I went to the School of Visual Concepts for a day-long workplace training on content strategy. I'd…read morenever been here before, but would definitely go again! The school is located in a busy, high-traffic part of South Lake Union. There's a paid parking lot across the street, but it was also easy to get to by bus. The building is fairly large, with several classrooms and conference rooms. It's pretty minimalist, but the letterpresses and type trays are cool and fun to look at, and the hallways display interesting student work and large-scale steamroller prints from the annual Steamroller Smackdown competition they run. They also sell letterpress cards made in-house, with some cute designs. Our training was from 9-4, and while I knew they were providing lunch, it was a nice surprise that they also offered breakfast: bagels, donuts, coffee and fruit. They also had an excellent snack bar for grazing throughout the day, with chips, trail mix, fruit snacks and cookies, plus coffee and tea. The bathrooms were conveniently located, small but clean and well-maintained throughout the day. There were several other events running at the same time, but the facilities were well maintained all day long. Our presenters were an in-house instructor and a guest speaker, and they did a good job keeping things interesting over a long day, with videos and activities to break up the speaking. That said, there were some downsides. Our group of about 50 was really too big to fit, even in the largest room, and the people on the edges of the room had a hard time seeing the monitors. The large meeting room is almost all floor-to-ceiling windows, and even with the blinds drawn, there was a lot of glare; combined with a slideshow that was white text on a light blue background, it was very difficult to see -- which wasn't ideal, since our activities required seeing what was on-screen. The street outside was high-traffic, including frequent buses, and there was some sort of construction project going on in the parking lot that was quite loud and distracting. Most of this, I think, can be chalked up to a group that was too big. However, we fell behind almost as soon as the training began, which threw the schedule off -- we didn't get a break until after 11. Lunch was scheduled for 1, which felt kind of late, though at least we had the snack buffet to work on! Overall, I liked the facility, and most of the issues we had came from being too large of a group for the room we were in. They offer letterpress and hand-lettering classes for individuals, and I'd really like to come back and try one of those. If you're looking for graphic design or printing classes in the SLU area, do check out the School of Visual Concepts.

I am always anxious before going to a place I've never been before. The staff here was so kind and…read moremade me feel welcome and known the moment I walked into the classroom. I feel this is so important -- without a learning *community* learning is difficult. I took a full day workshop on visual meeting facilitation. I have tangible and valuable skills from just one short day here and am looking forward to applying what I learned in my work!! Also - free breakfast and lunch! Only gripes/suggestions: 1 - when doing name tags it's nice to get into the habit of asking students to state/write gender pronouns, SVC doesn't seem to have a policy around this but I think it would be appropriate 2 - this might only be specific to my instructor, but I think more could've been done to set ground rules for class at the beginning (like how/when to ask questions). there were a couple students in my workshop who ended up dominating conversations. this is really common with extroverts who quickly jump in with comments. But sometimes implementing a policy of "if you just spoke, wait a bit to see if someone else has something to add" can be helpful and encouraging to more quieter types/internal processors in the room. I also had a list of questions i wrote down expecting we would have time to ask questions at the end, but we ran out of time. So policies around class participation could be helpful! I enjoyed the more interactive parts of this workshop especially when we broke into groups and had more time to chat with each other and apply what we were learning. Highly recommend classes at SVC, I'll be back when my wallet lets me!

I recently returned from a beautiful 3 week trek in Nepal with Lakpa Rita Sherpa as our team's…read moreguide. It was magical to see Nepal through his eyes, his hometown of Thames, tea at his parent's house, and his incredible knowledge of the area where he was born and grew up. Our 4 guides on this trip were safe and knowledgeable about the geography as well as climbing/trekking. This was my 4th International expedition with Alpine Ascents and I have climbed many Washington state peaks as well. I've been guided by Lakpa, Pete, Devin, Vern, Ben, Jangbu, Pasang, and many more. They have been fantastic teachers. The Nepal trek has a first class itinerary, the nicer tea houses, and a pace designed for slow travel. The gear list includes everything I needed and more. My guide went out of his way to take us to places we asked about, outside of the itinerary. Highly recommend.

First time with this guide company was on a 3 Day trip up the Muir route of Rainier and for sure…read morethis company knows what they're doing and how to keep everybody safe. We were led by a stellar team with Craig, David, Peter and Matt at the helm. Already signed up for a 6 Day on Mt Baker to get more skills in the mountains, looking forward to going on another trip with this guide company! One of the top outfitters for mountaineering in the Cascades with several international trips available as well!

This institution has changed my life entirely in a positive way. I was riddled with constant…read moreanxiety and paranoia which has caused chronic insomnia and disrupted my overall quality of life. Then, I found this place as I was trying to learn how to meditate properly. Madeline and Sarah are extremely gifted teachers and I am forever indebted. They pinpointed the challenges in my life and how to solve them. My whole perspective about the world has changed and now I can manifest what I want in life. This is worth more than years and years of therapy and I highly recommend attending one of their free meditation classes on Sunday!

In March 2018, I began taking classes at Psychic Awakenings in Seattle, WA. I completed the…read morefoundational courses in additional to the advanced 11 month Clairvoyant Awareness Program. During this time, I gained experience giving energy healings and psychic readings multiple times a week. The Clairvoyant Awareness Program not only gave me experience in reading for others, but also took me deeper into my own healing journey. As an energy healer, you must first learn how to heal and own your own space before you can help anyone else. This period of time was the most accelerated spiritual growth I have ever experienced. I will always recommend classes at psychic awakenings for anyone who is an empath like myself, or interested in learning how to give readings or healings. If you are looking for a psychic to go to, both Madeline and Sarah are incredible readers and healers. Everything they've ever told me has been accurate and/or come true within about a years time. I trust them completely!

Both of my kids attended TDA for years, and I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions we…read moremade for their education. TDA created an environment where they felt fully accepted for who they are, with all of their differences embraced as strengths. The teachers and community inspired so much creativity and encouraged them to grow in ways I didn't expect - academically, socially, and personally. I saw my kids become more confident, compassionate, and thoughtful people because of their time at TDA. They left not only with strong skills, but also with a sense of themselves as people who can make a positive difference in the world. I'm deeply grateful for everything TDA gave our family.

TDA is an excellent program. One of our kids graduated from Spark, and both attended numerous…read moresummer programs for years. They both speak very fondly of it several years later

I found creativeLIVE through a post in a photography user forum and I've been hooked ever since…read more They provide seminars on topics related photography and/or photography as a business. It's geared towards everyone from the beginner to the most advanced user. Classes are free if they are viewed live or they can be purchased after the air date for very reasonable prices. If you view the classes live, you can ask questions live and/or participate in contests via twitter. Cool! So far I have taken the following course titles and loved every minute of them: -Fundamentals of Digital Photography -Posing -Lighting -Budoior -Speedlights This web site has re-sparked my passion for photography and not only that, but it has been an encouragement to consider taking my hobby to a professional level. Check their calendar for their class list and don't forget to subscribe to them via Facebook. I get all sorts of live updates, last minute class announcements and class add on announcement real time.

Had an amazing experience at creativelive in their studio audience. Kenna, Mary & Jaime were…read moreawesome at making me feel comfortable & welcome. The staff is all welcoming, friendly, has a great growth mindset vibe & is all in on their product. I've taken online classes for years and now have done in studio. Why are you still waiting? DO IT!

This school is a paradox and I can't imagine being anywhere else. It's a seminary. So, if you are…read morelooking for a secular institution you won't find that here. What many who have embraced this place have found it to be, is a place for individuals who have been wounded by 'the Christian church' or their more fundamentalist upbringings but who are not necessarily wanting to abandon their faith. This place is by no means conservative, in fact it really does occupy the space right between the point of secular humanism and Christianity which is why you see some of the extreme reactions from both ends of the spectrum in the reviews.--conservative Christians who expected TSS to be a traditional Christian seminary are deeply uncomfortable and sometimes even enraged by its not being 'christian' enough, and then there are those who come to a Christian seminary who are not Christian and are deeply offended that professors engage their own Christian faith (which by the way is completely different for each of them: another thing some more conservative students have a hard time with. Understandable considering many of us are raised being taught one or another denomination is more accurate than the other) and ask students to do the same for themselves, mainly for the purpose of challenging students to deeply consider and define for themselves what they believe and why. For those who are deeply guarding their evangelical roots, this place will likely feel like a challenge to their beliefs, as professors discuss some of the origins of those beliefs, present alternative voices and perspectives, and ask students to deeply wrestle with how their beliefs have historically been used to oppress, control and turn away from marginalized communities. So, students who want this place to: 1. be like their particular conservative church growing up, 2. Or are not comfortable with being asked to wrestle with why they believe what they do, and/or 3. are expecting this place to only talk about faith from the perspective of a secular institution but not ask you to personally wrestle with or engage Christian theology as it relates to your life, then you might find yourself challenged here. But, this tends to be a place where students find that they can bring their anger and their questions and their dissatisfaction with God, the church, how Christians have traditionally acted out harm throughout history and in their own lives. This place requires counseling students to take a few theology, bible and spiritual formation classes but they are engaged in ways very different from conservative seminaries--inviting you to engage your body, your sexuality, the ways you've been silenced and have silenced others, the ways patriarchy and racism have informed our view of self, faith and others etc. This school is def a place for students who are clinging more tightly to a desire to live out their faith in a way that feels more congruent to the practice of love, than they are with their faith maintaining the particular boundaries or structure that they came to the school with. This school isn't perfect. None of them are. But more than any other institution I've been at, they seem to desire to grow and are constantly asking, listening and being changed because of their engagement with students. This is a quality that is so unique to this school. I have so much more to say but this is already way to long. To sum it all up. What it boils down to is, whether you are a Christian, humanist, or anything else, if you want to stay comfortable, or are clinging so tightly to your particular worldview that you cannot or do not want to be challenged than this might not be the place for you. However, if you want to ask hard questions, be challenged to look inward at yourself in a way that will be deeply uncomfortable, yet profoundly transformative in how you engage yourself and your future work with others, this may be a place worth checking out.

This school has many aspects of a cult and is a money-making racket…read more I gave one star because I have to and I met some well-meaning people there. 1. The admissions people promised me that the program would take 2 years, it is the main reason I joined. Once I started at the school I found that almost no one completes the program in 2 years. 2. I was told by admissions that the program is very spiritual, not religious and there was lots of space for people who are not religious. In this I was totally misled. see below: 3. The founder of the school leads one of the first required classes. The class consists of (mainly) him ranting on and on about Jesus. I had a very orthodox Christian girl who was part of the "Christian purity movement" tell me: "YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO DRINK THE KOOLAID TO SURVIVE THE PROGRAM" during that class. 3. The founder preaches that students must dig into our own inner suffering to heal ourselves to become good counsellors. I had a meeting with the dean of education and specifically asked her if students were supposed to dig deep and hard into their darkest sufferings, to come out on the other side as better people (as he suggested). She answered with a definite "yes" that this was how the program worked on students. I fundamentally disagree that one needs to suffer through a program to heal and be a better therapist. *** AND, I later talked to a client of mine who had attended the school and come down with a serious illness due to being in the program. She said she would have warned me to avoid the school. (She completed the program). 4. The founder went into a graphic description of his own rape at age 12 without any warning to a group of 120 of us. I asked why there had been no sensitivity to the nervous systems of those of us who might not be able to handle hearing graphic rape stories. I was told that these are the tactics to get us to suffer (and come out healed etc). 5. You meet with a group of 8-10 people weekly in a small room. You tell a story about something difficult that happened to you. The other students in the room respond to your story. So you bare your soul and have unqualified people passing judgement on what they see in you based on what you shared. Other schools are shocked when I speak about this practice. I was told I was not vulnerable enough and ostracized. 4 other women who I'd noted as strong capable people were too. 6. I found out later that about half the people that started the program left by the 2-3rd quarter. = money making scheme. Be very wary of this program. I wrote a letter of complaint and asked for my money back, they have not responded. I'm taking my case to the WA state attorney General. (https://carm.org/signs-practices-of-a-cult).

Working with Erin and Caitlin is amazing; not only does Erin genuinely care about your nutritional…read morehealth, she also cares about your mental and physical health. She carefully listens to any food issues I'm having and always has realistic suggestions to help get me back on track and never makes me feel badly about my failures. I definitely have more successes with her help. Caitlin is a great teacher and provides me with delicious and healthy personalized recipes that match my cooking skill level and tastes. I'm learning about nutrition and making good choices. I can't recommend them enough!

I'm attempting another review for this business as it keeps…read moredisappearing. The short version of my review is that I did not have a good experience with Erin. She was inconsistent and unprofessional so I sought help elsewhere.

Had a great date night here making a ramen bowl in a class with a group of people. Class was about…read moretwelve individuals but the lone instructor did a great job of explaining and demonstrating how to make the bowl from clay. Instructor was also available for one-on-one attention if you had questions or needed extra assistance. Fun experience in a loft workspace above the downstairs art gallery. Very busy with other classes and individuals all working on their projects. Parking is on your own. If you know downtown Seattle, then be prepared to give yourself extra time to find on street parking or a lot that's not full. Use transit if you can!

They butcher your Date Night pieces after charging extra to fire them. Six of the bowls we made…read morewere "trimmed" so savagely they wouldn't even stand on a flat surface. The wheel instructions given were vague and we were largely left to fend for ourselves. We made the best of the night itself, but as artists they should know how this kind of careless post processing will disappoint people who attended in good faith.