I was there for that seminar - it was great!
I use the cords with my students, who refer to them as "leashes." They work well if you use them properly.
For kids with really poor body awareness or reluctance to extend ANY BODY PART, it helps a bit.
If they're self-conscious about their skating, the cords just droop, regardless of how much you tell them to "stretch the cords."
Sheila used the term "try to break the cords," which I'll try at some point. It might get them to keep the cords taut, which is the whole idea!
There's an art to clipping them to your skate (just takes practice, like tying skates) and a variety of ways you can attach them to hands/wrists, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
She did this great forward crossover exercise during the seminar, which I really liked:
Connect cord 1 from left foot to left hand
Connect cord 2 from right foot to right hand
Connect cord 3 from left hand to right hand, like mittens. (Make a loop with the hook end)
Extend the arms and the cords form a triangle. Have the skaters do crossovers and keep the triangle facing the center of the circle. Clever!