Be honest in your evaluations

[oceanlovin'ea]

The other thread about s corp classes made me think about that situation last year with the NATP seminar in Tampa. I tried to get my money back because it was so ridiculous.

The speaker spent too much time on things that no one wanted to hear about and not enough on what we wanted to hear. He had to be corrected many times during the day but people in attendance because he was incorrect in what he said.

I tried to get a refund but was refused because they said they survey they did after said that most people thought he did a very good to excellent job. i KNOW that most did not feel that way.

If we aren't honest in our evaluations of the seminars we attend, we will continue to get less than we pay for. Maybe this man was on some medication that affecting his thinking ability or was having a lot of "senior moments". But if so he should not be lecturing anymore.

If we were not satisfied we need to evaluate accordingly so that the quality of our CPE is excellent.

Linda, EA

[Uncle Sam]

Evaluations

This is why I don't bother traveling to these group sessions - and focus on self-study programs by the more recognized name publishers - PES, Gear Up, yes-TMI, CPE Tutor and others who send me their catalog just days after tax season is over with - and I learn on my own from their materials.at my own pace.

Besides my own local chapter meetings of my professional membership associations, the only group session I would attend is NCPE's fall 1040 seminar - because there I know the quality of the speakers and the subject matters covered.

[BHoffman]

I went to Gear-up seminar once for business returns and found exactly the same thing as Linda. Never again - the presentation was awful but the book has been helpful. I'm going to try the Jennings Tax seminars (webinars).

[BOB W]

I've been going to various seminars for 35 years and have felt that I was ready for tax season except for the last 5 years. Lack of content or lack of speaker knowledge, probably both, have left me feeling short for tax season.

I am not the wiz-kid on details but I have good general knowledge in a lot of areas. I am now believing that the seminars that I have attended over the years were just that, General Overall Knowledge.

I am going to take Uncle Sams direction and focus on the "Details" this year with maybe 1 general seminar, looking for NCPE's seminar in the fall.

[joanmcq]

I've generally had good luck with seminars, but it may be in choosing the classes. I did go to a Federal update at an ASWA conference that was horrible: I kept correcting him, and the info was generally out of date (one of those years where things changed daily). The presenter was a tax professor ferchissake!

[ChEAr$]

One of the best things about live seminars is the networking. Discussing an issue with like minded people, much like here on this board, stimulates and provokes thought, and provides many new ideas on how to do old things.

And not all networking takes place in class, but also at dinner, before and after.

Over the years I've met a lot of people now considered good friends, most of course from NAEA, but also from this board over ice cream and also at the Georgia EA society meeting at Jekyll island.

[JG EA]

...NATP seminar in Tampa. I tried to get my money back because it was so ridiculous....

Linda, EA

I think NATP never gives money back. Although I like their hotline and other services I am holding a grudge against their education courses. The reason is I asked for a refund back when we had made an on-line error in signing up and changed it the next day. They refused to give me back my $25 deposit fee! I know that is really petty of me, but I plan to spend all my continuing education dollars with other companies (and have now for several years since this happened).

[Snaggletooth]

Cost/Service Factor

We DO evaluate costs and services every time we join or renew. I think refusing a refund for a one-day error in most industries would be counterproductive - most entities stand to lose much more than they gain.

The plus and minus for these organizations are a matter of degree. Nothing is ALL good or ALL bad. How effective are either NATP or NAEA when it comes to interface with Congress? Not very, I'm afraid. However, unless they become lobbyists and charge big money for membership, I don't think anyone is very effective with Congress. Congress is the source of more problems and inane, counterproductive features in our industry than anyone.

What about seminars? All of us have had good ones and bad ones, regardless of what kind of organization. NATP and other orgs charge much more, however, than some of the others. In fact, I hear one instructor, Guido Van der Hoeven, who lectures for North Carolina State Univ, and he is very good. NCarolina St has a very affordable seminar. But they also have another instructor who just reads out of the book.

It is hard to argue that membership fees are an overwhelming huge factor, but the benefits are not necessarily huge either. Like anything else, the price is evaluated like a can of orange juice. NAEA charges more for me than NATP, but this is because I would be required to pay for joining the State chapter as well as the National chapter. The difference in price might be worth it, but I generally err on the side of cheaper.

And they manage to raise their membership prices every year, even for the last three years when the economy has been in the dumps. Not many industries can get away with this.

I would re-iterate the original post and exhort us to be forthright in our evaluations. It is highly possible that NATP read through the stack of evaluations and found most of them to indicate "good-to-excellent". If that was really NOT the concensus, the participants should have been more forthright.