Going from “great idea” to successfully running classes takes more than finding excellent training materials. For over 40 years, Logical Operations has provided training organizations with the necessary support to teach, fill, and refill classes. In this issue, we outline “what we do for you” that ensures your new offerings become your most popular.

Jim Gabalski
VP, Sales and Marketing

In this issue:

• Growth Opportunities
• Keys to Selling
• Curriculum Corner
• Customer Spotlight
• Instructor Spotlight: Mike Lattimore
• Instructor Spotlight: Elizabeth Canterbury
• Latest Products
• Content Revisions
• Teaching Prep
• Client Services Corner
• Inside LO

New Product Launch Support by Logical Operations

​​​​​by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi

At Logical Operations, we know that getting a new class launched can be one of the hardest things for any training provider. You have to evaluate the courseware, get an instructor to read up on the subject matter and determine if they want to teach it, figure out how you’re going to market the class, and then take up valuable real estate on everyone’s schedule just to hope that students are going to sign up. There must be an easier way to do this, right? 

That’s where the new Logical Operations Kickstart Program comes in! Rather than asking you to do the heavy lifting to make a brand-new class successful, let us do it for you. For a small fee (depending on the class), we will provide the following:  

1. A certified instructor 
2. Digital courseware for all students who attend 
3. Marketing kits to help you advertise on social media 
4. Email templates 
5. Advice on target students 
6. The ability for your instructors to sit through the class as a Train the Trainer 
7. A one-on-one instructor debrief, if necessary 

All you have to do is find some time on your virtual platform to host the classes and work with our trainer to get them scheduled. We are even offering weeknight and weekend time slots (schedule permitting).  

We are currently offering this with our CyberSAFE class. For $250 USD, you receive everything listed above and four separate, 1-hour CyberSAFE classes. What you do with those sessions is up to you. Want to sell seats into them and make some money? Sure! Want to give them away to your important clients? Absolutely! Want to see if this class will sell to your clients? This is the best way to find out! 

Finally, we will be expanding the Logical Operations Kickstart Program to include several more courses, including CertNexus AIBIZ, DSBIZ, IRBIZ, ET4PM, and a CMMC executive course in the very near future. If you are interested in taking advantage of one of our Kickstart Program packages, please contact your Educational Consultant or sales@logicaloperations.com.  

New Horizons of East Tennessee: Built on a Reputation of Quality and Student Focus

Shannon Byars Managing Member, New Horizons of East Tennessee Connect on LinkedIn

​​​​​Shannon Byars assumed ownership of New Horizons of East Tennessee in October 2020 with a strong vision for growth, a passion for training, and a love of technology.  She first came to New Horizons as an instructor many years earlier teaching classes in SQL, CRM, MS Office, and Adobe software. She also taught application development classes that included several levels of HTML and XML. She left her instructor role to start a software development firm during which she led the development of data analysis software that supported the development of PU238, the fuel source used on the Mars Rover. In July 2020, inspired by a “business for sale” ad, she called her former boss and the path toward ownership of New Horizons of East Tennessee began. 

New Horizons of East Tennessee operates under one guiding principle --- Change People’s Lives!  Under Shannon’s leadership, the business-to-consumer practice rapidly expanded by becoming approved for Veterans Administration funding, enhancing access to and acceptance of grants, and becoming actively involved with the American Job Center. Shannon added resume assistance, job placement, and psychological support for students so that all of them are prepared to be as successful as possible. With a gritty work ethic and inspired to demonstrate to her children that women can be successful business leaders in the IT industry, the entire team at New Horizons of East Tennessee is focused on providing the communities of East Tennessee with access to outstanding education and the excellent job opportunities that result from it. “My team is absolutely fantastic,” says Shannon, adding “we are great at what we do because of them and I attribute our success to the team. We just wouldn’t be who we are without this wonderful group of people!” 

Data Analytics/Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, and Project Management are high-growth areas for New Horizons of East Tennessee. Recently, in partnership with Logical Operations, New Horizons hosted a well-attended “Business of Data Science” webinar and will soon be adding similar events supporting strong interest in AI/ML and IoT.  Title 1 is a federal education program that supports low-income students throughout the nation with access to computers, software, and educational programs. Already a Title 1 school, New Horizons of East Tennessee is working to become accredited, which will enable them to serve even more students with high-quality IT and professional skills training. 

With passion and pride, Shannon and her team have attended local association and community meetings to develop awareness of New Horizons, the programs, and the opportunities to learn. “Awareness is the key to our future success,” says Shannon, “and every time we meet with people, they are excited to learn about who we are, what we do, and want to learn more.” Already leveraging classroom space in the Business Incubator at East Tennessee State University, with three classrooms in Knoxville and an office in Chattanooga, New Horizons of East Tennessee envisions expanding into the tri-cities area and other markets including those in neighboring states.  With a firm commitment to accreditation, New Horizons will ensure that regardless of market, quality of education is always consistent and high. 

As for personal goals, Shannon is working toward the 4-year goal of “doing the loop”. For those who don’t know, The Loop is a 6,000-mile boat journey that takes the voyager around Florida, up the East Coast of the United States, through the Hudson River, along the Erie Canal, through the Great Lakes and south down the Mississippi River. New Horizons of East Tennessee is a high-energy organization that takes on the adventurous spirit of its leader. 

June 2022 Instructor Excellence Award: Mike Lattimore

Mike Lattimore Cybersecurity Awareness Evangelist, Training Dynamics Network Connect on LinkedIn

​​​​​Mike Lattimore (CISSP) is a Cybersecurity Awareness Evangelist, co-founder of the International Association of Security Awareness Professionals, and a certified CyberSAFE transformation coach – instructor. As a leader at the Training Dynamics Network, Mike has been helping individuals launch IT careers for over a decade. With a 20+ year history of creating cybersecurity awareness, Mike sees many more years ahead of helping people become CyberSAFE. 

Mike’s 25 years of IT experience includes serving as the Cybersecurity Awareness Evangelist for one of the world’s largest utilities. He has served as Network Operations Specialist, Technical Specialist, and Manager of a Security Awareness Outreach team. Mike became a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and CompTIA A+ Certified in the 1990s and has continued to add to his IT certification repertoire --- which expanded to him becoming a Modern Certified Classroom Trainer (MCCT) during the pandemic.  Mike delivers Internet safety classes in his local community and has voluntarily trained hundreds of youths, seniors, and individuals seeking to stay safe online, and others desiring to learn about careers in cybersecurity. 

As an instructor and change agent, Mike is personally committed to inclusion and diversity in the technology field. In his ten years as a diversity trainer, he has facilitated (and still does) Unconscious Bias and Racial Harmony workshops nationwide. Mike is most proud of his work at the International Association of Security Awareness Professionals (www.IASAPGroup.org). His vision is to build a global, trusted community for awareness teams to share and develop best practices to advance their collective goal of increasing security awareness across the interconnected digital landscape. Mike is focused on helping his students set and achieve goals, leveraging what they learn to create impactful outcomes. His vision for community technology empowerment is anchored by the fact that he is a proud member of the Los Angeles chapter of the FBI InfraGard national members alliance and shares the mission of increasing the security awareness of the United States’ citizens.

In the future, Mike’s vision is to create a groundswell of cybersafe consultants that help others use technology safely, support small to medium businesses with creating a security-first culture, and assist with creating a diverse workforce in the cybersecurity awareness field. Mike says, “Many nations are creating cyber armies to level the playing field on the global front. The U.S. Presidential signing of Executive Order 14028 to improve the nation’s cybersecurity attests to my belief that in America, we also need to invest in developing resources in our communities to ensure we can protect our critical infrastructure as well as our personal and commercial resources. The best intrusion detection system is a well-trained end-user.  That makes CyberSAFE training of vital importance to our nation.” 

Mike says, “I’m not just a technical instructor. I am a transformation coach and mentor; probably one of the only CyberSAFE coaches on the planet. Accordingly, my mission is a profound one:  to ensure that CyberSAFE reaches as many people in the community as possible, regardless of race, gender, age, or where they work.” 

June 2022 Instructor Excellence Award: Elizabeth Canterbury

Elizabeth Canterbury Certified Master Instructor, Puryear IT Connect on LinkedIn

Elizabeth Canterbury is a Certified Master Instructor with over 20 years of training experience in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Currently, Elizabeth is an instructor with Puryear IT where she conducts Office training courses and consults with clients to customize Microsoft Office and Office 365 applications.  

Elizabeth enjoys learning the ins and outs of application software. Early in her career, she was fortunate to work for a forward-thinking company, New Horizons, that recognized the importance of training, offering its employees the opportunity to attend on-the-job computer classes. After attending one of these training sessions, Elizabeth was not only enamored with the Smart Board experience, but also came away with the thought, “I would really enjoy doing this.” A few months later, she learned they were looking for a new instructor and her teaching journey began! 

In the 20 years that Elizabeth has been teaching, her passion for the work has not changed. Most of the training Elizabeth has done has centered around Microsoft Office. Her clients have sent their employees to become more knowledgeable and effective in performing their job duties, which include manipulating data in Access, creating formulas in Excel, composing emails in Outlook, preparing presentations in PowerPoint, generating reports in Crystal Reports, and creating business documents in Word. “Seeing my students take what I teach them and learn and grow makes my job worthwhile,” says Elizabeth. “I have always enjoyed the social aspect of being an instructor as it allows me to bring together my passion for mastering software applications with inspiring others to become more confident in their skills and valuable in the workplace. What better way to network!” In addition to creating a bond with her students, Elizabeth also enjoys having an inside scoop of what’s going on in the training world saying, “Being employed with training companies has given me access to the latest and greatest in software applications and the ability to keep up with my certifications.” 

Elizabeth is enjoying her work as an instructor and the opportunities it presents to her students, who are able to expand their skillsets with her guidance. She also recognizes the doors training has opened for her in her own career. “My career as an MCT has given me the privilege of working for renowned training companies like New Horizons and Gateway as well as supporting continuing education programs in prominent colleges in southern Louisiana. From traveling to teach new features of the latest Windows Operating System for a company in Puerto Rico to creating an internal form with connecting automations in Office 365, it’s never boring and the work opportunities continue to challenge me.” 

Elizabeth concludes, “As the saying goes, ‘the only constant is change’ and this is never truer in terms of technology. Microsoft continues to be all about intuitive innovations in the application realm with advancements in analytics, connectors, and visualizations. I plan to continue to enjoy the journey with virtual learning platforms and look forward to what’s next!” 

Submit Your Instructor Nominations for July

We're recognizing instructors who have reached key milestones and made a meaningful impact in the training world. Do you want to nominate an instructor who you feel deserves to be recognized in the next Logically Speaking? Visit the Logical Operations Instructor Community (LOIC) page to get more insight into what the Instructor Spotlight is all about.

Logical Operations Train the Trainer: Have It Your Way

by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi

We know that every instructor is different, and that means that each of you likes to prep for a new course in different ways. We’ve got several options for you when prepping many of our classes. 

1. For Instructors who prefer to self-study, you can always request evaluation PDFs of most of our courses. Our Assist team (assist@logicaloperations.com) is standing by to get you a PDF of almost any title in our catalog. Inside of these PDFs, you’ll find a schedule planner, the full course materials, and question and answer keys for all the minds-on activities in the course. If you just want to get ready on your own, this is for you. 

2. For Instructors who are either less familiar with the subject matter, or who learn best by watching others, we have many TTT videos and eLearning available for our most popular courses. If you’re interested in gaining access to these resources for specific classes, you can check with your Educational Consultant to see if they are available for what you’re looking for. 

3. Finally, Instructors who want to attend a live, online training class can request that their organization participate in the Logical Operations Kickstart Program. The details of this program and the classes they cover are here.

No matter how you like to prepare, we’ve got you covered here at Logical Operations! Whether you just need an evaluation copy, or you want to attend a live class with a certified instructor, our goal is to get you ready to teach! 

Client Services: Supporting You to Success! 

by Chandra Foster, VP, Global Client Services

Utilize our services to help you manage your business. If you need help regarding any of the following areas, reach out to us today!   

• Evaluation PDFs – Review material before you purchase or compare an old version to a new version. 
• Store ordering – Receive a one-on-one store demonstration from a Client Services Representative. This includes searching, ordering, assigning access keys, locating tracking, downloading invoices, and much more! 
• Reporting – Receive access key status, order history data, or product catalog information. 

Meet Kim Hurley, Representative, Global Client Services

Kim Hurley Representative, Global Client Services​​​

I started business school majoring in Legal Assisting, but through my work program, I realized that I liked all the other aspects of business and quickly changed my major to Business Management. With my 35 years of Customer Service work, it has proven helpful and turned out to be the perfect decision.  

Client Services is the first point of contact that a prospective customer has with Logical Operations. So, I take great pride in making that experience positive and developing a relationship with our clients by listening and answering their questions clearly and concisely. Communicating with customers, answering their inquiries and concerns, helping them find the correct courseware on the store, or helping a student access their courseware—all of these give me a great sense of satisfaction that I have helped our clients and positively impacted their day.  

What do I like most about working at LO? I know everyone says the people, but it is true. It includes all the people in Rochester, to everyone internationally, they are an amazing group of people that work endlessly to create courseware and training to give everyone an amazing learning experience. They are also some of the most caring and fun folks that you will ever want to work with.  

During my downtime, I am a diehard hockey fan and have had season tickets to our local team for 38 years. I love being crafty and spending time with my family and my 2-year-old golden retriever, Teddi.