Some very good friends of Texperts, including my brother George, have just launched a new service. It’s a simple concept, and in many ways has a similar philosophy to our own, in that there is no reason for time on the move to be time spent devoid of information and productivity. The service I’m talking about is from CPDcast.com, and it allows you to fulfil Continuing Professional Development (CPD) whilst out and about. CPDcast.com have a library of 30 minute CPD podcasts that play on iPods (or any MP3 players), Blackberries and phones (and of course normal PCs).
Interestingly, a quick search of our database shows that some of our Texperts may have known about this before George even got round to telling me. One Texpert found the service whilst searching for the answer to a question regarding the dates of any upcoming legal seminars in Norwich which would accommodate a barrister who was short of CPD points. It seems that the deadline for barristers to accrue the necessary hours hits at the end of December, and quite a few are getting a little anxious! As explained to me by George, the beauty of CPDcasts are that once downloaded, they can be listened to at any time – so no need to book anything, which he assures me is what barristers and other legal eagles have been telling CPDcast they need. I suppose this fits in to the (illusion of a) hectic life that they are so keen to tell us all about? I’ve been told that the time lawyers used to set aside for CPD can now be spent on other activities such as going to the pub, but my experience of those in the industry leads me to believe that the extra 12 hours is more likely to be spent increasing that week’s hours billed. Oh well, it takes all sorts to make the world turn.
The idea is that if you want to get 30 mins of non-accredited CPD, then you just listen to it wherever and whenever you want and then count it in the normal fashion. If you want the time to count towards your accredited CPD, there is a quick 3 minute test (that you take from the site) to prove that you listened to it.
It strikes me that it is inevitable that things like CPD end up featuring as part of your journey to work, after all, it’s 40 minutes wasted if all you manage is a poor attempt at a snooze or a flick through the Metro. We’re currently looking at a few things ourselves that may inform and entertain you on that journey, watch this space…
Well, I’m not qualified to judge how great CPDcast is; the site looks good, the sound quality on the demos is fantastic, but I’m not an expert, so I suggest you pop over to their site and judge (geddit?) for yourselves. As with any new venture, best of luck and hope it all goes very well guys!
The blurb, as passed to me by George, is as follows:
“….This dream can be made true by listening to the CPDcasts during what would otherwise be ‘dead’ time – time spent on the tube, driving home or making the dinner. The other added bonus is that there are no geographical barriers – as long as you have the Internet or even simply a modern web-enabled mobile phone! CPDcast.com enables CPD to be completely location and time free.
Like any new service, people will undoubtedly be unsure of the exact format and quality of the product. CPDcast.com only use the very best contributors, and invite anyone to listen to a free 15 minute CPDcast on our site. No registration is required. In the run up to New Year, we are also giving one full CPDcast (of your choice) away for free to anyone that registers on the site. Both of these freebies may count towards your CPD points.
If you happen to be a little less concerned with only your own training, head for the corporate services division of CPDcast.com to get an ‘access key’ so everyone at Shyster & Shyster (ed: I added this name, sorry George!) can download to their hearts content at reduced prices. CPDcast.com is always eager to hear from people who would like to contribute as they plan to add 12 new CPDcasts every month….”
