Guys, being affiliated with a shop is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, some do not like it,... that's OK, nothing wrong with it. I have been an SSI instructor for the past 5 yrs, and really can not complain. I instruct for 2 different shops. There are some advantages,... At my shop, I am a professional & treated as such. I have no overhead for classroom (set up for advanced multimedia) or pool rental. I have equipment readily available for use for my classes & don't have the headache of trying to schedule classes, set up pool, logistics of equipment use (yes, this weekend our shop has 2 Open water evaluations & a class going on at the shop- 3 different instructors), try to figure out who needs & gets what equipment. I'm lucky in the fact that the head instructor is an Instructor Certifier & generally, if I have any questions, he has the answers. Yes, there is closer monitoring of classes for quality,... doesn't bother me in the least, though to some it is totally repulsive. In a nutshell, I have support that an independent would not have & would have to deal with themselves. It is all a big trade off. There can be advantages, it is not all evil.