I went to Kris Berglund's artisan distillers work shop in NY in 2009. It was held in conjunction with Carl Christianson, a german manufactorer. The class was held at a small university with a small still on site. We also visited a winery with a large still, carl Christianson of course.
I thought the course was great, I learned a ton. One of my fellow attendees had told me they had previously attended a similar course. He told me it was twice the cost and just a sales pitch. He was very happy with the Berglund course too.
It was totally worth my time and money, even with the drive to NY, I was living in MI at the time.
Hope this helps