A DRIVING Force in the Training Industry - Convergence Plans New Driving Courses

More than 2,300 Americans died in 2007 from occupational transportation accidents. That's 2 out of every 5 work-related deaths for the year.

In other words, that's:
- 2,300 times the number of fatal shark attacks worldwide
- 127 times the number of U.S. skydiving deaths
- 51 times the number of fatal U.S. lightning strikes
- Or over 3 times the number of global airline fatalities for that same year

But you don’t need to trudge through the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or be a safety expert to know that number is way too high. The worst part is that virtually all of those accidents were avoidable.

As a company focused on positively impacting the safety training industry, Convergence Training constantly looking for new opportunities to help our customers reduce accidents and ultimately saving lives.

Everyone knows that safe driving habits can reduce or even avoid tragic human costs, but improving commercial driving safety also makes solid business sense. So, we plan to release our new Commercial Driving Safety series in late-August.

The first course in our Commercial Driving Safety series will be Introduction to Defensive Driving, followed by Seat Belt Safety and Vehicle Preparedness. Introduction to Defensive Driving will cover the fundamental concepts of collision avoidance, economics of safe driving, and vehicle knowledge. And as you’ve come to expect, our material will represent the insights, regulations, and best practices of leading organizations, including the National Safety Council, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and OSHA.

Do you have suggestions for other safety training courses that would make your life easier or safer? We want to hear from you. Call or email us to let us know what you need.

My Five Favorite E-Learning Resources

Just last week, I was asked for a list of the top blogs/learning resources that I follow/frequent. Here is a list of the 5 sites that I have found helpful and full of great information. I subscribe to these via RSS which will deliver updates directly to Outlook and my phone.

Here is my list:

• eLearning 3.0 blog - http://www.elearning30.com/


• eLearning Learning - http://www.elearninglearning.com/


• ELearning Weekly - http://elearningweekly.wordpress.com/


• Corporate ELearning Strategies and Development - http://elearndev.blogspot.com/
  


• Learning, Education, and Training Systems Interoperability - https://letsi.org/
  

What are some of your favorite eLearning or training sites? Drop me an email or comment and let me know what I'm missing out on!

Asbestos Awareness Updated

In our continuing effort to provide our customers with relevant and accurate training material, we've recently updated our Asbestos Awareness DVD and CBT products. If you have purchased a DVD (or our complete EHS DVD Set), we've just ordered new copies to be sent free of charge.

If you previously purchased an Asbestos Awareness DVD, please replace it with the newly updated version you'll receive soon. If you purchased an EHS DVD Set, please use the newly updated DVD in place of the Asbestos Awareness module on Disk 1.

View our full line of training DVDs

View our DVD training packages



Changes to the asbestos course include updates to regulatory information, clarified legislation history, improved graphics and updated 3D renders.

Convergence Training Visits Southeast

Convergence Training will be meeting with prospective and current pulp and paper clients in a weeklong trip to the Southeast. We will be traveling through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.

If you would like to schedule a meeting with a Convergence representative in your area, please call Roman Battan at 1-888-634-7346 x241 or email us at support@thinkconverence.com.

We look forward to our trip and meeting with everyone!

Message from Randy Kohltfarber, Director of Product Development

To our valued customers and subscribers,

In December of 2008 Convergence Training entered the retail safety video and CBT (computer-based training) market with a single goal: to raise awareness of the quality, value, and contemporary graphic styling of our product line. Part of our approach to reach that goal involved taking our products directly to consumers via our e-commerce site. We felt that offering our products and excellent customer service for less than half the price of our nearest competitor was an excellent way to introduce ourselves and our products to the industry. The response has been overwhelming and we very much appreciate each and everyone who has purchased our products.

Due to the success of our product line and increasing requests from third parties to resell our courseware, we now feel the need to bring our product pricing more in-line with industry standards. Rest assured, our products will continue to have the highest quality, most contemporary feel, and lowest prices available on the market. Additionally, we feel this move will allow us to accelerate the growth of our content library and, as a result, you will start seeing many new Convergence Training titles available in our online store (and available through third party resellers) within the next few months.

Because we appreciate you as a customer and want to thank you for your interest in our products, we felt it was important to provide advance notice of our plans to increase our pricing structure. So, for the next couple of weeks, you will still be able to purchase our products at current prices. However, effective June 22nd we will post a new pricing structure to our online store located at http://shop.thinkconvergence.com.

It is our goal to revolutionize the traditional safety training video experience. We believe that high quality videos with state of the art graphics can be made available at affordable prices and we are looking forward to leading the way in that effort. If you have any concerns or would simply like to chat about our upcoming plans, please feel free to contact me directly at, 1.888.634.7346 x216.

Thank you again for your interest in and appreciation for our work. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the future!

Best regards,

Randy Kohltfarber
Director of Product Development
360.834.0991 x216
1.888.634.7346 x216 - Toll Free
sales@thinkconvergence.com
support@thinkconvergence.com

416 NE Dallas Street
Camas, WA 98607
United States

Printable Tests in PDF Format (from XPS)

Recently we’ve been getting more and more great feedback from our customers. We love to get feedback because it helps us develop better products and services for you, our customers.

Some customers have had trouble recently using our printable tests and answer guides. Currently, they are in XPS format which is an open and trustworthy format most useful for Microsoft Office 2007 users. Internet Explorer can view XPS documents, and there is even a free XPS Viewer software. Despite those viewing options, some of our customers don’t want to download additional software and are having trouble using the XPS files. To help those customers out, we have spent the time to upgrade our documents to PDF.

Now, all the tests, answer guides, and certificates for our EHS and MSHA DVD courses are available in PDF format. We have also added a name and date field for the tests. The new documents will be available online soon, but if you need them now, feel free to send us an email or give us a call and we can get them to you right away.

Convergence Blog is Back from Vacation

I've just returned from a completely disconnected vacation outside of Moyie Springs, ID. I had no cell phone reception, no internet, and no email - it was a wonderful break but I'm back and realizing that I've missed a couple of blog posts. I'll be back on top of things and posting regularly again from here out.

Upcoming events include launching our Pay-Per-View training, launching our reseller programs, launching our commercial web-based training platform, additions of new courses to our library, and updates to some of our courses such as Asbestos Awareness.

Thanks for staying tuned in!

Convergence Server Learning Management System (LMS) Installed at Pulp and Paper-Making Facility in Southeastern United States

Representatives of Convergence Training recently visited an pulp and paper-making facility facility in Southern California to install the Convergence Server Learning Management System and Scout, the mobile training device from Convergence.

Installation of the Convergence Server LMS was quick and seamless, with most all processes completed within one day. With the Learning Management System installed on the company's network, Convergence representatives trained the personnel at the pulp and paper-making facility to use the new system. The personnel from the facility, including members of the Training, Human Relations, and Information Technology departments, quickly grasped the concepts, aided by the intuitive design and interface of Convergence Server.

In follow-up discussions, the training staff at the facility has informed Convergence that the system is performing well under test conditions, that they are pleased with the power and ease-of-use that Convergence Server offers to them and their employees, and reports that they will convert the management and delivery of their training materials to Convergence Server in the near future.

Soft Skills in Hard Times? NO WAY!!

In my personal professional blog, I've posted an article written by Roman Battan, Director of Sales for Convergence Training. The article compares Soft-Skills to Hard-Skills and aims to help companies understand the need for training with concrete, measurable results.

Check out the article here:
Soft Skills in Hard Times? NO WAY!! by Roman Battan

Evaporator Principles Course Preview

We've been working hard to create some nice visuals for our upcoming evaporator training modules. We put together a few of the concepts to get a preview and I wanted to post a video showing what we've got so far. Keep in mind, it will continue to be revised and improved, and the final course will combine the base models with camera movements, animations, text and professional audio to accurately describe the function and behavior of evaporator internals. Check out the preview below:

Contractor Training Improvements

We've just finished another Contractor Training project that includes over an hour of produced audio/video training. We saw some benefit to switching from compressed videos to native flash animations, so we made the switch!

Unlike our site-specific training and retail course library, Contractor Training solutions present training across the internet where file sizes make a major difference in performance. Because of this, we decided to produce all of our Contractor Training in native flash animations going forward.

Here are the benefits to using native flash format:

Smaller file size
Because compressed videos must render every frame, pixel by pixel, the file sizes increase with more animation.

Better animation capability
Because native flash animations are vector-based, they can be animated, scaled, and moved without increasing file size.

Changes are mostly transparent to viewers
The interface is the same, but the training material is delivered quicker (with less buffering) and is a higher quality.

This is a partial screenshot from one page of our latest contractor training project. The text and gradient shapes are vector based, supplemented with a few bitmap images.

Integrated Catalog in Convergence Viewer Shows Other Course Formats

We've added some additional links on the details pages of our courses in the integrated catalog in Convergence Training Viewer. The links will show up when the course can be purchased in other formats. Most of our CBT titles are currently available in DVD format, and soon they will be available online via pay-per-view. You don't need to perform any updates to get this feature, it will be available when CTV connects to the catalog.

Online Courses via Pay-Per-View in Convergence Library

Convergence Training will soon be offering our course library in a new format - Online via pay-per-view. Customers will be able to purchase any number of views to our courses. After purchasing, we will generate tickets redeemable for course views. Simply login, enter your ticket, and take your training.

The benefits for our online courses:
- Take training anywhere internet access is available
- Only pay for the training you need
- Quickly and easily get training without complicated/expensive systems or setup
- Priced economically for today’s competitive economy

If you are interested in piloting our pay-per-view program, contact us today (info@thinkconvergence.com, 1.888.634.7346).

To see the topics currently offered in our environmental, health, safety, and msha libraries, visit our online store here.

Free Software Grows Legs, Breathes on Land

After getting some great feedback from our customers, we’re proud to announce the latest evolution of Convergence Training Viewer, or CTV. This update not only makes training easier and more efficient, it represents the missing link between computer-based training material and advanced training management tools.

Check out the newest features below and download your copy of Convergence Training Viewer or visit our website for more information.

		What's New	Why It Matters
View Image	Import Your Own Courses	You can now import courses you've created with popular authoring tools, or import SCORM courses you've purchased from other producers. If you're not familiar with SCORM, don't worry, most people aren't. It's basically a way to publish courses in a universal format. Click here for more info on SCORM.	By adding import functionality, we've turned CTV into a personal learning management system, or LMS. You can now deliver, track, and report results without the complicated software and expensive servers of a conventional LMS. And the best part is that Convergence Training Viewer is FREE!
View Image	Track Real-World Events	We understand that training isn't just about sitting in front of a computer. So we've created an easy way for you to enter, track, and run reports on any type of training event such as classroom activities, meetings, presentations, on-the-job training, and more!	Centralizing your training records saves time, keeps you organized, and makes reporting from one consistent source a breeze. With the click of a button, you can now keep a record of any training event and provide printed documentation to trainees, supervisors, or inspectors.
View Image	Backup Your Data	We've added a manual backup feature that lets you save the most recent copy of your data wherever you'd like.	The more training you do with CTV, the more valuable your training records become. So we've made sure you can always back up your data and recover it if you need to.
View Image	Recover Passwords	We've developed a password recovery protocol to help make sure you won't miss a training deadline or progress review because you can't access the software.	People forget things and when that happens, it shouldn't ruin your entire day. Nothing should stand in your way when it comes to getting work done.

Other New or Updated Features

• Help Tab - The Help tab provides information on our most popular features, includes basic step-by-step tutorials, and even lets you submit a support request directly to Convergence Training!


• Administration Interface - We've redesigned the tab layout to make better use of the space and set the stage so we can add more features down the road.


• Catalog Updates - Another tweak to the Catalog allows it to load more easily and automatically fill each page for
  convenient viewing of all our training products.


• Bug Fixes - Of course no software is complete without bugs, but we've managed to address everything that has come up so far. If you find something that’s not working quite right, be sure to let us know.

Get These New Features

First Time Downloading? - If you haven't downloaded our free CTV software, its simple. Just target="_blank" style="color: #9b1c1f; font-weight: bold;">visit our website, click the download link and follow the
on-screen instructions. Or, target="_blank" style="color: #9b1c1f; font-weight: bold;">click here for a direct download link.

Already Have CTV Installed? - If you already have a previous version of CTV installed, just "Check for Updates".
In the "Administration" screen, select the "Updates" tab and click the "Check for Updates" button. CTV will contact our
servers, perform the download and install the updates.

New Course: Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety

I've uploaded several samples to YouTube from one of our recent training modules - Compress Gas Cylinder Safety. The full module includes over 23 minutes of training covering subjects such as a basic description of gas cylinders, how they are used, potential hazards, and best practices for storage, transport and use of compressed gas cylinders. This module is also now included in our Online Catalog featured in Convergence Training Viewer.

This course is combined with Compressed Air Fundamentals and offered as our Compressed Air package. These individual courses can be purchased starting at $39 for the computer-based version, or $49 for the DVD version. The combo-package is only $69 for the computer-based version, and $79 for the DVD version. To purchase, visit our online store and search for "compressed".

To view the latest samples, you can view my channel here: http://www.youtube.com/kdellavalle