The commoditization of pickup...

Something truly amazing is happening within pickup as a community and an industry. It's at a point now where 2nd generation students are becoming very capable instructors of pickup in their own right. With the cost of the industry right now being between $1500 and $3000 for a single weekend bootcamp the emergence of cost alternative means of learning this stuff has to happen. Here in Boston there are already two Boston based pickup schools starting this year! Not to mention Vin Dicarlo and The Approach already exisiting (but I believe they both severly underutilize the Boston community for their schools). And for the two new companies I can say from personally knowing the guys behind them that they're in it for the right reasons.
So I wanted to step back and offer my observations about bootcamps, learning pickup in general, and where I think there's value. I personally have never taken a bootcamp. Not that I'm against this in any way at all. I talked with many people I know who did take bootcamps themselves. Almost always the people I talked with said the in field instruction and pushing was the best component of what they did. And I wholeheartedly agree. In field experience and feedback from a knowledgible person is the most value add you can get out of experiences from a bootcamp, or in learning pickup in general. But why should you have to pay such a premium for this.
If you're a beginner there's a few key aspects of learning that you'll most likely go through. You'll begin reading material and become aware of concepts you never knew existed or "had never thought about in that way." As you're learning these things for the first time, you should, emphasis on the word should, want to get out and try some of these new things out. Some might have success with them immediately, others will struggle. This phase of fundamental eduaction and experiences are very similar for many new guys. It's a very common process. I have NEVER seen a guy within his first 6 months take a bootcamp with a major company and immediately become accomplished within this stuff. It certainly does help their learning curve. But especially for new guys, it's harder for them to maintain that push and drive in the field in the aftermath of the bootcamp. Furthermore, you can only go so far in one weekend. It's the compounding of weekends and experiences that come together over time that molds guys into accomplished PUAs.
I draw a comparison here to having a PhD in Astrophysics teaching introduction to algebra. Sure they're capable and qualified (too much perhaps.) But are they the only person capable of teaching that concept to someone who wants to learn algebra? No, I would say not. You would learn everything you needed to know about algebra just as readily from someone who knows Calculus and Trigonometry. Hell there's probably concepts about algebra that the PhD probably has forgotten over time because they're so focused on such advanced mathematics. I find this similar to the ideas behind cost alternative bootcamps. The people are just as capable of teaching the topics.
Now I'm by no means trying to put down the major pickup companies. I think they provide amazing products and endorse people actually buying and using their materials to gain that fundamental education (please don't pirate all your materials). I even endorse their bootcamps if people truly want that (there are people in this world who prefer to say they learned algebra from a PhD in Astrophsyics). I think the major value add from these bigger companies can come once you're in that intermediate to advanced skill area.
For beginners what bootcamps provide is a chance to get supervised experiences and guidance to go about this stuff the right way instead of feeling in over their head and lost. In my opinion $3000 to get that experience is an overspend. I personally was able to get a lot of that for free just by hooking up with like-minded guys at a similar point in their development.
Though I do find now, it's much harder to get quality observations about what I do in the field because most guys aren't able to be that present and observant while in set. If they're winging they're caught up with what they need to do with being a wing or perhaps are able to observe and filter the observations through their style and thoughts rather than understanding the nature of the person being observed's game.
So if you're new, and you're reading this blog because you're seeking out information and you've asked yourself if you think you should take a bootcamp but you're not sure. I hope this helps you weigh your options. And please note, I wrote this unbeknownst to anyone I know in the new companies offering cost alternative bootcamps. I'm not trying to explicitly endorse their business, which is why I'm not mentioning their companies or linking to them in the post. Its for you the reader to decise where you go, I simply wanted to talk about these alternatives in concept and why I think what's going on in the community is a very good thing.