Karen and I attended the Pine Barrens Workshop 2 years ago after first attending the ADK Symposium a few months earlier. We had paddled on our own quite a bit, but had never had any instruction or even paddled with anyone who really knew what they were doing. Our experiences at the Symposium and Workshop have been transformative for our paddling. All of our instructors were really good teachers. The events were extremely well organized. We had a lot of fun, with really nice groups of wonderful people! We are still clearly novice paddlers, but ones now with new appreciation for what's possible. I would recommend Freestyle instruction to anyone who wants to improve their paddling skills, not just newbies and novices.