[consulting] Established clients seeking technical training.

Tue Nov 17 21:04:18 UTC 2009

Chris Miller wrote:

> The first place I point clients and friends is the Drupal community.  This
is where I learned my trade.  .

> friend does not jump on board with the community aspect.

I think I've met your friend. J 

Not everyone is going to get it. Everyone learns in a different way - just
like some people hear and learn while some read and learn. I do and learn,
apparently like you.

> I don't feel that I can deliver a very effective "brain dump" in this
context...

> This is not how I learned, and this is not the type of work I want to
build my business on

That's a fair assessment, and there's noting at all wrong with that. Not
everyone can teach, and not all teachers can teach any subject. There are
people in the Drupal community who do feel they have the ability to teach
(and a few who actually have it). I'd be happy to bid the teaching job.

Nancy E. Wichmann, PMP 

(781) 697-6344

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L. King,
Jr.

From: consulting-bounces at drupal.org [mailto:consulting-bounces at drupal.org]
On Behalf Of Chris Miller
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 2:15 PM
To: A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting providers
Subject: Re: [consulting] Established clients seeking technical training.

All good points.  The crowd seems to be in favor of training, so I'm glad I
posted.  I'd like to defend myself a bit though!

I really enjoy helping out on the d.o forums, IRC, presenting at and
attending camps, attending conferences, evangelizing, etc.  I think I have a
pretty good track record on the forums and IRC.  I've contributed a bit of
code, bug fixes, etc.  I've given dozens of people their first sip of
"Drupal cool aid".  I'm all about giving back to the community when I can.

The heart of this issue for me is...  The first place I point clients and
friends is the Drupal community.  This is where I learned my trade.  I've
pointed said friend at drupal.org, IRC, g.d.o, etc, and friend does not jump
on board with the community aspect.  I don't feel that I can deliver a very
effective "brain dump" in this context...  This is not how I learned, and
this is not the type of work I want to build my business on.

  Chris.

On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Jerad Bitner <sirkitree at gmail.com> wrote:

While I can understand your want of job security, if everybody in the
Drupal community took that stance, we would not have the awesome
community we have today.

The community takes more of a "Teach a man to fish..." approach,
rather than, "A plumber wouldn't teach you how to fix the pipes."

In this way, we all become knowledgeable and are able to build on each
other's knowledge. This is a basic difference in 'Open source mindset'
vs. 'proprietary'. You said you use Drupal and so are benefitting
directly form this, so please don't take the opposite approach.

I'm not saying you should teach him if you don't have the interest or
time, but make that your reason rather then you don't think you
_should_ teach him. Teaching is a great way to put yourself in the
'expert' chair to those you're teaching as well, and this can gain you
more respect and clients than trying to keep it all to yourself.

I guess I'm encouraging you to teach your friend, and if he really is
your friend, I don't think you would actually mind doing so. If you're
just looking to make a buck off of him, well you might want to
redefine your relationship a bit. That sounds more like a client
relationship, than friend. Though the two are not inseparable.

Hope that made sense...

On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Chris Miller
<chris at trailheadinteractive.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have a friend employed by an established and profitable client of 3
years,
> that is asking for independent training and instruction on Drupal
> development.  This friend has a few basic technical skills, and dabbles in
> side projects.  We're using Drupal for several projects at said friend's
> job.  I've heard the analogy that "A plumber wouldn't teach you how to fix
> the pipes", and I'm looking for a nice way to say that to my friend.  Has
> anyone else had to deal with this situation?  How did it turn out?
>
> Honestly I have no interest in training anyone to independently do the
work
> that puts food on my table.  I've thought about just charging 3x my normal
> rate and milking it.  Is that wrong?
>
> --
>  Chris Miller
>  Trailhead Interactive
>  http://www.trailheadinteractive.com
>  406-750-0107
>

> _______________________________________________
> consulting mailing list
> consulting at drupal.org
> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>
>

--

~Jerad Bitner
CTO ~ Rapid Waters Development
http://rapidwatersdev.com

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-- 
 Chris Miller
 Trailhead Interactive
 http://www.trailheadinteractive.com
 406-750-0107

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