Last month's post about trade shows got me thinking about personal and professional developement. It is an issue that is always on my mind. I am convinced that learning does not and should not end with a graduation ceremony. But I have also found that as trades people, we often find ourselves working alone in our shops or with a small circle of co-workers that we interact with regularly. These fairly closed orbits can make it tough for new information and ideas to find their way to us.

Books of course have always been a big part of learning, and since Guttenburg invented the movable type press, the scope and availablitity of books for learning has continually been improving. Trade shows too, at least the best ones, offer seminars and lectures to help attendees learn new things. And often retailers where we buy our tools and materials offer classes in various subjects of interest to their customers.

Pre-internet, these were pretty much the range of learning opportunities for trades people outside of formal schooling. But the web has opened up a great many learning opportunities. YouTube is almost like magic these days. Need to know how to adjust the parking brake on a 1985 Mustang? Search YouTube, someone has filmed the process. And through search engines you can find information on nearly any technique, tool, material or process that you wish.

But it still comes back to you wanting to learn it. In my home woodshop, I like to choose the projects I build not because I know I can do it, but because I am not quite sure I can, and will need to learn new skills to sucessfully complete the job. At that point I can begin scouring YouTube, Google, online forums and such to find what I need. In the last year I attended trade shows, used the internet and even sat in on some seminars presented by vendors to learn new things. One was a day long program (including a nice lunch!) on the current state of 3D printing. That is a technology that is advancing so quickly that it can be hard to keep up to date, but it opened my eyes to a lot of things.

So where do you go for personal and professional development? You can share your ideas for self improvement by commenting here on this blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. -2Sand.com