Training

Many companies come to us requesting a training video to solve a particular business problem. As training professionals, we know that the problem our client brings to us is never the actual problem, never the real reason for the apparent difficulty. We use research specialists to dig down to the real underlying reason causing the apparent problem. The real reason always has a genuine solution, and we present the genuine solution in our training video. Without the intermediate step of finding the real reason, the client is simply throwing money away.

Example: Princess Cruise Academy

Princess Cruise has a continuing problem of not enough time to train crewmembers on the cruise ships. The demanding work schedules leave very little time for training, leaving the crew to learn what is needed while working on the job. The resulting quality of service to the passengers was not up to Princess standards. The client requested The Association to create training videos to improve the quality of service.

The bright idea in this case was to use humor in the form of a bright Hollywood comedian and a script full of slapstick humor. The comic actor bumbled his way through all the actions of a restaurant waiter, with plenty of whipped cream flying and dishes crashing. Then he was taught the proper way to do things, and the restaurant ran as smooth as silk.

The comedian did such a fabulous job that he became a company legend. The crew had been expected to watch the video in short snatches while on the job, but the tape was so funny it completely captured every viewer. The training messages flew straight on target, and crew performance soared.

Example: Hologram

The DFS Group LTD company runs Duty Free Stores in many airports and locations around the Pacific. They are selling to travelers who are hurrying to their departure flights but stopping for last-minute duty-free gifts. The customers, mostly Japanese, could not discover the full range of purchases available in the store in the time they had between flights. DFS brought their problem to The Association. The Association gave them a blonde hologram.

Sachi Parker is a Hollywood actress who speaks perfect Japanese. In a reflected holographic image, she describes the wonderful gifts and treasures throughout the DFS store. Customers were delighted with the hi-tech presentation and sales rebounded.

Example: Interactive projects

Alpine Electronics of America, Inc. came to us for an interactive employee orientation CD-ROM. They already had several analog videotapes covering the usual topics of benefits, payroll, safety and many specialized topics. Digitizing the tapes was straightforward. The challenge was to squeeze all the large video files onto a single CD. Our team picked the cutting-edge Sorensen Media, Inc. video compression software and squashed the video files down to fit the CD capacity.

Then they made the presentation interactive. If the viewer trys to "sneak out" of the presentation early by clicking Exit, a voice whispers "Pay Attention" and "It's almost over."