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320 S. Kellogg Suite E2, Goleta, Ca. 93111 (Next
to the Sizzler)
(805) 964-5400
"ABOUT US"
PCBS Helps Restructure Other Schools Curriculums to
Raise
the Bar on Professional Bartenders Training!!!
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Special Editorial: Education/Job Opportunities
Bartending?
Since Pacific Coast Bartenders
School opened its doors in 2005 in Santa Barbara County, its reputation
has quickly risen. To his amazement and pride, John Rickman/Founder,
has students traveling from Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Ventura, Oxnard,
Carpinteria, Bulletin, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Paso Robles, Los Olivos, San
Louis Obispo, some up to 2 & 3 hours, passing by other more conveniently
located schools, just to attend and be a part of his training. PCBS
maintains a network of all their graduates, which creates an extensive
list of contacts for potential job leads as well as local bar owners, managers,
bartenders and job career centers through which they can feed their grads.
“With the economy so uncertain, it is my privilege to be able to teach,
then hear back from my grads with stories of their first shift, first tip
or first drink they made as a working bartender. It is such a fantastic
feeling knowing you can help and give back to others as many have done
for me. And now with my “At Home” training programs, I am able to
reach even further, clear across the US and am thrilled by the responses
I am receiving in unsolicited testimonials”.
Mr. Rickman, is a former instructor
and adminstrator for over 10 years with American and National Bartenders
Schools, teaching thousands of students. He assisted in the set up
of two National Bartender Schools (one in Los Angeles, CA and the other
in Fort Myers, FL). John oversaw the development and implementation
of a series of comprehensive bartender training programs for the National,
American Bartenders & Ventura County Schools. In addition, John
brings almost two decades of bartender/management experience to the business
and will lead the school as it establishes itself as a high quality bartender
training service provider.
Whether the economy is up or down, there has always been a need
for the bartender’s advice or sympathetic ear.
Bartending? It’s a career choice I give a big thumbs up to!
Stephen Wells- Editor-Bartenders Alliance Coalition
For more information go to www.pacificcoastbartendersschool.com.
Copyright (c) Feb. 2009
Cheers & Wishing You Continued Success,
John Rickman
Owner/Director
"ABOUT JOHN"
Bartending School Aims for Growing Market
Santa Barbara News-Press, Calif. By Frank Nelson
Jul. 13 2006--While some people idly
wonder how so many restaurants, hotels and bars can all survive in Santa
Barbara, John Rickman sees the proliferation as a business opportunity.
He reckons there are more such establishments per square mile here than
anywhere else in Southern California and translates that into a growing
demand for well-trained full-time, part-time and seasonal bar staff.
That's why he opened the Pacific
Coast Bartenders School, in a fully functioning training bar inside a Goleta
office suite on South Kellogg next to the Sizzler and Bak-Dor Bar.
Like many bar workers, Mr. Rickman got
into the business as a means of making extra money while attending school,
in his case studying theater at the University of Washington, in Seattle.
He kept up the bar work while working as an actor in Los Angeles, where
his credits include dancing on Michael Jackson's classic "Beat It" video,
and then got into teaching the bartending trade. Mr. Rickman met his wife,
Colleen, when she was a student at National Bartenders School, LA; the
couple married in 1990 and today have two children Alex and Casey.
Mr. Rickman was previously a technician
and senior production specialist at Raytheon and a couple of other
related companies, while continuing to work as a bartender at the World
Famous El Paseo Restaurant and Zia Café. When he gave up the
world of engineering, partly for health reasons, he considered opening
his own bar, but getting a liquor license was discouragingly expensive
and time-consuming. So instead Mr. Rickman invested $30,000 in the bartending
school, a venture that offered the prospect of more fun and more time with
his children.
Classes are a mix of theory and practical
exercises, beginning with a lecture that leads into hands-on sessions.
During the course students will cover everything from customer service
and the law to how to prepare and serve drinks.
The course costs $595 for registration,
tuition, books, equipment and supplies, and at the end students must pass
a written and a final hands-on pour test.
The school also maintains a recruitment
networking system with local employers to help graduates find work.
For more information
go to
www.pacificcoastbartendersschool.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, Santa Barbara News-Press, Calif.
YOUR FULLY CONSTRUCTED WORKING BAR CLASSROOM
Goleta Valley Voice
Strictly Local: He reigns where they learn to pour
By Sonia Fernandez, Voice Staff Writer It’s happy hour at Pacific Coast
Bartending School. The lights are low, the music is loud, and owner John
Rickman is calling out drinks to Kandis, his newest student. The mood may
be festive, but for Kandis — who’s pouring colored water into glasses of
various shapes and sizes and adding a cherry here, a slice of lemon there,
not to mention talking with the “patron” and tossing in a fancy bottle
flip or two — it’s what amounts to a final exam. “It’s been hard,” said
a smiling Kandis, of all the information she’s had to cram into her head
for the past couple of weeks, but for her the work was also fun. Located
oh-so-conveniently next to the Ba’k Do’r at 320 S. Kellogg Suite E2, PCBS
is the result of Rickman’s 20-plus years of bartending and teaching bartending
school. “When I first started I barely knew three drinks after the first
30 days,” he said. His education was hands-on behind a real bar, and often
different bartenders had different methods of pouring the same drinks.
Rickman, who was a Raytheon engineer in his other life, decided after taking
and teaching some bartending courses that he could improve on the formula.
He opened his school last year.So far he’s graduated at least 50 students,
and maintains a network of local bar managers and other bartenders through
which he can feed his grads. “If you go to the Biltmore, I’ve got one there.
I’ve got one at Bacara, too.” He’s got people behind the bar from Santa
Maria to Ventura. His course lasts a scant two weeks, but the time is spent
in hours of intensive lectures and practical work. He prefers to teach
small classes, which is a benefit for both the bartending newbie and the
bar manager looking to refresh. But if you think it’s all fun and games,
that’s because Rickman makes it look easy, a skill he passes on to his
charges. In fact, there’s almost a whole science and art behind the happy
hour. Rickman drills his students in 150 drinks. Besides that, he teaches
them in the fine art of cutting people off when they’ve had too much, keeping
the place clean and, most important, making happy hour, well, happy. “(Bartenders)
have to like being with people,” he said. Shy people and reclusives need
not apply. For more information, call 964-5400 or visit www.pacificcoastbartendersschool.com
Photo by Sonia Fernandez Caption: Pacific Coast Bartending School owner
John Rickman watches student Kandis pour a tricky drink in his classroom
on South Kellogg Avenue. Strictly Local is a weekly profile of a Goleta
Valley-based business. To suggest a business, call managing editor Jim
Logan at 681-5905, or e-mail him at jlogan@goletavalleyvoice.com.
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