Back the the original post, the real problem is, what are you going to learn in a two day, open water sidemount class? I just don't see the utility of it, other than as a platform to sell gear.
That is going to depend on the instructor. As pointed out in numerous posts, there are some instructors teaching it after themselves having only taken a 2 day course. Or some Course Directors training people to teach sidemount after only taking a 4 day course. As Bogaerts puts it, "it's the partially sighted leading the blind." They can show the basic set up, but won't know a whole lot about solving any issues. Plus they'll only know about one rig.
When you get to this level of spending (your rig, tanks, extra regs, etc.) research where you're going to get your education.
It's no different than golf. You can spend a ton of money to buy the gear, why not invest in learning how to use it properly. You might be okay on your own on the driving range, but you'll definitely need some coaching to make it to the pros. And all those self taught gurus on the driving range spouting off about how much they know, aren't necessarily doing you any favors.
Just like marketing in golf, I like to use what the pros use. My sidemount gear and set up is what the people exploring the caves are using (Armadillo, Nomad, Razor and Stealth). They've gone through the process of what works in that environment. I'm not listening to advise from a guy that posts videos of himself on Youtube out of trim, with his buddy in the background with his tanks floating up at a 45 degree angle (Not aimed at you billgraham, but there is another on these threads that is doing that). Judging from what I see in the water and on the internet, there's a lot of divers that have forgotten about the "horizontal trim" and "streamlined" portions from their open water class.