Well I found an answer on the forums here http://w3schools.invisionzone.com/topic/58336-again-multiple-slideshows-on-same-html-page/?tab=comments#comment-320121
It might be worth commenting the code on the original article and mention the areas that need to be updated for the sake of others who stumble on this.
ie
var slideId = ["mySlides1", "mySlides2", "mySlides3", "mySlides4", "mySlides5",mySlides6",etc]
showDivs(1, 0);
showDivs(1, 1);
showDivs(1, 2);
showDivs(1, 3);
showDivs(1, 4);
showDivs(1, 5);
etc
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-left" onclick="plusDivs(-1, 0)">❮</button>
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-right" onclick="plusDivs(1, 0)">❯</button>
...
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-left" onclick="plusDivs(-1, 1)">❮</button>
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-right" onclick="plusDivs(1, 1)">❯</button>
...
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-left" onclick="plusDivs(-1, 2)">❮</button>
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-right" onclick="plusDivs(1, 2)">❯</button>
...
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-left" onclick="plusDivs(-1, 3)">❮</button>
<button class="w3-button w3-black w3-display-right" onclick="plusDivs(1, 3)">❯</button>
etc
Thanks for the example though, worked like a charm. I was able to use it along with some jquery tabs and put together a little color chart the boss wanted
https://www.allfrom1supply.com/merchant2/includes/color/colorpicker.html