I want to find courses and/or seminars on the following:

1)	Finance/Personal Investment (I am interested in different areas of
investments like stocks, futures/options, offshore investments, real
estate, mutual funds ) The main criteria is lecturers, speakers,
professors, \ establishments in general with reputable name and
status. Basically, the best there are available. The more recognizable
the better (for instance: Warren Buffet)
Requirements: 

I am interested in both short term (couple of days) as well as long
term courses. Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Also one very good short term beginners course (like an overview) for
my sister.  Again, we are looking for a very reputable
lecture/establishment.

The long term course has to take place in California: within 60miles
from Beverly Hills or Los Angeles or Santa Monica or Century City or
Malibu areas. In case of the short term courses, same is preferable,
however,  if you locate something very worth attending, I am willing
to travel anywhere in the United States.

2)	Real Estate course.
Course that would start with the basics. 
Duration for at least 1 week up, at least twice a week.  
Any time of the day, but preferably not evening. 
Location: within 30miles from Beverly Hills or Los Angeles or Santa
Monica or Century City or Malibu areas
The main criteria is lecturers, speakers, professors, \ establishments
in general with reputable name and status. Basically, the best there
are available.

3)	Import-Export Course
Short-Term (up to 2 weeks)
Any time of the day, but preferably not evening. 
Location: within 30miles from Beverly Hills or Los Angeles or Santa
Monica or Century City or Malibu areas
The main criteria is lecturers, speakers, professors, \ establishments
in general with reputable name and status. Basically, the best there
are available.
 
4) Highly reputable fitness instructors certification course within
30miles from Beverly Hills or Los Angeles or Santa Monica or Century
City or Malibu areas



P.S. I am not looking to get certified in finance, real estate or
import/export. Thus, courses that offer certification are OK, but not
required by any means

Dear Inga, 

Your query talks about wanting good information and wanting the best
sources.
Sometimes, they don't come in conventional packages. I'm going to give
you some
ideas on courses or directions you might want to take. And if you
like, I'll continue
to do some digging until you're happy with the answers.

But, I will also give you some ideas that may not be exactly what you
asked.
Perhaps, sometimes, it's not a course you want, but simply to be
pointed to the
right resource. Let's see what you think, ok?

Each course or resource I will suggest involves people or courses that
either I have known (or
taken), read a great deal about, or my clients have raved about.

1) Investment - 

a) You've heard Wade Cook promote his stock market seminars on the
radio.
http://www.wadecook.com/schedules/events.asp It doesn't look like
he'll be back in Southern
California this year. But you can get some free education material
from his website. (I can't tell you how skeptical I am of people who
advertise as flamboyantly as he does. However, one of my
clients attended his seminar and took some courses. He started
trading, full-time and made some
decent money for the first six months. Then Alzheimers kicked in
and...)


2) Real Estate Courses:

a)It just so happens, UCLA extension will be holding a Real Estate
Finance and Investment Conference on November 14th at the Millennium
Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A.
http://www.uclaextension.org/unex/departmentalPages/finance2002/index.cfm?CFID=2105648&CFTOKEN=33353201&&CFID=2105648&CFTOKEN=33353201&OVERRIDE_DEBUG_MODE=DEBUG
This will give you an excellent overview of the real estate market and
the climate for real estate investments.
(If that link doesn't work, just go to http://www.uclaextension.org/
and click on Conferences*Events in the left margin.)


UCLA also has a Real Estate Principals Course, covering all the
basics, in depth, starting on Sept 23rd on campus, or downtown on Sept
25th. It runs for 12 weeks.  See course #X 475.1  Real Estate
Principles  If you've ever taken a course at UCLA Extension, you know
they're good. (unfortunately, both courses meet at night.)

b) One of the brightest minds in real estate in Southern California is
Mike Glickman.
http://www.mikeglickman.com/ He built up (and lost) one of the
biggest, hottest real estate
companies in So. Cal. He's learned a lot from his mistakes - and still
has the best contacts
in the business. While I don't see him teaching any courses, if I
wanted to learn about
real estate investing, I'd call him and pester him to let me just tag
along with him for
a while and learn from him. 

c) Robert Allen, the guru of the 'no money down' concept offers live
teleseminars. He will also be coming to Garden Grove sometime soon. 
That's not all that close, but, when there's no traffic, you can get
there in less than an hour. 1-800-371-9876 - One of my clients took
his classes
and has made contact with an entire network of his people. It took her
very
time to buy her first income property. (I'll admit I was leery of all
the
hype. But she is getting some solid help from the group and finding
properties
that do make for sensible investments. 
http://www.multiplestreamsofincome.com/
(Incidentally, one of my clients is a real estate developer and he did
some research on loans
for his buyers. He's found some excellent financing on a no money down
loan that provides
103% of the appraised value of the property - enough to cover closing
costs. So, I guess the
no money down concept is not nearly so far-fetched.)



d) Oh how interesting, here is one person's opinions on the famous
real-estate gurus http://www.johntreed.com/Reedgururating.html
       

3) Import-Export:  

a) OK, this is going to be very off the beaten track. Do you want
to know one of the best-kept secrets in the import-export business? 
The very best place to get an education is from the shipping
companies.
Find a way to get in touch with one of their top salesmen or VPs. 
These companies deal with all the tax and duty paperwork.  They deal
with the customers who ship - and they deliver to buyers.
Most people don't realize it, and they never ask. But, if you ask
these guys, and pick their brains, they will be happy to help you find
suppliers or customers overseas. (This was one of the very best
tidbits I got from my MBA in International Business.) Until last
month, I would have
suggested you contact Consolidated Freightways, but...in light of
their downsizing and imminent
failure...


b) The US Department of Commerce is the next place I would go. Ask
them about
the products you're interested in importing or exporting. Aside from
having detailed
market data for all industries, they have experience and contacts to
help you.
There's an excellent, free, online course on Import-Export.
http://www.tradeport.org/ts/trade_expert/infobase/basic/index.html

c) While I am not familiar with this company, UNZ&Co, they do seem to
have some
in depth 1-2 day seminars in the Long Beach area during the next
couple of months.
http://www.unzco.com/storefront/training.html

d) It goes without saying that you will find some excellent seminars
on International Trade
at UCLA Extension. Only, they're usually so big, that you don't get
the personal attention
you need to actually get your own questions answered or issues
addressed.

4) Fitness Certification - there are many areas of fitness - let me
point you to Gary Kobat - gary@e-coach.com (Spinning®, running,
general fitness, aroma therapy), situated in Beverly Hills, he is
trainer and coach to various celebrities.  Gary is one of less a dozen
people in California named as an Education Instructor for Spinning® 
http://www.spinning.com/for_the_instructor/team.html
He's a private coach to athletes (See story about this year's L.A.
Marathon winner, Jamie Murphy
http://www.juiceguys.com/athletes_press_view.php?key=20 )
and to the Heart Association's heart attack victims. 

Well, this is all I could do in the two hours allotted tonight. 

Please start with this and ask me for clarifications and additional
information.
I'll do some more searching for you tomorrow. 

Best wishes
TaxMama-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by inga-ga on 12 Sep 2002 06:29 PDT

Let me clarify. I started my MBA in Australia, but for personal
reasons I had to move to USA just a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve never
been to America before, so I pretty much don’t know anything,
including good universities.

I am looking for a LIVE educational COURSE or SEMINAR. I don’t
necessarily need personal attention since I don’t have any specific
questions.

So far information on UCLA a Real Estate Principals Course has been
very useful.  I also liked UCLA courses on international trade you’ve
mentioned.

That leaves investment/finance and fitness certification:

1)As for fitness, I do not have any prior experience. I am looking for
personal fitness trainer certification program in locations that I
specified.

2)Investment/Finance: New York institute of finance (www.nyif.com)
offers a variety of finance courses; one of the options would be
finding something similar in California.

---

Clarification of Answer by taxmama-ga on 12 Sep 2002 07:45 PDT

Dear Inga,

You're up early, too. Good morning. 

Glad you like the UCLA courses. Because, when it comes to the
investment courses you're looking for, UCLA Extension really does have
a whole set of classes - taught by some of the best professionals in
the field.

Look here -  http://www.uclaextension.org/  see the orange bar that
says 'Learning Quicklinks'? Click on that and go to the bottom of that
drop-down menu to 'Personal Enrichment.' Near the bottom of the third
paragraph, you'll see the word 'investments.' Click on it. Next page -
click on 'investments' again. (The finance link is mostly corporate,
although there are a couple of interesting real estate and
international finance classes.)

Now, look at the investment courses!
From the basics, to in-depth analysis.

The only drawback is that you preferred not to take night courses. And
most of the Extension courses meet evenings and weekends because they
are targeted to the working community.

UCLA is good both for the information and the contacts you'll make in
the field. (The last time I took a one-day tax seminar there, I made
the right contacts to start my own series of tax seminars for the
professional community.)

If you want more options, please let me know.  I will keep looking for
them for you. UCLA, though, offers the closest and best courses you'll
find.



Now, to the personal training - a huge and varied field. Especially in
Beverly Hills and Southern California, your customer base is quite
pampered and sophisticated. The training industry has become quite
branded with people looking for some who is expert in, say Pilates,
Nautilus, Spinning®, not simply aerobics, weight training, martial
arts, yoga, etc.

So, what area do you want to teach? Who will be your customers -
athletes, executives, housewifes, celebrities, children?

For instance, if you wanted to learn to teach the martial arts, you'd
go to the Beverly Hills Karate Academy 310-275-2661 and meet martial
arts Master Emil Farkas, who's trained celebrities, coordinated stunts
for films, trains stuntpersons, written encyclopedias about the
subject, and has helped many people build their own followings. (no
website, no computer)


For more general fitness training, here's a site from the National
Federation of Professional Trainers http://www.nfpt.com/about.htm 
Only, I can't find a list of courses for you. They seem to put more
emphasis on weight training.
They do have some good resources and charts on the site, though. Look
at this:
http://www.nfpt.com/Manual/charts.htm

Let me know more about the area you want to focus on. I've got friends
in the field, in Southern California, and I'll ask them for their
recommendations.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by inga-ga on 12 Sep 2002 10:22 PDT

Hi taxmama. 

Thanks for such a quick response and advice. Those UCLA courses sure
do sound good. As far as I understand, there is no process of
admission involved: all I have to do is enroll and pay. Is that right?

·	If you come across something else in investment area let me know.

·	I am fully satisfied with choices for real estate and international
trade.

·	As for fitness, I want to be able to work in as a personal trainer
in the gym concentrating on weight training and cardio, working with
executives, housewives, celebrities, but not professional athletes, or
population groups with special needs.

---

Clarification of Answer by taxmama-ga on 12 Sep 2002 12:35 PDT

Hi Inga, 

That's the beauty of the Extension programs at US universities, there
is no admission process. All you need to do is sign up for the course
and pay. And unless you enroll in a certificate program, you have no
obligation to take any set of courses. You may take one classe from
one category, and another from totally different sections of the
catalog.

Call them an ask for their catalog. (800) 554-UCLA (free)
You're going to drool when you see all the great classes.


Oh, and I just remembered another resource you're going to like -
usually for the shorter 1-2 day courses - The Learning Annex
http://learningannex.com/default.taf?_UserReference=7F00000146B5F3203B567743674C3D80EB84
(or go to http://learningannex.com/ and click on Los Angeles and hit
'GO')
If you're looking for the celebrities and fun and funky versions of
these subjects, and a great place to meet people - this is a cun
'school.'

Back to the fitness. Let me ask Cindy. She was one of the top 5 female
power-lifters in the country - and a personal trainer. She's in Santa
Monica. And if she's available to teach you, you'd be very fortunate.
She's one of the most inpsiring women I know.

Best wishes

Your TaxMama-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by inga-ga on 12 Sep 2002 14:06 PDT

Hi taxmama,
Looks like you very connected and can offer great advice. Please keep
me posted if you find something else in investment field and let me
know about Cindy. I’ll be checking comments on this question.

Overall, I have enough information now, thank you.

---

Clarification of Answer by taxmama-ga on 12 Sep 2002 15:00 PDT

Hi Inga, 

Thanks for the great rating. That means a lot. 

I got hold of Cindy Lauren. (I doubt she'd want to post her phone
number here, so) Here's her e-mail address. mailto:Cthia@aol.com

Get in touch with her and she will either train you or find you a
good, reliable, local program.

umiat-ga's information is excellent, too. 
And I love those little Google search tips. 
I'll have to remember to provide those, too. 

If you like, I'll be happy to find you some more information
about the finance/investment courses.

Let us know how it all turns out for you, OK?

Best wishes

TaxMama-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by taxmama-ga on 14 Sep 2002 13:13 PDT

Hi Inga,

I was thinking about you this morning. And I just realized that you
might enjoy some free 1-2 hour investment seminars held in the San
Fernando Valley. Granted, they are directed to tax professionals, but
I am sure you would be welcome.

Contact "Barry Pinsky  " <BPinsky@pclient.ml.com> at Merrill Lynch.
He holds them about every 3-4 weeks - and the speakers are quite
informative.

Best wishes
TaxMama-ga

I am finally getting my life in order, thanks to both of you guys:
taxmama and umiat.

Hi, inga-ga,

  I believe I can help you in the area of fitness certification. I
have several certifications in the fitness field…as a group fitness
instructor, personal trainer, and postural therapist. The main aspect
you need to define is whether you want to start out as a group
exercise instructor, or go directly into personal training. It is
generally easier to become a personal trainer after you’ve had
experience teaching, but it is not a necessity. Therefore, I will try
to steer you toward some courses in both areas.
  The two most reputable organizations for training exercise
instructors and personal trainers are The American Council on Exercise
(ACE ) and the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFFA). They
are both headquartered in California, but their certifications are
highly respected throughout the world. Both ACE and AFFA rely heavily
on independent study through their manuals, and then require an
intensive certification exam at the end. I was certified through Ace,
both as a fitness instructor, and then a personal trainer, and both
exams were very difficult. However, I have noticed that they now offer
practical workshops to go over the exam material before the actual
test, which offers tremendous help. Here are the directions to both
sites:
   American Council on Exercise can be found at
http://www.acefitness.org/ From the home page, refer to the section
“Become a Certified Personal Trainer or Group Fitness Instructor” and
then click on the tab for Get ACE Certified section which will bring
you to http://www.acefitness.org/getcertified/new.cfm . Under “Start
Studying for the Ace Certification Exam Today”, click on
www.acefitness.org/how , which will bring you to
http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=127&CFID=1576287&CFTOKEN=87656736
From that page, you can look at the types of certification they offer
by clicking on one of the links. Since you specifically mentioned
Personal Training as opposed to Group Exercise Instructor, I clicked
on that link which brought me to
http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=121%20&categoryID=30
 Since you don’t have any prior experience, I clicked on “I do not
have a background in exercise-science”, which then brought me to
http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=119&categoryID=30.
Now, since I already told you that ACE is primarily an independent,
home study course, after which you take an exam, I thought it would be
good for you to attend a 2-day workshop to “get a feel” for the
material, and maybe some hands-on experience. Therefore, I clicked on
“Attend a 2-day exam preparation course”  to see if there were any
offered in the LA area. The link brought up this page -
http://www.acefitness.org/getcertified/list_class.cfm?cetype=E  From
there, I clicked on Personal Trainer, and typed in California, with
the date range 8/1/2002-12/1/2003 and pressed Continue. (don’t type in
anything more than California…..if you type in cities, it seems to bog
down) Lo and behold, this page appeared: 
http://www.acefitness.org/getcertified/list_class2.cfm?cetype=E&RequestTimeout=500
 As you can see, there is a 2-day exam preparation workshop on October
12, 2002 in Los Angeles. For some reason, they don’t seem to have any
dates scheduled yet for 2003, and to be honest, unless you are a very
quick study, I doubt you would be ready to take the exam in October. I
know they will have further workshops in 2003, but you will have to
call Ace directly: (858) 279 - 8227 or (800) 825-3636.
 
  As for AFFA, go to
http://www.inter-change.net/cgibin/odp/frames.cgi?url=http://www.afaa.com/
and click on Trainer/Instructor under “Select Your Pathway.” When you
get to http://www.inter-change.net/cgibin/odp/frames.cgi?url=http://www.afaa.com/,
click on the “I agree” button,(Continue) and you will arrive here -
http://www.inter-change.net/cgibin/odp/frames.cgi?url=http://www.afaa.com/
Click on AFFA Certifications, and from here -
http://www.inter-change.net/cgibin/odp/frames.cgi?url=http://www.afaa.com/
, click on “Personal Trainer/Fitness Counselor Certification. The
following page, at includes information on the course, cost of the
home-study manual, etc. To find out if there was a 3-day workshop in
your area to prepare for the exam, I put in the infamous 90210 zipcode
(I know it by heart from watching that show with my daughters) within
60 miles (I know you wanted closer) and found one offered in Claremont
(48 miles away) on 10/18-10/20. See
http://www.inter-change.net/cgibin/odp/frames.cgi?url=http://www.afaa.com/
 Through personal experience, AFFA is an easier certification, and you
may actually be able to study the material in 5-6 weeks. The workshop
basically goes over everything on the test, from what I have heard.
Nevertheless, you may want to call them directly at 1-877-YOURBODY
(1-877-968-7263) to find out about next year’s workshops.

 One other suggestion…if you feel more comfortable taking a hands-on
course, which I highly recommend, you should consider the 500
certification course offered by The National Personal Training
Institute at http://www.nationalpersonaltraininginstitute.com/Index.htm
. The program is described at
http://www.nationalpersonaltraininginstitute.com/TrainingProgram/Program.htm
. What is unique about them is that they offer supervised learning
modules in the gym, which is very unique. And the best information
yet……you have a range of different class times in which to complete
your training……and…they offer the 500 hour course at two locations in
Los Angeles: Shape Up Fitness Center, 2101 East Coast Hwy, Corona Del
Mar, California 92625
and
LA Workout, 20971 Burbank Blvd, Woodland Hills, California 91367. 
Refer to the link at
http://www.nationalpersonaltraininginstitute.com/Location/Location.htm
. It looks like you may be able to start the course this fall (maybe
even now!!!) according to the page at
http://www.nationalpersonaltraininginstitute.com/Schedule.htm .  You
can call the main office in Philadelphia at 1-800-960-6294 or 
1-800-264-9835 for complete information.

Good luck, and enjoy yourself. Personal training is a great field!!! 

umiat-ga

google search strategy

"fitness trainer certification" california

Umiat’s comment definitely deserves 5 stars. Thank you.

inga-ga,

  The World Trade Institute of Pace University "offers a broad
curriculum of international trade and logistics classes through its
School of International Trade and Commerce and its Language Center, as
well as seminars on a wide variety of timely trade and
logistics-related topics." This summer, they expanded their seminars
to include Southern California. I know summer is now past, but this is
a description of what they offered :
 "For the first time in more than a decade, the WTI will offer its
seminar series in Southern California to serve what is one of the
nation's most globally active business regions. The seminars, which
will primarily draw attendees from the five counties that comprise the
greater Los Angeles area, will be held over a three-day period
beginning June 17.
 WTI's new Southern California seminar series will be held at the
Sutton Place Hotel and Conference Center in Newport Beach, located
south of Los Angeles in Orange County.
  The Southern California series will cover Ocean Shipping; Import
regulations and Documentation; NAFTA Regulations and Documentation;
Mexican Logistics; Air Cargo; and Tariff Classification for Importers.
In addition, a workshop on Export Operations will be offered."
  I think it would be worth contacting them. "For further information
on the latest series of World Trade Institute programs, classes and
seminars, call toll-free 888-722-3984, or visit the World Trade
Institute website at www.pace.edu/wti. Actually, go to
http://www.wti.pace.edu/SEMINARS/index.html for the latest updates,
which should be available soon.

  Another suggestion is the Center for International Trade and
Development at http://citd.org/seminars/index.cfm. Notice that they
have quite a number of short courses on various aspects of importing
and exporting. A few may not be as close as you like, but they are
certainly worth looking into!

  umiat-ga

  Google Search Strategy
  +classes +import +export +los angeles

Umiat: Great job! Hope to work with you again.