My main goal for the summer between my Junior and Senior year of High School was to enhance my programming abilities.  I had studied ETC EOS programming from online courses but I really wanted to attend a training session in person to improve my abilities as a programmer.  

In early June 2024, I was able to attend Levels 1- 3 (Essentials, Enhanced, and Intermediate) of ETC EOS/Ion Xe Console training at the ETC offices in Orlando, Florida. It was a three-day class dedicated to learning how to better and more efficiently use ETC Eos. I started with the basics on day one. Most were tools that I already knew but were nice to reinforce my skills. We discussed the basics of effects, groups, submasters, and cues. The main focus was to become faster at what we were doing so that we could be faster at designing shows. 

Day two and three went into skills that I was not as familiar with, skills that I had watched in the videos online, but not been able to practice on a console. We learned how to create magic sheets along with advanced effects, which I could then apply for my next shows. We also learned about the shell and how to change the setting to improve our programming. One of the biggest skills that I learned to help with my programming was offset, which is a huge time saver when making groups for effects. Color palettes are also helpful for upcoming shows that need a lot of different colors due to the wide range of tones in scenes. 

I used my time during breaks to take advantage of the visualizer provided to practice effects that I want to use for upcoming shows. I knew that there were some advanced effects that I wanted to make, so I took the opportunity to learn how to program them and ask questions of the wonderful instructor. 

Although I had watched the video beforehand, it was a great opportunity to go in person with a real teacher and board in front of me to learn. I feel like I learned a lot more in person with the resources provided. 

My High School is in the process of upgrading and highlighting the wonderful arts programs that are offered.  As a result, this class was highlighted on the North Lincoln High School’s official social media pages by our Administration.