Just completed training

[lookforward]

hey, I just did my training session (Friday) here in L.A. and thought I'd post a quick overview...

the training happened in a hotel by the Beverly Center, and was divided into three rooms: a conference room with a TV/VCR and a bunch of helmets, a "learning" room and a "practice" room. more on those two later.

we started by signing in then went into the conference room, where Scott (the only west-coast employee of Segway!) met us... and showed us two videos... a media reel (clips of all the Segway's media, like the Good Morning America stuff) and message from Dean Kamen, then a second safety video, which was pretty funny because of the computer graphics... but useful to watch. most notable about the first video: Dean Kamen is a billionaire, but this video looked like it was thrown together on a Sony Handycam in 30 minutes-- bad video quality, bad sound, and he looked a little haggard. no offense, I'm thrilled to be A Part Of The Revolution, but this is not terribly inspiring after spending $5,000 on a piece of new technology :-)

anyhow, from there, we donned our helmets and went into the "learning" room :-) which was a small hotel meeting room and some Segways lined up against the wall. We all took a unit and learned how to power them up, put them in balance mode, ride, turn, etc. they demo'd stick shake and the speed limiter. pretty basic stuff.

then, we all rode into the next room over, the training room, which was just a bunch of cones set up in different ways, for us to learn more about riding and get a better feel for it. this was the best part, since we were able to really go at our own pace... I had ap roblem with turning and gtting a feel for leaning into turns but after 10 miuntes of zooming around in this room, it was a lot easier. excellent.

I was surprised that they didn't teach us how to demonstrate the Segway for others-- I know folks have mentioned on here (esp. those who won the essay contest and went to that special training) that, acknowledging that as a new Segway rider, you'd be showing the device to a lot of people, so they taught you HOW to demo it for others. I would have liked that, because I know everyone's going to be stopping me and asking me about it and wanting to do a test ride...

anyhow, fantastic training, I only wish I could have glided right out of there on my unit :-) they told us that we should be getting our own units now within 7-10 days... whoo hoo!

"lookforward" in Los Angeles, California
...a crowded metropolis begging for better transportation options

[BenBethel]

Awesome report - I went to training on Saturday and may as well bundle my report in this topic as well:

Saturday, March 15th... Went to training at the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix. We signed in at the "timeshare presentation center", which was quite funny since a couple walked in wanting information on a timeshare and saw us all waiting to watch our video for the Segway. We sat down, waited 5 minutes for the Segway folks to figure out how to rewind the VCR - it was a source of laughs on how complicated a VCR is compared to the Segway - watched the 10 minute safety video which was actually very good. I realized that there actually were a lot of ways to goof and fall when I was thinking the Segway was fall-proof.

We then walked past the putting greens through the golf course to a tent that was set up in a beautiful, gorgeous setting. The Segway employees rode by as a ton of golfers' jaws dropped to the ground, drooling with Segway Envy. It was my first taste of what is to come - 1/2 cool attention, 1/2 uneasy attention where I was thinking "do they think this is stupid, are they being critical, are they just jealous?".

We entered the tent, did our first training on basic maneuvers, stick shake, speed limiter, turns, leaning, obstacles, ramps, etc. Then we were free to test in the other half of the tent. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Some people were verrrrry slow, like my step-father, but he had a permagrin and really thought it was cool - it was a great father/son bonding moment!

We had to leave but definitely didn't want to. Got back to the first building, got our binders - I had to find one with the bumper sticker that said "my other car is a Segway" and talked to the staff a bit, told them I really appreciated what they were doing, got two t-shirts and took off.

It was an awesome day! I'll see if I can put the pics on my site. Not sure how to host them on here....

Ben

www.benbethel.com

[pt]

follow the instructions in the printed manual as well as the safety video and you'll be fine (practice with a friend a few times of course). the most important thing is to "spot" someone by standing in front of the ht and hold the handle bars with both hands as they step on. i then stay 1 arm away, with my hand on the bar for about 2-3 minutes as they go forward and back, depending on the rider, i'll then let them go around a bit, but i'm always walking along side 1 foot away or so.

jgassor had a great video from when he brought his ht to work..

http://www.gassor.com/OfficeSegway.wmv

cheers,
pt

quote:Originally posted by lookforward I was surprised that they didn't teach us how to demonstrate the Segway for others-- I know folks have mentioned on here (esp. those who won the essay contest and went to that special training) that, acknowledging that as a new Segway rider, you'd be showing the device to a lot of people, so they taught you HOW to demo it for others. I would have liked that, because I know everyone's going to be stopping me and asking me about it and wanting to do a test ride...

http://www.bookofseg.com

[pam]

I have the instructions for a demo ride typed up, if you want them. Contact me offlist, please.
Pam

[Sailor]

How many people were in your training sessions?

I too just completed my training this morning. I found it interesting that there were only 5 people including myself and my wife. Since there were about 7 trainers we received alot of 1:1 attention, which was nice. My wife, who has been mostly pooh-poohing the whole Segway thing, took only a minute on the Segway before her bright eyed grin belayed that I was going to have to compete with her for time on the Segway (I see a second one in our future).

Ironically one of the few other people in my class was Sergey Brin, one of the two cofounders of Google. He showed up 15 minutes late and so I didn't get a chance to chat with him much. Funnily, I was the only person there who recognized him, mostly because I recently read an interview in Wired (issue 11.01)about him that included his picture. I shouldn't be suprised that he was there, the training was in San Jose, just a few miles away from Google HQ, but still thought it was pretty cool.

[fredkap]

Before I have someone get on I demonstrate by pulling on the handle bars what happens if one uses the handle bars as a horse's reins. I then tell them to stand on the platform and lightly hold onto the handles. Seems to work for me.

[L.I. Glider]

I just finished training on Saturday as well. It was at the Marriott in Tarrytown, NY. While we were there, the hotel banquet sales staff was showing the ballroom that we were in to a couple who were shopping for a wedding reception hall. You could tell that Bride-To-Be was looking around the room, envisioning where the dais would go and if there was enough room for the band. Groom-To-Be however, had apparently forgotten about the wedding and was salivating over the Segways.

There were only 5 people in my class as well #8211; 3 owners, 2 guests. Same setup.. training video (which was the same as the one we had received a couple of days earlier), the skills room, then the practice room. I found the training pretty laid back and fairly unstructured. (A bit of, "Oh, and did anyone tell you to watch your head?", or "And by the way, has anyone shown you how to give a demo?"). The staff was really great and it was interesting to talk to a couple of the engineers from product development.

10 business days and counting...

[yessir]

What sticks in my mind from the training class about giving a demo: stand right in front of the Seg when a trainee is getting on; there is no worry about the Seg running over you. And the Seg will not fall either backward or forward with you holding the handlebar shaft (one hand on the vertical post seems sufficient to me).

[David]

I'll throw in my hat as another one who just completed my training. My daughter and I were the first ones up at Tarrytown this morning, and it was really neat because (a) we were the only ones there (who else would be nuts enough to choose 8:00 am Sunday morning), and (b) they had a staff of six or seven people just for us! As with everyone else who's posted, we started off with the video, which I thought was hilarious. (By the way, they said that we should have received ours already in the mail, but I hadn't. Have any of you?)

We then went for the initial instructions by a very pleasant and competent woman who showed us all the basics and had us practice the start/stop/safety stuff. We then went to the larger ballroom which was set up with lots of cones, representing boundaries, elevators, a slalom course, a doorway/hallway, etc. Our instructor was Stefan, who apparently was the guy who designed the shipping systems for the HT, and is now in the International division.

We had a grand ol' time for about half an hour, zipping back and forth around the tracks and courses and getting a feel for the HT. In the beginning there were a couple of times when my leaning got out of synch with my turning (such as twisting the control handle left and leaning right), but pretty soon I was whizzing around like an old hand. After we finished and walked back across the ballroom, I was actually surprised by how long the distance felt on foot as compared to riding on the Segway.

We got our goodies (including the REAL "my other car is a segway" bumper stickers), ordered the new front bag and lock, signed our names and comments on a large Segway banner, and proceeded home with major grins on our faces. Perhaps the most amazing thing of all was that as I drove my Subaru home on I-87, time and again I caught myself expecting the car to respond as intuitively as an HT!

All in all, a spectacular morning, and I CAN'T WAIT FOR ANOTHER TEN DAYS!!!

-David

[David]

Oh, I almost forgot: Stefan did indeed give us a rather lengthy lesson on how to demo the Segway. The main points were as follows:

1) Always start by standing in front of the HT, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS use only the black key!
2) Put your hand across the handlebar, casually pointing toward the back. This is a gentle way of making sure that your subject doesn't mount before you're ready.
3) Before the subject mounts, use your right hand to hold/cover the steering grip so s/he doesn't start doing circles.
4) Have them look over your shoulder when they mount, instead of looking down.
5) After they've stopped oscillating, try to do a quick assessment of their tension, mental state, etc. A little excitement is OK, but if they're really tense, gripping the bar for dear life, etc., you might want to gently cut things short.
6) Otherwise move to the left side of the HT and walk along with them, keeping your hand on the steering control until you feel comfortable letting them try on their own. Then continue along their left side for a while until they get the hang of it.
7) The hardest part, of course, will be getting them off!

-David

[wheels]

Welcome.... 'Looking forward' to meeting you.
where are you in LA? "SegwayLA" is interested in your participation.
Email me at <mysegway@go.com> and we will add your name to our group.
You hadn't supplied an email address so I had to use this forum to reach you. If you give me a phone # and a good time to call, I will contact you personally. If you email me, I will reply with a phone #.
You don't have to wait for delivery to contact us.
'Looking forward' to hearing from you.
(wheels)

[quote]Originally posted by lookforward




One way..... SEGWAY ! !

[toybuilder]

quote:Originally posted by David

Oh, I almost forgot: Stefan did indeed give us a rather lengthy lesson on how to demo the Segway. The main points were as follows:

1) Always start by standing in front of the HT, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS use only the black key!
2) Put your hand across the handlebar, casually pointing toward the back. This is a gentle way of making sure that your subject doesn't mount before you're ready.
3) Before the subject mounts, use your right hand to hold/cover the steering grip so s/he doesn't start doing circles.
4) Have them look over your shoulder when they mount, instead of looking down.
5) After they've stopped oscillating, try to do a quick assessment of their tension, mental state, etc. A little excitement is OK, but if they're really tense, gripping the bar for dear life, etc., you might want to gently cut things short.
6) Otherwise move to the left side of the HT and walk along with them, keeping your hand on the steering control until you feel comfortable letting them try on their own. Then continue along their left side for a while until they get the hang of it.
7) The hardest part, of course, will be getting them off!

-David

Excellent! Thanks David. I've struggled with how to get people to not step on the unit until ready. I hate to sound harsh when the person, in their eagerness, starts to climb on and I have to tell them not to get on yet.


http://www.pasadenasegway.com

Do not let yourself be forced into doing anything before you are ready.
— Wilbur Wright

[pam]

I actually start my demo behind the unit, where I physically block the plate with my body. After all, I have to stop, get off, turn the key to black, and for all that I'm behind the machine, so I start my sphiel from there. Then when I'm ready for them to get on, I step to the front of the machine and hold the handlebars.
Pam

[Fan Of Segway]

I went to the same training that BenBethel went to. I introduced myself to him and totally mangled his username because I remembered it incorrectly. I would love to say that we chatted and got to know each other, but frankly, I was WAY too focused on the Segway expereince. (Sorry Ben!) The timeshare and VCR incidents were indeed amusing, and were a great start to the training.

There were 6 or 7 of us. One of the people there brought her wife, but she wanted nothing to do with the training. I was rather blown away at that, but... what can ya do? FORCE her to ride one? <grin> We had one trainer per two people for the "training" part, and then one "wrangler" in the practice session watching us.

I had been telling myself for... well, for WEEKS now, "I am not going to oscillate, I am not going to oscillate". So I get on the first time (with trainer holding) and I do fine. So I get confident, and the next time I step on it, I feel like I'm in a rodeo. I swear my trainer actually had a look of panic. It felt like forever, but it couldn't have been more than a second or two, then I got control. After that, I was a little more tentative when I stepped on, but I didn't buck a single time after that.

There are definitely things I am going to have to learn -- I was riding way too stiff, I tried to steer away from a problem instead of just stopping, and I was fooling around with going backwards more than I needed to. I killed a few cones, but the "wrangler" told me I would probably do much better on a faster key, where you can turn much tighter. I definitely did feel that for turning, the black key left me wanting more. However speedwise, especially for the confined space we were in, the black key felt incredibly fast.

The trainers were great, and it was a beautiful day. This was my first ride, and any possible nagging regrets ("I've spent $5,000 for something I haven't even TOUCHED?? Am I INSANE??") all flew out the window and were replaced with eager excitement. All I can say is that "10 business days" sounds like an INCREDIBLY long time now.

[lookforward]

thanks all for the note on how to demo well-- they are great... and I'll be saving them. there were four others at my training: my guest, two other buyers and one other guest. very intimate group, and we got a lot of attention, considering there were probably 6 or 7 Segway folk running around helping us out. forgot to mention, love the binder, and the "log your adventures" section.

ten days or so 'til delivery! whoo hoo!

"lookforward" in Los Angeles, California
...a crowded metropolis begging for better transportation options

[lookforward]

oh, worth adding: I ordered the $99 new tan segway bag while I was there. hopefully it'll arrive shortly too.

"lookforward" in Los Angeles, California
...a crowded metropolis begging for better transportation options

[Stan671]

I use a lot of the same techniques for demom'ing that others have mentioned. It is a problem, though, keeping people from just climbing on the Segway before I have told them to. I usually say (whiling I am standing behind it starting it with the black key), "wait there while I move around front and then tell you the proper technique for getting on the Segway". This usually convinces them to wait for my instructions.

Stan Dobrowski