangkok", find us and make a booking. As soon as the web site was ready we started getting bookings for courses and each and every course filled up weeks before starting. This was a fantastic response to a company and course that had only being going one month.
During all this time I had worked hard at improving the course, more worksheets, more tutorials, more links and a project that trainees can complete and see their achievement. Our trainees loved it and already I had people demanding the Intermediate course to be ready asap!
One of the mistakes I did make was to not complete the intermediate course sooner. It was hard for a lot of Beginner graduates to then come back and do the intermediate course. I hope one day we get to see them again and we always keep in close contact with everyone who completes our course.
Unexpected Results and the Birth of a Master Plan
With the Intermediate course complete we took our first group in October 2009. Mike, Peter and Ben all came into the course excited after the beginners course.
The original plan I had for this course was changed after doing the first run but the course gave a fantastic result over all. The best and most unexpected result was that Mike was asked to make a web site for a business based in Wales UK. Mike completed the web site from start to finish in under a month and made $1000. The client was ecstatic and you can see the final design here:
http://www.caerphillyhomeimprovements.com/
This unexpected result then gave birth to an idea that will be a major part of our marketing and business plan for 2010. We will be starting a Job Board for Trainees that will allow others to make money from their new skills and even start a new career in Web Design.
Time for Team Work
It was becoming clear I could not do this alone, I needed to find more instructors and a PA. In November Sean was one of the first people to teach the course I had written. He did a great job but it showed a great need for me to create teaching material for other teachers.
I then met Seth Taylor, during a one-to-one training session I did for him, who was really keen in joining the team. Seth is a highly experienced award winning graphic designer and I saw his passion for design instantly as he recited his favorite fonts and why. We began writing the Graphic Design course early in December and we are putting the finishing touches on the course ready for 2010.
We also interviewed more instructors and we hope they can join the team early next year and help us bring even more exciting courses like e-commerce and also teaching in International Schools and Business Seminars.
Our team is coming together and they did, for our Xmas party, which you can see on our Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=134819&id=91539712047
Bring it on for 2010!
As you can see a lot has led up to this point. We are so excited about this year and I can't wait to see Web Courses Bangkok grow through our fantastic trainees. I hope also we can add to the list of cultures that have completed courses with us that include:
We have achieved so much already thanks to our team and trainees, so what do we have planned for 2010?
- Launch new Courses
- Graphic Design
- Advanced Web Design
- Corporate Web Design
- Joomla and Worpdress
- iPhone and Smart Phone Application Development
- Social Network Marketing
- Photoshop and Illustrator for Kids
- Create project opportunities for trainees through our WCB Job Board
- Build a community of excellent designers and developers in Thailand
- Run more seminars at networking events
- Increase the awareness of Web Standards and Accessibility in Thailand
- Start a series of after school and revision courses for various International Schools
- Publish articles in the leading newspapers and magazines
- Lectures at some of Thailand's Top Universities.
- Move into the Thai market by adapting our course material and translating into Thai language.
Time for some Thanks
