The Dile has been live for 5 months now and in that time we have held 13 webinars and one panel discussion, all of which have been uploaded to the site video library. One webinar has been deleted because a further update was recorded later (the Fresh Insight Conference). The frequency of these webinars is now increasing, with one a week, sometimes two, meaning increasing value for your membership.

The value of these recordings cannot be over-stated. Attending the free live webinars is great because you have the chance to ask your questions there and then, but the value of the recordings, apart from being able to watch them if you missed the live event, is in being able to return to them to refresh your memory on the topic, or copy down important information from the presenter's slides - this is particularly the case with Sophie's webinars on B+E training, where she gives an awful lot of information. Any web links given on the slides are added to the Webinars forum so you can click directly to the information you need, so all the links Sophie gave are listed as direct links in the forum.

There is an Articles section which very few members seem to be accessing, probably because this sounds so boring!  However, there are essential documents in there concerning the new standards check, together with the related national training standard that you will be expected to show proficiency in during your standards check from April next year. This is for real guys, there is no requirement for an Act of Parliament for this to take effect.

But the Articles section is not just for DSA or other government publications, it's for articles from anyone with an interest in and knowledge of road safety, the driver training industry and anything at all that affects our job and our businesses. So visit regularly to find out what's in there; just 10 minutes of reading could add that extra nugget you need for your business or training.

The forum is there for you to get answers to your questions, or seek opinions on something that concerns you. We have deliberately created forums for different topics to make it easier to find what you are looking for. This is not the social media type of chat (although you are welcome to do that in the 'Main Discussions' forum), this is more like the chat that goes on on LinkedIn - professional questions/comments provoking professional discussion.  So please take the plunge and be one of the first off the diving board and into the forums!

Have you ever found out about a conference or training event you would have liked to attend but you found out about it too late?  Our events page aims to reduce this frustration by adding every event that we are informed about or discover for ourselves!  We just want to give you the option to attend, 'cos if you don't know about it then you don't have that choice! Please let us know of any events that you know about but are not listed on the site, and we will list them immediately.  Thank you.

So, The Dile is here to educate and inform, so that members can build businesses that truly offer something more, a USP, to their prospective clients, and at the same time allows members to gain knowledge of other areas of work they could explore in order to supplement their fluctuating income from learner drivers. Never be satisfied with standing still but look to learn and improve and ultimately achieve the income and lifestyle you want and deserve!