A couple weeks ago I attended the first iteration of Adobe Video World, a combination of Adobe Premiere World and Adobe After Effects World, and a one week powerhouse of learning based in San Jose, CA. I’m not normally one for big teaching events like I thought this would be, but it turned out Adobe Video World was exactly what I look for in education: small, more personal and easier access to instructors who were teaching techniques I was genuinely interested in.

I have attended classes/workshops/lectures at Photo Plus, WPPI, NAB, CES and Adobe MAX, and my main issue with all of them is that because of the huge volume of people at the events, either classes are absolutely packed auditoriums and/or the subject matter was far too high level so as to appeal to a larger group of people. I never left any of the lectures feeling smarter or better about a particular skill set, and that left me instead with a feeling of regret and wasted time. Sure, there are exceptions, but for the most part I personally don’t learn well from these giant lecture halls. I think it might come from my education growing up, where my high school and college both prided themselves on small classroom sizes and direct connection with instructors.

That is exactly what Adobe Video World still is, and in my opinion, it makes it the best place to go and actually learn something.