When I first told my 24-year-old daughter that I was buying a street-legal race car, her response was priceless:
“I did not think you could have a more impractical car than the one you currently have, [a BMW 440i convertible] but you’ve proved me wrong.”
Definitely not the first time I’ve received an “eye roll” from a family member. I typically don’t have the “normal” hobbies or interests of the other moms in my children’s friend groups. On learning of my new hobby, my daughter’s co-worker commented, “my mom knits.”
The decision to buy a track car was really not a mid-life crisis, even though my son suggested license plates such as:
- MDLFCRSIS
- IMPRCTCLE
I have loved cars since before I could drive, especially fast ones. I’ve had a collection of sports cars that I adored, named, and lovingly hand washed from the time I was eligible to get my license.
It seemed like a natural progression of my love of cars to start driving them fast in an environment where I wouldn’t get a ticket. I started attending autocross events three years ago. Last year, that migrated into high performance driving events with groups like the BMW CCA and Jzilla.
At my level, these events are actually high performance driving schools, to teach me how to become a better driver. There are no podiums. There are no winners or losers. But the feeling of going 135+ miles an hour with other cars still feels like a race.
I have a driving instructor in the car with me. You’ll hear my instructor, Duncan, talking to me throughout the run in the video above. We wear helmets, racing gloves, racing shoes, and some drivers wear fire suits. I’m driving on real race tracks like:
- Virginia International Raceway (VIR)
- Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
- Summit Point Motorsports Park
- Roebling Road Raceway
The entire experience has reminded me of what it is like to start something as a novice.
I’ve been in the business world for 45 years, running companies, marketing, selling, managing. I’ve long forgotten what it’s like to be a new salesperson or a new manager, but my racing hobby has opened my eyes to starting a new job or interest as a beginner, at the bottom of the pack.
All my driving events have a strong education component. The participants at my level have mandatory in-class training sessions. The majority of the classroom sessions are valuable and educational, but my attention is very much dependent on the quality of the training materials. In the car, the instruction is awesome, but the connection and communication with the instructor can affect the overall experience. Some you click with and some you don’t.
As someone who creates online training for a living, it has made me stop and think about how people learn and what truly makes a successful e-learning course.
I regularly get clients who come to me for a course refresh because their material is stale, boring, and doesn’t speak to their audience.
I take for granted the way my team designs courses that are entertaining; it’s become second nature to us, but it is not the way many instructional designers and trainers develop course material.
How to make e-learning and training programs successful
- Entertain your audience: My team knows that when you entertain first, retention and learning is a natural byproduct. When courses are entertaining, it’s easier to get employees to take them.
- Engage with your learners: Engagement and connection with the learner are also key components to any type of learning. When I connect with my driving instructors, my performance is better on the track and my times are faster. When our course material engages with our learners online, we see better retention and performance scores as an end product.
- Be thorough. Don’t assume: Whether you’re training a new call center employee or helping a new manager take over their role, thorough training is key. You cannot assume the learner knows the company policies, remembers what they were told about the position during the hiring process, or understands basic compliance regulations. Your online training programs need to cover ALL the information to set that employee up for success.
- Set goals:Have goals for your learning and development programs and evaluate them frequently.
Just like racing a car, which is always fun and fast paced, keep your online learning and training programs entertaining, engaging, and focused on your audience.
What’s next?
So what are my goals with my BMW 335is track car? I want to continue to improve my driving skills, get faster, and earn a professional racing license. Then I want to race for real. I think The URL dr logo would look awesome on the side of my car!
And what became of my daughter who thought my new car and hobby was impractical? She had a change of heart shortly after the car arrived and decided she’d like to try that racing thing, too. You can catch the two of us, racing together, sharing the Beemer at an East Coast track throughout the summer.
And visit The URL dr’s YouTube channel to see all our racing footage.
Race on friends!
Share your thoughts
Have you started something new? A new hobby? A new job? Share your experience with us.
