Autogeek Detailing Classes hosted in other areas?

[Mantilgh]

Hi Mike, I read your post in: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/95225-excellent-detailer-maryland.html#post1295237


I've known Mike Lambert and his wife for over a decade. Actually he hosted one of my detailing classes at his shop back in around 2006 I think.

He did top notch back then and he's even better today.

You can trust your car with Mike.


:xyxthumbs:

I must have skimmed this the first time I read it thinking you said he "attended" your class, but you actually wrote that he hosted it at his shop. Awesome!

I know your a busy guy, but any plans for something like this again in my, or other areas? I would defiantly interested in attending if it where a bit closer than Florida and AG seems to have quite a few follower here in the Pa, De, Ny, Md, Va area.

Have you been schooling Nick with your teaching skills?

[Mike Phillips]

I know your a busy guy, but any plans for something like this again in my, or other areas?

I would defiantly interested in attending if it where a bit closer than Florida and AG seems to have quite a few follower here in the Pa, De, Ny, Md, Va area.





Great question and I'm glad you asked as it give me the opportunity to share some information about our classes that makes them unique in this industry.


Also just to note, I use to do road show classes so I know exactly what it takes to hold an off-site class. (I'd say most people don't)


In order to hold an off sight class all of these tools would have to be shipped to the location and then shipped back. There's a cost for that.

I've taken pictures of all the microfiber towels we go through during our class. All these would have to be shipped out and shipped back.

I've taken pictures of all the pads we use and go through for our class. All these would have to be shipped out and shipped back.

I've taken pictures of all the products we use in our classes. These would have to be shipped out and shipped back.

Plus the shipping out the steam cleaners, the hot water extractors, the shop vac, the Tornador air tools etc.

I have 20 heavy duty extension cords that are a MUST to run all the polishers.

Bob McKee had heavy duty wiring and outlets installed into the show car garage so we can run up to 20 buffers at one time without blowing a circuit. (most shops cannot do this)

We have the best air conditioning system money can buy so my students stay cool as they work.

We have a 102" screen for our power point presentation so even the students in the back of the class can see and read the text.

Of course there's a projector mounted in the ceiling to project the the powerpoint onto the screen.

There's plenty of parking for everyone that attends, this is a factor when you have any kind of class, you need parking. You also need bathrooms for both men and women.

Besides all of the above... have you see the cars you get to work on when you attend one of our classes? Not just daily drivers, not just demo hoods but the REAL deal.

I have cars here for EVERY tool set so everyone gets TONS of hands-on time. In fact my classes are about 90% hand-on and 10 percent sitting in a chair getting head knowledge as we cover each tool with a short power point present ion first.


Besides shipping out and shipping back all of the above and having a top notch facility with all the electrical power and amenities to host a truly professional grade class, to hold a class somewhere else also means my air line tickets, hotel and rental car.


Having put on offsite classes probably as much or more than anyone else in this industry I know what it takes to hold an off site class and I also know it involves a lot more than people think.


Great question and hope to see you at one of my future classes here at Autogeek's Show Car Garage in sunny Stuart, Florida.


:)

[Paul A.]

Yes, would be a Herculian task and expense to do those. As a home garage based detailer there is nothing like having everything you need and all the resources at arm's length.

However, at the rate PBMG is going, i'm anxiously awaiting Autogeek Atlanta, Autogeek Chicago, Autogeek St. Louis, Autogeek Vegas, Autogeek Seattle etc!!!

[Mantilgh]

Hope to attend one and meet you too!

Quite right, I didn't think about the massive line up polishers you let the group work with along with all the accompanying tools and products.

Your classes are definitely an asset to the detailing world with all the hands on experience that they offer.

How about a nice trailer to pull behind that big Rv to haul all that gear? ;)

No shipping plus no air fair. Just some travel bonding time with you and the crew. :)

[Mantilgh]

Yes, would be a Herculian task and expense to do those. As a home garage based detailer there is nothing like having everything you need and all the resources at arm's length.

However, at the rate PBMG is going, i'm anxiously awaiting Autogeek Atlanta, Autogeek Chicago, Autogeek St. Louis, Autogeek Vegas, Autogeek Seattle etc!!!

:dblthumb2:

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike, I read your post in: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/95225-excellent-detailer-maryland.html#post1295237


I must have skimmed this the first time I read it thinking you said he "attended" your class, but you actually wrote that he hosted it at his shop. Awesome!



When I worked for Meguiar's I started a number of their classes including,


1. The Detailing 101 classes
The first Detailing 101 class was held August 31st, 2002. I was the instructor and after that class my phone started ringing off the wall and I started getting e-mails from other clubs asking if they could have a class too. With Meguiar's permission and under the direction of Mike Pennington these we're implemented and held almost every Saturday until at some point I had to reduce the number down to 2 a month as I never saw my family on weekends.


2. Detailing 102 classes
A natural offshoot of the Detailing 101 classes were the Detailing 102 classes where we taught hand sanding and machine sanding plus how to use a rotary buffer. The pre-requisite for the Detailing 102 classes were the Detailing 101. The Detailing 102 classes were and still are held 4 times a year. Because of the volume of people that wanted to attend the Detailing 102 classes I implemented a lotter system to fill the class and I think Mike Stoops still uses this system today.

I'm proud to say there are a lot of detailing personalities in the forum world and the Facebook world that have been through the above two classes while I taught them from 2002 to 2009.


3. MeguiarsOnline.com
When I went back to work for Meguiar's the second time in 2002 my title was,

Corporate Writer

After just a few months of working as the corporate write I started pushing management at Meguiar's to bring up this thing called a,


Discussion Forum


The hard part was back in 2002 discussion forums were still a "new thing" and most of upper management didn't know what a forum was. Some confused it with a Chat Room. I created a power point with screen shots to show the difference between a discussion forum and a chat room.

It wasn't until 2003 that Atticus Firey, the VP at the time came to me, put his arm around my shoulder as we were waking and handed me back a full color print out of a 1954 Oldsmobile Rocket I buffed out and in the process took pictures showing each step of the process I used from start to finish.

I had posted this write up to MY forum ShowCarGarage.com (http://www.showcargarage.com/), which I've owned since 2000 and as we were walking here's what he said,

I love this!

I can see how people can read through your write-up and then purchase the products to do this type of work to their own car.

But Mike, how come you're always posting this to your forum and not our forum?


That's when I hit my hand against my forehead 2-3 times like this,


http://www.detailcity.org/forums/images/smilies/wall.gif
And then said to him,

The reason I post these types of write-ups to my "website" and not Meguiar's website isbecausee I own a discussion forum. This is what I've been trying to get Meguiar's to add to their website since I came to work here.

And then could see the light bulb went on in his head and here's what he said....

Make it happen



This was back in 2003 and the MeguiarsOnline.comdiscussionn forum when live in January of 2004. The first thread is the thread I created for a Saturday Detailing 101 class I taught for a Mini Cooper club.


Mini Coopers at Meguiar's NXT Generation Garage (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?5)


This thread is the 5th post to the MOL forum. Why? Because I deleted posts 1, 2, 3 and 4becausee they said,

Test post.

:D






4. The Thursday Night Open Garage classes also called TNOG's.
When I first started them they were on Wednesday night. I moved them to Thursday's and they've remained their since I left and now Mike Stoops runs them. This was an idea I had to take advantage of both the Meguiar's garage and the thousands of car guys in SoCal and at the same time showcase Meguiar's products. This is also where I met and taught hundreds of guys that are today detailers.


Then I started,




The Meguiar's Road Show Classes
The Meguiar's Extreme Makeover Classes




Those are just 6 of the classes I started and would consider landmarachievementsts I did while working this tour of duty for Meguiar's but the above gives you a snapshot of some of my history at Meguiar's and in this industry and how I came to teach a class at Mike Lambert's shop.

Pictures and comments from Reisterstown, Maryland (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?13413-Pictures-amp-Comments-from-Reisterstown-Maryland)




During that time I was also one of the Instructors for the first two NXT TecInstituteue classes.

TWO THUMBS UP !!--Meguiar's NXT Tech Institute (http://TWO THUMBS UP !!--Meguiar’s NXT Tech Institute)

NXT TECH CLASS II, these guys are CAR CRAZY (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?5224-NXT-TECH-CLASS-II-these-guys-are-CAR-CRAZY)


Check out the pictures in the above two threads and you'll see people like, Mike Pennington, Jason Rose, Kevin Brown, Jeff Brown, Jesse Castio and Mark Willie (from Mirka),

Mike Pennington showing how to rmove sanding marks...

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184NXT13-med.jpg


Kevin Brown teaching a guy how to buff out A-pillars with a rotary buffer

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184NXT9-med.jpg


That's me doing some hands-on training with one of the students...

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/184NXT10-med.jpg



I guess you can call the above Car Detailing Trivia?



:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

At my last class, Sean posted this,


This is my review of the July detailing boot camp (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-detailing-boot-camp-classes/93574-pictures-comments-july-2015-detailing-boot-camp-class.html#post1275316)






Settle in for this journey, because I have a lot to talk about. But I can sum it all down into one word... Amazing!

I did a lot of research before I settled in on doing one of these classes. I wanted to make sure I was not going to be spending this kind of money and going to a place and watching a bunch of video presentations, and sitting through advertising gimmicks of a company. I wanted to be able to learn new things and be able to use them in a real world atmosphere.

You can sit and watch videos, you can read all the detailing forums in the world. But what you cannot do is have the level of expertise, or the products on hand that you get from this class! This class will put EVERY tool you want to try out in your hands, with an instructor giving you the proper procedures, and abilities to use the tool or product correctly. This is not standing around watching them do it, this is not about that at all. Each tool is explained, each product is explained, then put directly into you hands, and you are set free to do what you came to do.

When I looked at how the course was going to be set up, and was on the fence on what I would actually be getting out of this class, I did not believe we would be given every aspect that we were. We all look on the posts from Mike, we have read the past reviews, and we have looked at the pictures. But the pictures only show so much. This is 3 days of intense training, 3 days of hands on, with very little sitting time. As Mike said at the end, we were not even sure if there would be time to get to everything, because they pack so much into so little time.

If you plan to attend, be prepared to work! Wear comfortable clothing, wear shoes you can be comfortable standing in, or kneeling in all day. Mike sends an email out prior to the class stating to get a good nights rest before the first day... you will need it. You get out of this class what YOU put into it. They will give you everything you ask for, and more. I do not know of any other class that will put a basically pristine GTO Judge to a bunch of strangers, hand them tools that they may never have used before, and tell them to put a machine to it...and fix it!

Let me be honest, the pictures only tell part of the story of these vehicles. Some were absolute nightmares when they came in, and we made them better. This is not all about working show level cars either, the Avalanche and the work truck were real everyday cars, and they brought it all the way down to the real world of detailing.

Not only did Mike brain dump his knowledge to us, but Nick was right behind him as the Autogeek Wikipedia of the products we were using. If we were not using a product, Nick was still there to answer any questions for anything they carried, and even was able to give comparisons to stuff they may not have.

Every tool or product was explained as they were the company representative of that product line. There are no favorites, there are no "Best" it is just real world experience with everything offered.

The running joke of the class was "Mike has an article on that..." But its not a joke, he truly does his best to give you everything he knows from a lifetime of detailing and instructing. Try teaching a lifetime of your knowledge to 20 strangers... Not an easy task, and then try to do it all in 3 days... again, an almost impossible task. But somehow he does it, and does it very well.

If you leave the class with questions, it is because you did not ask them. There is plenty of opportunity to ask anything you want. Mike and Nick did their best to give the knowledge to everyone when the question has been asked 100's of times before, or even if they had never heard it asked. No question was ever treated as if it was the wrong question. It was always truthful, and always answered in a manor that was understood by all.

This class is designed for EVERYONE! If you have never picked up a machine, or washed a car in your life, to the professional detailer that puts food on the table for their family. If you are looking to improve your beater, or work on the elite, each aspect is covered.

This is a first class operation, and it shows. Confidence is gained through the class.

Some of you may be saying to yourself... why doesn't Autogeek do this all over... I can answer that question for you very easily...Cost! The facility is huge, the tool selection is outstanding, and the products used are all right there. I was amazed at how much was right there at your fingertips... But think about trying to do this at another location, and the sheer magnitude of the class becomes very apparent. We used an average of 300 Microfiber towels per day. We had 10-20 machines of each type sitting on the tables, we had chemicals, extension cords, vacuums, extractors, steam machines etc. Not to mention the static hoods and items used in the wet sanding portion. To put all of this equipment in a truck, move it to another location, and then find 20 outlets that will handle the power consumption, parking spaces, and a climate controlled facility on top of all of that is a logistics nightmare. Then find someone that is willing to drop their car off to 20 strangers with power tools on top of all that, and be of the quality that Mike works with. It is just not feasible.

Just to summarize all of this, if you are thinking about doing this... just sign up, you will not be disappointed.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Here's some pictures my co-worker Paul took of the classroom a day before the July class started....


Here are some pictures of the cars & tools we have waiting for tomorrow.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97352

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97354

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97356





Griot's Garage Boss Polishers will be used extensively along with the entire Boss system that Griot's Garage has developed for their new machines.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97364


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97369




We'll also be using the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polishers & their 3" Versions as well.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97361



http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97362





Cyclo Polishers, Pads & Brushes are ready to go.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97363





FLEX 3401.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97366





We have a variety of Rotary polishers we'll be using, including ; Flex, Makita & DeWALT.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97367





Rupes Bigfoot Machines.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97365





The newest polisher from Meguiars, the MT300

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97360&size=1




And of course we have the Porter Cable.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=97357



That's just a sample but it does give you an idea of the volume of tools.


Nick and I will start setting up the classroom next week, I'll post some more pictures.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Have you been schooling Nick with your teaching skills?




Of course! And to his credit he's a fast learner.


Last night I watched the second round of Republican debates and wrote down this quote by Carly Fiorina


"The highest calling of leadership is unlocking the potential of others"


I believe that.



:dblthumb2:

[Mat13174]

If you ever decide to do a class here in NY, I'd definitely be interested! (I live on Long Island)

[Ricorocks]

Well now! If you want to go on the road, do it like a rock-star, several semi's, loaded with the tools of the trade. How about a bus for you, a few roadies, & the rest of your entourage's transport needs.

Attended your Meg. (Irvine Ca) class, about 8/2008, Saturday all day class, I think it was free, or don't remember paying. Got my G110 cause of you. Good machine! Great class & fun!

[Mike Phillips]

If you ever decide to do a class here in NY, I'd definitely be interested! (I live on Long Island)




Best way to find out if one of our Roadshow Detailing Classes is coming your way it to receive the Autogeek Newsletter.


Stay up to speed with everything going on - sign-up for the Autogeek Newsletter

Click here to join the Autogeek Newsletter (http://www.autogeek.net/nesiup.html)



https://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3384/Roadshow_Logo_02.jpg







Well now! If you want to go on the road, do it like a rock-star, several semi's, loaded with the tools of the trade. How about a bus for you, a few roadies, & the rest of your entourage's transport needs.

Attended your Meg. (Irvine Ca) class, about 8/2008, Saturday all day class, I think it was free, or don't remember paying. Got my G110 cause of you. Good machine! Great class & fun!




My guess is THOUSANDS of people took the Saturday classes I taught at Meguiar's from 2002 to 2009 and hundreds of these people went on to start detailing business.


:)