We have revamped our DBBO, Designing & Building Business Ontologies, training to include 6 days instead of 4. Our very own, Shane Price, gave his two cents about the training to help you decide if it is right for you. WHO IS SHANE? As a DBBO alum (have the certificates and everything) I am totally qualified to provide my insights on this devil of a course. But before I begin here’s a little bit about myself. I am a Computer Science major at Colorado State University. I started my college career as an Environmental Health major and after a few miserable semesters I made the best decision of my life and switched. Now I am a naturally curious guy. And combined with my obnoxious desire to push boundaries I began to harass my CS-savvy friends with questions. After a few months of pestering Nate, a recently knighted Consultant for Semantic Arts, I stumbled upon a wonderful internship opportunity. And after a few months of utter cluelessness I was lucky enough to participate in the world-renowned, and amazing adventures of “Designing and Building Business Ontologies.” The gist on DBBO The class is structured to be very flexible. Each of the six days is split into a single module or chapter covering topics important to semantic technology. The first three modules are more basic concepts while the last three are advanced. Although attending all of the modules is extremely helpful, the course is designed to allow ditching – I mean, uh, it is designed for extremely busy people. Missing a day or two will not kill you. The class is rather long but it does go by quickly. That is until you hit that afternoon dead-spot. (If you are not a coffee drinker – prepare to become one.) Yet Dave and Michael do a very good job at keeping things interesting and dynamic. They will switch off presenting so you can receive different perspectives and they provide a lot of hands-on activity. Dave distributes little pre-built mini ontologies that you can practice building off of. This is where most retainable information comes from. During the lectures, especially regarding the harder topics, trying to memorize the information is not unlike playing a large game of whack-a-mole. Right when you are about to hammer-down on a concept it ducks away – eluding comprehension while cheesy music plays in the background. Thankfully all of the slides are printed out, bound and distributed so you can go home and tackle each mole-hill one at a time. My favorite and arguably the most beneficial part of the course is the discussion. Ranging from lighthearted debates to collective confusion Dave and Michael are always willing to halt the lectures to straighten things out. I enjoy the more theoretical discussions that invoke a moment of silence where everyone is thinking. If you are lucky you may catch Michael muttering “oh that’s interesting,” or Dave furling his brow with a tilted head and looking off in the distance. Yes, these moments are always enjoyable. The class has helped me understand not only what Semantic Arts does but how awesome semantic technology is. Even if I were to forget all of the little details the class covers I still walked away understanding the big picture. And most importantly the class has given me enough knowledge and foundation that I am able to Google and actively expand my own understanding of the subject.
