Welcome to my new blog. It’s been two weeks already since Mitzi (our Customer Loyalty Manager) and I were in Dallas for the ASTD conference. We decided not to get a booth at the Expo this year, opting instead to observe, network and learn. I had a wedding in St. Louis last week and I'm in the process of hiring a new Executive Assistant, so this is the first time I've been able to reflect and debrief the conference.
It’s always energizing to be surrounded by thousands of colleagues together at an ASTD conference. We were amazed at the international presence. The number of translation headsets was phenomenal during the major presentations. Learning is truly global, something we all have in common.
On a personal note, I’m six months pregnant. Sitting during the ASTD workshops was a bit of a challenge. It was a challenge not to laugh out loud every time Arlo (our baby boy) kicked. He seemed to approve (two kicks way up) of “strengths guru” Marcus Buckingham (First Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths), who replaced Jack Welch as the kickoff speaker. Welch’s last-minute cancellation due to emergency surgery was a big letdown for us, and Buckingham had big shoes to fill. But he delivered. Buckingham gave a feel-good, inspirational speech about the power of tapping into strengths, which included only a minor book pitch and brought much of the crowd to its feet.
Arlo approved less (no kicks) of some of the workshop breakout sessions, which were occasionally superficial, basic or downright boring. What do you expect when a consultant is boiling down a three-day seminar into a bite-sized hour? The best sessions I attended were:
- A session titled, “Podcasting: The Next Big Thing in E-Learning and Mobile Training by Anders Gronstedt of the Gronstedt Group. I accidentally attended this one by walking into the wrong room…but I’m SO glad that I stayed. Great stuff, good idea exchange and very credible facilitator with colorful examples.
- A panel discussion (View from the CLO) on the role of the learning executive Tuesday afternoon. The most interesting thing I learned was that even in companies sophisticated enough to have a CLO position, there are still struggles in integrating HR and Learning systems.
- A sales training case study presentation by Eric Baron and Prudential. This session really stressed the importance of involving sales organizations in designing their own learning programs. We (TLG) specialize in working with sales organizations, and one thing we’ve learned is that every sales organization believes that it is unique. We’ve always tailored our sales training programs; out of the box content doesn’t seem to resonate in most sales organizations.
I’m currently working on a book proposal and had some success at the ASTD Expo with publishers. I had a meeting with a senior editor from Wiley on Thursday morning and got some interest. Also made contacts with McGraw Hill and a Pearson (Price Pritchett). My goal is to have a signed deal by the end of 2006…so I’ll keep you posted.
©2006 The Loyalty Group. All Rights Reserved. www.TheLoyaltyGroup.com
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