Free November webinars

Well November, and winter, is officially here! Keep warm and dry by signing up for free webinars being offered this coming month. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Learning Meets Big Data: Using Analytics to Create Learning that Works!

Over a third of learning organizations stated that their top priority in 2012 was creating a learning strategy. Why? As an industry, we are still struggling to measure the effectiveness of the learning we create and tie it to business performance. Developing a sound learning strategy requires direction, data and an honest assessment of what’s working and what’s not with your organization's learning. Stacey Harris, the VP of Research from Brandon Hall Group, and Mark Hellinger, CEO of Xyleme, will discuss insights on rethinking the idea of learning analytics. New research highlights how consumer driven learning is changing the market, and how new technologies can help you not only address those changes but do a better job at connecting your learning efforts to performance outcomes. We’ll share key practices in evaluating your learning; focusing on content, users, and business outcomes.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: What to do When There’s too Much to do: Reduce Tasks, Increase Results and Save 90 Minutes a Day (free to ASTD members)

Are you tired of hearing "do more with less"? Many people are already working as long and as hard as they can, and "productivity improvement" classes can be hard to swallow. Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, turns time management on its head and shows overwhelmed professionals how to actually DO LESS and ACHIEVE MORE. They'll produce greater results and create significant impact on organizational goals. Laura teaches her latest thinking using this innovative workflow formula to reduce to-do lists, reduce commitments, reduce distractions, reduce the glut of information, reduce inefficiencies, and reduce energy expenditure. Past clients using these systems and methods report savings of 90 minutes a day and higher productivity than ever before.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: eLearning Content is Everywhere! How to Bring it Alive with Online Video Presentations

Everywhere you look, eLearning content is begging to be captured and put online. Every time an expert gives a lecture, an executive keynotes a conference, a techie gives a chalk talk, a product manager briefs a sales team, or a manager hosts an orientation, valuable content is being created. In this webinar, led by internet content pioneer Michael Kolowich (the Emmy-winning TV news reporter who founded ZDNet) you'll get practical advice on how to capture and deploy multimedia online presentation material in a way that captivates and engages an audience at a very modest production cost.  Michael will show a case example of how one of the world's leading medical schools is using online presentation tools to deploy a brand-new Lectures On Demand series for pay-per-view and subscription continuing medical education programs.

Thursday, November 8, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Evaluation Practices, Promises and Barriers: How do YOU Measure Up?

On one hand, we say we honor evaluation, that we are eager for evidence and data. On the other hand, most reported practice is far from enthusiastic about metrics.  Today’s economic climate has increased accountability in organizations and required training and performance professionals to look in a data-driven way at their influence. At the same time, technology-delivered training, learning management systems and a host of tools has increased possibilities for data collection.  Are organizations using these tools?  And if so, to what ends? Join Dr. James Marshall, faculty member of the Department of Educational Technology at San Diego State University to learn more about evaluation promises, practices and barriers and give you an opportune ity to examine your efforts in light of the possibilities. How do you compare to the reported efforts of our respondents? How can we all do better?

Thursday, November 8, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Thinking of Replacing Your LMS

Your business needs are changing fast, and so are the demands placed on your current learning technology. Learning leaders must stay a step ahead of their business, but that can be difficult when dealing with antiquated technology and limited delivery options. Do you have that nagging awareness that it is time to switch your learning technology, but haven't wanted to face the reality of doing so? Over 30% of organizations in a recent Brandon Hall survey had plans to replace their existing LMS solution. Most of them look forward to the transition with dread and concern. Can they make a solid business case for the change? Will the transition impact business processes or mission-critical learning needs?

Join David Wentworth, Senior Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group, and Saba's Shruti Kala, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, as they share insights that can help reduce your fear of change and increase your odds of success. They'll discuss best practices from hundreds of successful transitions for creating a strategy for the upgrade, as well as tools and tricks for preparing your organization for a limited-impact change.

Thursday, November 8, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: 10 Best Practices for Engaging Live Online Learning (free to ASTD members)

You have the lofty goal of developing interactive, dynamic and memorable live online training, but what can you do to keep virtual learners truly engaged and participating?  Join this webinar to hear Sheri Jeavons, founder of Power Presentations, discuss how to deliver effective, engaging online sessions that will leave your attendees eager to learn. Discover:

• Tips to convert in-person training into live virtual sessions        
• Delivery techniques to keep your learners engaged        
• A content development format to create a compelling 5-minute introduction      
• Best practices for training online with the GoToTraining tool      

Friday, November 9, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Designing Virtual Training for a Global Audience

One advantage of the virtual classroom is the potential for global reach.  Participants no longer need to fly long distances to attend a class; instead, we can bring the classroom to them! However, when incorporating international participants into your virtual training classes, it’s important to design sessions with global audiences in mind. In this interactive webinar, you’ll learn three principles to consider when designing for global audiences – how to:

• Design virtual sessions with a multicultural mindset
• Create a comfortable learning environment for all participants, including international attendees
• Apply cultural adaptations to virtual training designs

Friday, November 9, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Get Your New Hire Salespeople Up to Speed…Fast!

Hired and fired! It’s the revolving door of hiring salespeople and firing them 90 days later for poor performance. You loved them in the interview, but somehow they flopped on your team. Many sales leaders and business executives point their fingers at the sales people for failing to deliver on expectations. However, those fingers should be pointed at the executives if a structured salesperson onboarding program is not in place. Top performing companies don’t perceive adding headcount to the sales team as hiring, but rather as a corporate investment in revenue. Join Lee Salz, leading sales management strategist, for this virtual training to learn how to protect that investment and ensure a high rate of return. In addition, you will also receive Lee’s eBook titled “Sales Person Onboarding Best Practices”

Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Exploring Innovation in the Learning Landscape

Explore teaching and learning strategies that foster innovation. Discover practical ways that businesspeople and lifelong learners incorporate innovation into their work. David Wentworth, Senior Analyst with Brandon Hall, and Laurie Burruss, Senior Director of Education at Lynda.com, explain the key tenets of innovation, and discuss the role and benefits of questioning, experimentation, observation, associating seemingly unrelated concepts, and sharing. Topics to include:

• How to produce innovators, not just subject matter experts
• Lessons from curious and creative risk takers and real-world leaders
• Case studies and best practices

Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Can Social Learning Succeed Alongside an LMS?

Social learning is natural, effective and can be low-cost. It’s no wonder so many organizations are keen to embrace it. But most already have a Learning Management System (LMS) in place. Can the two be reconciled? Can collaborative, informal, discursive learning fit with the course- and resource-based approach of the LMS? Join Johanna Sadoudi, CEO of VITAMINDS and David Wentworth, Senior Learning Analyst with Brandon Hall Group as they explore this issue, using real-world examples. Johanna will draw on her depth of experience in the industry, having overseen L’Oréal’s LMS deployment, rolling it out to 60,000 people across 45 countries.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: How Technology is Shaping the Future of Learning (free to ASTD members)

This session will introduce you to the technologies that are shaping the future of the World Wide Web and how those technologies disrupt existing web based training design. In this session you will learn the five key principles of the web that has sustained its growth; 1) The web wants to be fed, 2) The web wants to understand what it is being fed, 3) The web wants content to be viral, 4) The web wants you to know you and 5) The web wants you to communicate. Using these 5 principles, you’ll explore how to design for a web that is evolving based on these principles in a way that is significantly different from existing design methods.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How do YOU think? And Can You Think Better for Better Results?

We all use a variety of thinking styles in our daily lives, but we tend to favor some and rarely use others-and that hurts our ability to make good decisions. Taking a thinking assessment can help you find the right balance, so you can make the best choices, in life and at work. Join Training magazine and TalentLens, a Pearson business and learn how to improve your effectiveness and that of your team by leveraging new thinking styles.
 
When you register for the webinar, you will have the opportunity to take the My Thinking Styles assessment and receive your free personalized development report. Then, during the Webinar, Dr. Judy Chartrand, chief scientist at TalentLens, will give a brief overview of the seven thinking styles and help you interpret your results. Knowing your preferred style will help you approach problems and decisions with the right mindset. Your development report will unlock a unique combination that will help you be more successful with your decisions, relationships, projects, and every aspect of your life-so don't miss this opportunity!

Thursday, November 15, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Converting SMEs to the NEW FAITH: Less Content is Better, Faster and Cheaper

When you ask an SME, “What should learners learn from the content?” the response is usually “all” or “everything”. This is the OLD RELIGION where the data is “compressed and dumped” for learners to learn. This is costly and detrimental to the performance of workers. In this webinar you will learn:

• How to approach SMEs and present costs and statistical evidence that less content is better, faster and cheaper
• How to assist SMEs to redesign the way they write content
• How to discover sources of information, cases, examples and experiences within the company that help persuade SMEs to rethink their approach
• How to conduct brainstorming for content development with SMEs following processes and procedures that will guarantee
• An effective design - short and less in content

You will also receive the “SME Content Conversion Step-by-Step Process” - an interviewing guide.

Thursday, November 15, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Understanding Analytics for the Learning Organization

The topic of “analytics” has been on fire lately – everyone is talking about it, asking for it, and trying to figure out how to use it. In a recent Brandon Hall Group survey, over 46% of organizations said that changes in business performance was one of the top measures they used to evaluate the effectiveness of their learning. There is no doubt that learning analytics are important, but data is only valuable if you know how to leverage it for sound business decisions.  

Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group, and Vinay Nilakantan, Director Product Development and Research for Meridian, as they hold an in-depth conversation on the topic of Learning Analytics.   

Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 4AM – 5AM PST: Creating creative leaders (Special time to accommodate live participation from members and customers from around the world. This session will also be recorded for on-demand viewing.) (free to ASTD members)

If creativity and innovation are top imperatives for your organization, then you also need to build the right leadership capability. However, when we try to develop organizational capabilities for creativity we often focus on the act of creativity rather than how to lead it. Leaders have a critical role in fostering creativity and innovation to build more dynamic organizations. This webinar will provide takeaways to immediately use to bring more creativity into your organizations whether you are new to the field (of creativity) or already a practitioner. Take advantage of endless opportunities to tap into more creative potential within ourselves, our teams, and our organizations. The more deliberate we are in our creativity and innovation efforts, the better the result. . And, what may be most surprising: You don’t need to be creative to be a creative leader (it can even be a barrier!).

How much priority do you put on your learning?

It’s been a very busy year for us at Limestone Learning Solutions – never a bad thing when you’re a consultant. But being busy can have drawbacks too. There never seems to be enough time to focus on personal development and looking back over my calendar this year, I realize that I’ve fallen into that trap. I post a list on our Limestone blog of free webinars offered on line each month and sign up for ones that interest me. I have best intentions but something work related always seems to pop up at the last minute and I end up cancelling. The same goes with industry-related reading, blog posts and tweets. I run across interesting ones and file them away for a “rainy day” reading but it rarely happens. A good example of this…I was given a really interesting book two weeks ago from a colleague of mine and I’m still on page 16!

Personal learning should always be a priority. So with some rearranging of my schedule and putting selected webinars and interesting reads on my “A” list of things to do, I’m committed to making it happen more consistently.

Have you run into the same challenge? If so and you’ve found a workable solution, I’d love to hear about it. I’ll be posting the free November webinar list in the next couple of days so check it out. I hope to “see” you online!

Free September webinars

September is just around the corner and summer vacations are coming to an end for many of us. Sigh… But now is a great time to take advantage of the free September webinars coming up to brush up our skills, learn about new industry trends and bring a fresh focus to our work. So take the few minutes, look over the list of webinars below to see what interests you. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

See you online!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: No Time for Training? Options that Work.

You’re juggling a million things but you know it’s important to have some strategic time and learn new things. How can you facilitate brief sessions with your staff to keep learning and strategy alive? Join Lou Russell, CEO, Russell Martin & Associates to learn ideas for learning within the chaos, ways to leverage technology to create communities and thoughts on how to chunk out existing resources into sound-bytes.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012, 1PM – 2PM PST: Special Webinar - How to Measure and Increase the ROI of your Exhibit

Making the decision to exhibit at a conference is difficult these days. The cost of exhibiting continues to increase. Exhibit budgets are often difficult to justify. Top executives and financial executives are demanding more accountability. In some cases, executives are suggesting that if you cannot show the value of exhibiting, you should skip the conference.

The good news is that it is possible to measure the success of your exhibit in a very credible CEO and CFO friendly way. Attend this webinar to learn about the ROI Methodology, created by the ROI Institute. This methodology is now being used by many trade show exhibitors to show the value of exhibiting. This approach requires additional planning for your exhibit, setting objectives for implementation and impact, and conducting a follow-up to track the success of the exhibit at a set time after the show.

Thursday, September 6, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Wonders of Captivate 6!

Captivate 6 was released this summer and what a release it is! Joe Ganci, President of Dazzle Technologies has used Captivate for many years and will take you through a fun and revealing look at all the new and great features of Captivate 6.

Thursday, September 6, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Learning Transfer: The Two Key Questions (Free for ASTD members)

Good training can provide significant value and a competitive edge for companies provided it is transferred and applied to the work of the trainees. And that, for many programs, is the weak link. In this fast-paced and interactive webinar, the authors of the ASTD Infoline "Ensuring Learning Transfer," will explain what learning professionals can do to facilitate learning transfer. They will explain the "two key questions" that must be answered positively for transfer to occur and they will provide practical guidance on how to influence the answers to those questions. A handout will be provided in advance.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Integrated Learning Analytics Strategies & Best Practices for Success

Understanding the results your learning programs have on your organization’s top and bottom line can ensure greater success of your learning initiatives. Having the right tools in place to track and analyze in real-time is key. Learn how integrated analytics can make your organization more effective. You’ll interact with our speakers as we demonstrate the impact of integrated analytics on the top and bottom line. You will learn how to add value through tactical, strategic, quantitative and qualitative measurement, go beyond ROI to the strategic use of learning analytics, mitigate the risk of bad data in, bad data out and succeed with improving the bottom line                    

Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Five Earth-Shattering Topics for Management Development That I Learned from my Friends (Free for ASTD members)

Management is management. Leadership fundamentals don't change. Right? Wrong! While some of our longest held beliefs about management and leadership are still relevant, the fundamental skills that all managers will need to succeed in today's business climate are shifting. During this webinar, Lisa Haneberg will share the trends and new topics that your management development programs ought to be addressing. She will share specific examples from several experts whose work is on the edge and pushing our thinking about management forward. This session will be high energy, offer high intrigue, and be highly actionable.

Thursday, September 13, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Transition from Training to Coaching

Training and coaching go hand in hand. Research shows that when training is reinforced with coaching, learning increases significantly. Join Tim Hagen, training expert and founder of Sales Progress, as he reveals specific strategies for how you can enhance and extend your training results with coaching. Learn why managers are resistant to coaching, the #1 barrier to coaching and how to overcome it, why trainers need managers to coach and more.

Thursday, September 13, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Employee Development on a Shoestring: Developing Talent Outside the Classroom (Free for ASTD members)

With training budgets slashed and organizations struggling to do more with less, many employees as well as those responsible for their development are challenged to find ways to address employee development needs. While classroom and online training is a popular and first-in-mind development method, it can be costly and complex. In addition to possibly being out of reach for budgetary and cost-to-productivity reasons, even when training is available it may not be the only or the best way to address learning needs. In this webinar, explore other, non-training ways to develop employees on a tight budget. Consider the pros and cons of various non-training development methods, consider the requirements and specifications of three specific employee development ideas, and begin to develop a strategy for implementing new employee development methods for your organization.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 12:30PM – 1:30PM PST: Proof that Stories Improve Comprehension and Retention

“Too long.” “Too costly,” Too wishy-washy.” “Fluff.”   Many eLearning leaders and developers are skeptical about the use of interactive stories in eLearning.  Anecdotal and scientific research in educational institutions suggests that stories facilitate learning.  However, in the corporate world, stories are discouraged and misunderstood. In this session, Ray Jimenez will present a research report on “Story Impacts Learning and Performance.” The research covered 500 respondents who participated in a controlled and blind study to evaluate two types of eLearning: one with stories and another without stories.  The results show the impacts on comprehension and retention and the engagement levels of the learning.  Furthermore, the findings suggest that stories, although add development time, actually reduces learning time and therefore reduces the costs of eLearning project. The session is a research presentation, question and answer session and small group discussions on the impacts and applications of the research findings. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Role of Intuition Smarts in Workplace Innovation Training

A renewed focus on innovation in business means a lot more training is needed.  One of the things that might not be top of mind in designing an innovation training program is intuition skills.  Yet, if everyone had intuition smarts, innovation would be a cinch. Arupa Tesolin, an expert in workplace intuition skills explains why you need to include intuition skills in your training program and how to position it alongside other innovation skills.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 10:30AM – 11:30AM PST: Research-Based Learning: 15 Years of Balancing Research and Practice (Free with a free eLearning Guild membership)

As workplace learning-and-performance professionals we have passion and good intention but are unable to maximize performance because we are infected with misinformation about how learning really works. While scientific research is a good starting point for building a base of common knowledge for our field, many of us rely more on opinions and poorly conceived benchmarking. In this session, join Dr. Will Thalheimer, who has spent the last 15 years working to bridge the gap between research and practice. He’ll share some of his research findings, talk about the state of the industry, and make recommendations on how to create best-in-class eLearning and transform our organizations into ones that truly maximize on-the-job performance.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How Free is Free? A Look at Open Source LMS vs. Off the Shelf Solutions

The concept of open source software is nothing new, and more companies are exploring this option when it comes to their LMS as a way to save money. Often the idea of a free (or nearly free) solution with endless configuration and customization potential is too attractive to pass up. Join David Wentworth, Senior analyst with Brandon Hall Group and Dan Medakovic, V.P. Learning Solutions, from Blatant Media’s AbsorbLMS as they explore the ins and outs of open source solutions, with a focus on data the experiences companies have had using these tools as well as insights into the true cost of ownership of these systems.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 1PM – 2PM PST: Help them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want

To reach new levels of performance there must be a link between what the individual employee is passionate about and what the organization needs to grow its business.  One way to insure that linkage is for every manager to be held accountable for having solid development discussions with their employees.   Research suggests that if an individual is challenged in their position, finds their work to be meaningful, and believes that their manager truly cares about their growth, their engagement will be high. In this session Bev and Julie will share the research from their new book to demystify the Individual Development Plan (IDP) conversation.     

Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Why We Needed a Social LMS: The AMD Story

Is your organization struggling with how to leverage social learning within your overall learning strategy? Do you see the value of social learning, but aren’t quite sure how to implement it within your organization? The reality is, every organization uses social learning, which is the informal transfer of information from one learner to another. The challenge all organizations are facing is to harness the power of social learning and formalize it so that its power can be used throughout the organization. Learn about exciting findings on Relationship Centered Learning, how it’s changing the face of learning for organizations, what social learning is and the components that make up a social LMS, and AMD’s Dave Stachura, Manager of Global Sales Enablement, who will present AMD’s story of implementing social learning, through a social LMS, throughout their organization.

Thursday, September 20, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Top 10 Practices for a Successful LMS Replacement

Based on Brandon Hall’s most recent LMS Trends survey, one out of every three organizations is looking at replacing their Learning Management System. When the time comes and replacement is inevitable, the first step shouldn’t be product demonstrations – but rather the development of a replacement strategy. A little up front work goes a long way towards a successful LMS replacement and implementation outcome. Partnering effectively with your current LMS provider is critical to ensure a smooth transition. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group, and Jason Marceau, VP of Operations from Meridian as they outline key elements of an effective replacement strategy, and key practices for successful replacement implementations.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: For Optimal Learning, Mix It Up

There’s a lot of buzz about using social and collaboration tools to dramatically boost learning results. What does such an approach mean for your investment in LMS? In this webcast, explore the optimal mix of learning approaches and where, when, and why it makes sense to incorporate social learning with formal, LMS-based learning.

Thursday, September 27, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Thiagi and Tracy’s Favorite Jolts for Webinars

Jolts are quick and powerful learning activities designed to jump-start your sessions in less than 5 minutes and provide an emotional impact resulting in surprise and discovery. Your participants will sit-up, listen, learn, and gain instant insights into your training topics. In this session, Thiagi and Tracy will share their favorite jolts and debriefing activities that are especially designed and adapted for the use in webinars including selecting and adapting jolts for webinars to effectively achieve your performance objectives and learning how to leverage your participant's introspection and interaction with follow-up debriefing activities.                                                                        

Free Summertime Webinars

Although the calendar proclaimed it officially summer last month, sunny summer days have been very slow to arrive in Vancouver. But with summer vacations just around the corner for clients, project work can slow down a bit so it’s a great opportunity to catch up on new industry trends, research and ideas. Check out the free webinars being offered this summer. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: ROI Basics: Calculating the ROI

Join Patti Phillips, President & CEO, ROI Institute for her fourth and final webinar in the ROI series. To calculate the ROI you must convert impact measures to money, compare it to the program costs, and identify intangible benefits. During this webcast, you will learn a variety of methods to convert measures to money, five steps to convert a measure to money and cost categories that make up the fully-loaded program costs.  Click on the link to also access the recordings of her three previous ROI webinars if you happened to miss them.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Mobile Learning: Delivering Learning in a Connected World

This webinar is based on ASTD and i4cp's recently published report, Mobile Learning: Delivering Learning in a Connected World. This report looks at the current landscape of mobile learning in a world in which the ubiquity of mobile devices seems to have created a perfect environment for delivering learning solutions to our workforce, where or when they need it. Upside Learning’s Kevin Oakes, i4cp's CEO, will discuss how mobile technology is changing the world and our experience of it. From an organizational perspective, mobile learning allows for a spectrum of possibilities that were not present before, and they continue to evolve before us. The findings of this Study indicate that companies with learning functions that help meet both learning and business goals tend to be higher market performers.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Create Interactive Scenarios in Articulate Storyline

Join Tom Kuhlmann, VP of Community at Articulate and author of the widely popular “Rapid e-Learning Blog” as he shares his simple 3C model where you challenge the learner to make a decision, offer some choices, and produce consequences that provides relevant feedback or additional challenges. Then he’ll show you how to quickly create them using Articulate Storyline. You’ll learn to:

• Use the 3C model to build decision-making scenarios
• Build interactive models using states, layers, and triggers in Storyline
• Craft interactive branched scenarios, and
• Discover how to create, share, and re-use what you build.  

Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Design is Everything: 5 Techniques for Designing an Interactive Virtual Class (ASTD members only)

If you want to create a powerful learning experience for your online learners, your virtual training must be engaging – which means your virtual classroom design must be exceptional. In this first webinar in the 2-part Virtual Classroom Design series, learn 5 techniques you can apply immediately to take your interactive virtual training to the next level. 

Thursday, July 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: “What if I die today?” – Story Impacts eLearning Exercise: Building Stories using StoryLine

Using the book, “Story Impacts Learning and Performance” as a point of reference, Ray Jimenez will share how he uses engaging stories and Articulate StoryLine to author “What if I die today?” – Story Impacts eLearning Exercise. Ray will provide in advance, the source code to the self-reflection exercise, authored in StoryLine. You can investigate the authoring design prior to learning more about the approach during the actual webinar. You will learn how to:

• Build basic game-like story elements using animation, objects, scenes and slides, timelines, layers and triggers
• Use variables for multiple decision points
• Provide game-like feedback for progress tracking

Thursday, July 12, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Taking Learning Mobile: The Power of Learning Everywhere (ASTD members only)

Once a learning organization has committed to “go mobile,” it may seem as though the hardest decision has been made. Soon after this path is chosen, though, reality sets in. There are many things to consider as you work to build your initial efforts for the varieties of mobile devices. This webinar will focus on how to get started with mobile learning, including deciding on an initial project and changing your design approach. Join Chad Udell, a seasoned expert on mobile learning and author of the new ASTD book, Learning Everywhere, as he demystifies the choices involved in developing mobile learning content, and provides real-world experience on how to get down to business creating mobile learning.

Thursday, July 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Empowering Employees: Sustainable Career Management Models

In the next five years, businesses will experience major demographic changes as far as their workforces are concerned. Just to name a few: Workforces will continue to become more diverse; millennials are projected to represent more than 50 percent of the overall labor force; and the capabilities required to lead in tomorrow’s economy will be different than the capabilities required today. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research, David Wentworth, Sr. Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group, Jeff Gill, Director, Talent Management and Acquisition and Amy Jo Womack, HR Systems Manager for Valerus as they share the latest research in creating Career Enhancing programs that work for mid-market organizations.

Thursday, July 12, 2012, 8AM – 9PM PST: Building the Business Case for Learning Measurement

Often the only barrier that separates an organization from getting the software it needs is a compelling argument. During this webinar, KnowledgeAdvisors will help you structure your information so you can make the following compelling argument to your leaders, “We need an evaluation measurement system. Here’s why, and here are the benefits.” While this argument will use MTM as an example, you can use the fundamental structure to argue for any software.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Informal Learning Basics: What ARE the Basics?

Informal learning might represent as much as 70 percent of workplace learning and be one of the most talked-about topics in training today. But what is it really? What forms can it take? When can it make a difference in workplace performance and when might it actually detract from it? What role, if any, do Training and Development professionals play in informal learning? Join Saul Carliner, author of the new ASTD best-seller, Informal Learning Basics, as he introduces the basics of informal learning.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: A Unified Approach to Learning Management

As always, the way your learner’s access information (technology – web/mobile) and the number of channels available and utilized to learn (classroom/self-paced/social/informal) continue to increase, these pose challenges regarding how to effectively and efficiently manage learning for your organization. The need of the hour is a unified approach to this problem. Current organizational challenges in managing learning demand a system that understands that different technology options) and different channels of learning are a part of the whole learning experience. Join David Wentworth, Senior Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, and Jason Clymer, VP - Client Acquisition and Partner Development at Upside Learning as they shed more light on the idea of unified solution approaches as they discuss the need and advantages of an untied learning ecosystem.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Facilitating in the Live Online Classroom: 5 Techniques to Master Delivery (ASTD members only)

What do the best virtual trainers do? They engage learners by presenting, facilitating and teaching in ways that bring the online classroom together. Join this final session in the Virtual Classroom Design series, to discover the 5 techniques master trainers and presenters use to deliver their virtual lessons with real energy. Learn how to:

• Effectively engage out-of-sight participants
• Maintain high enthusiasm during delivery
• Harness your voice for the microphone
• Prepare for unforeseen technical issues

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Developing a Client Centric Culture – A SunTrust Case Study

Differentiating your organization in today’s market can help increase revenue and develop stronger client relationships. SunTrust was able to evolve and deploy a client centric culture that enabled their organization to display growth, improve client relationships, and enhance the talent and development of their sales managers and leaders. SunTrust’s strategic approach to a sales talent and training development program allowed their sales managers to link sales, service and client loyalty while remaining committed to putting clients first. As part of Brandon Hall Group’s Excellence Award Winners Webinar Series, join Mary Slaughter, SVP, Talent Management & Development from SunTrust Banks, Inc.; David DiStefano, Chief Executive Officer, Richardson; and Rachel Ashkin, Chief Operating Officer, Brandon Hall Group, as they share how SunTrust effectively developed and implemented a new sales and sales management curriculum designed to address the current business climate and desired sales leadership competencies.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: I Want to Work THERE! 3 Keys to Creating an Engagement Culture

An organization’s culture has a tremendous influence on employee engagement. A culture that features opportunity, personal accountability, inclusion, community, and validation will lead to engaged employees. But how do you create that culture and how do you maintain engagement throughout an employee’s time at your company? Join Cornerstone OnDemand’s, Bob Kelleher, CEO of The Employee Engagement Group and Kevin Sensenig, Global Vice President, Learning and Organizational Development, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. and discover best practices from two employee engagement experts. Explore how to create an employee engagement culture through three steps:
1. Hire the right people
2. Foster engagement through onboarding
3. Maintain engagement for the long term 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: What Research Tells Us about Games, Gamification and Learning (ASTD members only)

This decidedly unacademic presentation provides a broad scientific overview of what research has taught us about the effectiveness of games and game-elements in changing learner behaviors. We will consider how playing a video game changes a person’s behavior, how avatars can shape in-game and out-of-game behavior, and how storytelling helps learners memorize facts. We’ll answer questions like: What makes a game…a game? How do points and rewards fit into games? Why are challenges, feedback, and interactivity the keys to successful games? Do serious games have to be entertaining to be educational?

Learn how to use the existing research literature in your own design and delivery of learning. This webinar also includes several practical case studies outlining how the research tips, techniques, and practices can be applied in a real-life online learning situation.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Moving Knowledge for Rapid Business Impact

Learning at work is changing – and not just in how it is delivered. The drivers behind “why” learning is even relevant are shifting as well. Executives and managers recognise the value and power of distributing information quickly, to support anything from security compliance to product launches to corporate values. This top-level recognition marks a move from ‘HR-driven’ to ‘business-led’ learning, something with profound implications for learning and development professionals. What systems do we need to meet these new business needs? What influence do millennials and other learners have? And what impact will this have on the L&D function as a whole?  Join Stacey Harris, VP, Research & Advisory Services, Brandon Hall Group and Donald Taylor, Chairman, Learning and Performance Institute as they draw on a range of practical examples to explore the trends changing the face of workplace learning today.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Critical Competencies for 21^st Century Leaders

Successful leadership involves managing one’s self and relationships with others to move toward a specific business goal. The role of a leader is to grow others - helping people grow their skills, knowledge, and confidence to develop leadership themselves in a real, practical context. The real world has other plans, however. Business goals are fluid, people are stressed, and one-way technological messages continue to invade every moment of our lives. One thing remains the same – leadership is all about people. In this session, learn how you can clear a little chaos and build a high performing team and how to take the time to consider a new approach to leadership while faced with predictable, constant chaos.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 9AM – 10AM PST: Hit the Ground Running: Establishing a Model Executive Onboarding Program

This webinar paints a compelling picture of the importance of executive onboarding in an organization. You will be introduced to OPM's government wide executive onboarding framework and the steps that are critical to developing and implementing a successful formal executive onboarding program from pre-boarding through the first year. OPM will also present a unique product to the Federal sector, the New Leaders Onboarding Assessment --- an assessment designed help government manager and executives more quickly assimilate into new organizations. The New Leaders Onboarding Assessment was developed and offered to agencies through OPM's Human Resources Solutions division.

Thursday, July 26, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Real World Training Design

Despite the assumptions of most instructional design methodologies, your training events don’t happen in a neat little "bubble." And neither does your design process. What are some of the most common pitfalls and contraints? How do you navigate them for the results your organization replies on? In this webcast, author, speaker, and real-world designer Jenn Labin presents some of the most common challenges training designers face, plus solutions to keep your project moving forward.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Effective Manager Training and Education – Building a Foundation for Organizational Success

Over half of all newly promoted managers fail in their roles within two years. We often assume our top performers are instantly ready for the more complex demands of management and supervision. Success for both new managers and their teams depends on support, development, and a solid approach to setting clear management expectations. Join Stacey Harris VP of Research and Advisory Services at Brandon Hall Group, and Chris Osborn of BizLibrary as they talk about the evolving set of demands and competencies all of our managers need, and they will share research and key practices for preparing both current and future managers for success.  

Wednesday, August 1, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Story-Based eLearning: Antidote to Boring Programs

According to Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook CEO), “Our lives are made up of stories – that is why we provide ‘TIMELINE’ in Facebook because we help you tell your life-stories”. From Confucius to Zuckerburg, people learn from each other by sharing experiences and stories. Nowadays, this fact becomes increasingly significant with the advent and continuous development of mobile learning, on-the-job learning support and communities of learners. The challenge has been how to design learning points that are story-driven to help learners learn instantly. In this session, learn how to use the power of story dynamics, both telling and listening, as antidotes to boring eLearning programs. A free pre-webinar study kit that includes white papers, demos and examples is available for this session.

Thursday, August 2, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Gamify Your Training: Use Gamification to Increase Employee Engagement and Improve Feedback

Half of all office workers use Facebook at work. Why? Because it's far more satisfying and rewarding than the vast majority of the tasks we're given during the workday. Facebook has a highly engaged audience for the same reasons we enjoy watching football, playing video games or gambling at a casino. The process is called Gamification and you may already be using several game mechanics now. Gamification is the application of game mechanics and game-thinking in non-game environments to increase fun and engagement. This webinar will explore how specific mechanics influence behavior and how you can add them to your own training programs.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 12:30PM – 1:30PM PST: Interactivity, Games and Gamification: Creating Engaged Learners

Based on the bestselling learning book, “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction” this session introduces, defines, and describes the concepts of gamification, games for learning and interactivity. It then dissects the elements of games and describes how they can be applied to the design and development of interactive learning.  The presentation is based on solid research including peer-reviewed results from dozens of studies that offer insights into why game-based thinking and mechanics makes for vigorous learning tools. Moving beyond the theoretical considerations, the presentation explores three methods for designing interactive learning based on concepts from games.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Informal Learning and Social Media: Upskilling for 21^st Century Training

New tools for and ideas about learning are bringing in a new age for training and development practitioners. We now have real means of extending our reach, learners who can identify and satisfy their own learning needs, and opportunities to support workplace learning and performance like we’ve never had before. This session provides an overview of some 21st century skills we’ll need to develop to stay current and viable in a rapidly changing, but more learning-focused, time. 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 9AM – 10AM PST: Demonstrating Executive Reporting Solutions for L&D

This webinar will provide both strategic and tactical information about reporting L&D results to business executives. Examples of reports, scorecards and dashboards will be demonstrated. As well, you will review three classifications of expertise that exists to support an organizations’ desire to advance its own executive reporting. A review of these consultative solutions will provide insight into the depth and breadth of resources that exist to fully support a practitioners desire to improve upon the metrics provided to the business.

Free Webinars for June

June (and the good weather) is finally here along with a variety of interesting and insightful free T&D webinars.  We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: 10 Best Practices for Engaging Online Learning

Join Sheri Jeavons, Founder of Power Presentations, Inc. and discover: 

• How to convert in-person training into live virtual sessions
• Delivery techniques to keep your learners engaged
• Why and when you should use a producer
• Best practices for training online with GoToTraining tools.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: ASTD 2011 State of the Industry Report

Training is still “on trial”, charged with incurring expenses in excess of the value it provides to the organization. Training must reinvent itself and transcend the classroom. Attend this information-packed hour to learn how to structure initiatives so they enhance on-the-job performance and impact the bottom line. Join David Wentworth, Sr. Learning Analyst from Brandon Hall Group and James Kirkpatrick, President of Kirkpatrick Partners with a brief appearance by Donald Kirkpatrick himself, to learn directly from the source about the newest way to implement the four levels of learning evaluation. This program will focus on tactics at Levels 3 and 4 and provide ideas that any professional can implement in their own organization.

Brandon Hall group will also share award-winning case studies of organizations that have effectively utilized the Kirkpatrick evaluation methods to enhance learning efforts and identify positive performance improvement outcomes.  

Thursday, June 7, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Talent Management for Everyone – Improve Enterprise Performance

Why do most organizations focus so much energy on high and low performers?  The majority of the workforce falls into that middle category that often gets ignored when it comes to focused performance improvement efforts. The truth is, there is a tremendous benefit to creating customized performance improvement environments that target all levels of your organization. These organizations remove the barriers, break down the walls, and create a culture of “everyone”. Join Stacey Harris VP or research for Brandon Hall Group and Jay Shaw, CEO, NetDimensions as they examine the link between developing the middle and improving enterprise performance as well as:

• Assessing the value of the middle
• Key practices in achieving performance Improvement
• Practical connection points between development and performance
• Integration pitfalls to avoid
• Examples and Case Studies

Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Isolating the Effects of Your Programs

Organizations invest in a variety of programs, projects, and initiatives to drive business performance through people. But when business measures improve, how do you know it was your particular program or project that caused the improvement? Join Dr. Patti Phillips’, President and CEO of the ROI Institute to learn:

• The importance of isolating the effects of your programs
• Three techniques you can use to isolate the effects of your program
• Considerations when determining the credibility of data

This is the third of a four part series. Part four is offered July 10, 2012.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Learning without Walls – Supporting the Extended Enterprise

Very few organizations operate in isolation. The vast majority need to engage and work closely with their entire value chain – their network of customers, suppliers, partners and distributors. Ideally they should also be sharing experiences, expertise and learning resources across their extended enterprise if they are to maximize value and “work smarter.”  Yet when many organizations select and implement learning technologies, their HR and Learning leaders look only within the organizational walls. Implementation only meets internal needs, and integration ignores external systems, processes and, more importantly, opportunities. Clearly the ‘walled’ approach is not adequate if learning is to become a shared asset and drive maximum value. New thinking is required, supported by flexible and effective learning infrastructures.

Join Brandon Hall Group Senior Analyst David Wentworth and Charles Jennings of Duntroon Associates as they examine the link between learning and performance and look at ways to customize learning approaches.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Lean Learning – Reduce Training Costs Without Sacrificing Quality

There are a lot of ways to add value to learning without increasing costs, but first we need to look at the true cost of training and comprehend the real value they deliver for organizational performance. This workshop looks at ways to reduce content documentation time and increase the value of training deliverables using the Learning Paths Methodology, which is rapidly becoming the global standard for lean training. You’ll explore how a Learning Path designed for an entire job can be integrated with courses and e-learning to reduce overall training costs and make the learning process as lean as possible. You’ll also learn the sizeable advantages of measuring organizational results instead of training results and contrast the benefits of proficiency-based training over competency-based training.

Thursday, June 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Extending Reach and Generating Revenue – Panel Discussion around Delivering Learning to Partners, Resellers, Customers and Beyond

While most midsized companies recognize the importance of training their internal employees, some find it difficult to extend the same training to their ecosystem of customers, partners, suppliers, resellers and distributors.  As a result, organizations are increasingly exploring how to use their learning management system (LMS) to deliver training, certification, knowledge assets, and information to their external audiences of customers, partners, suppliers, resellers and distributors.  

Join David Wentworth, Senior Analyst, Brandon Hall Group, as he leads a panel discussion around different extended enterprise use cases.  Representatives from Eloqua, Aprimo Inc., and Pelco by Schneider Electric will share their experiences around:

• Developing and delivering knowledge and information to audiences outside the organization
• Driving revenue through customer, channel and distributor channels
• Improving productivity and information sharing with external partners
• Delivering certification programs and share knowledge
• Increasing customer satisfaction and product adoption
• Providing consistent access to training, information and knowledge assets, 24/7/365

Monday, June 18, 2012, 11AM- 12PM PST: Lost Secrets of Effective Leadership Training

With the billions spent on leadership development, why are leaders still lacking the skills they need to actually lead? One reason is that organizations have gone too far in addressing competencies and have forgotten that leaders need a foundation of basic skills to build competencies. In this webcast, the presenters will apply their decades of experience in leadership development to examine how to refocus on Interaction Essentials—the “secret sauce”—that is the key to better leaders. In fact, because Interaction Essentials are part of all leader competencies, initial training on the Essentials means that training initiatives focusing on competencies will have a greater payoff.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to Chunk and Boil Down Long, Very Long PowerPoint eLearning Programs

Ask SMEs, your boss or clients about what could be the most important part of the content. And the answer? Usually “EVERYTHING.” We all want to believe this. Yet in real-life, there is hardly enough time to cover all of the content. Consequently, we extend training time beyond what is necessary. Learn:

• How to help SMEs break content down into “must learn now” and “learn later”
• About the benefits of chunked and boiled-down content in rapid development, deployment of programs, frequency and positive overall results, sales and support, coaching and on-the-job learning
• How to cut down PowerPoint from 100 pages to 10 pages
• How to cut costs of development down to 30%
• How to increase speed of development to 300%
• The five-step process of chunking and boiling down long content into small, reusable, learning objects

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Add Powerful Storytelling Techniques to Your Training

Expert facilitator and "story catcher" David Lee (www.HumanNatureAtWork.com), author of the May 2012 Infoline "Powerful Storytelling Techniques" shows attendees how to:

• Introduce new-hires to organizational culture
• Alter perspectives without alienating the audience
• Gain learners’ trust in you and your message
• Deliver difficult feedback or sensitive messages
• Inspire learner confidence around challenging subject matter

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Identifying and Jumpstarting New Leaders – the Coldwell Banker Blueprint for Success

Coldwell Banker recognizes the importance of succession planning and developing new leaders.  To accomplish this, they have developed an intensive one day skill and behavior assessment program to identify and qualify new Sales Managers.  To expedite manger readiness, Coldwell Banker is also developing a precision based personalized training program based on an extensive competency model.  Join Dave Rood, Senior Director, Professional Development at Coldwell Banker University to learn about the unique features of these programs, including the use of online competency maps, automated training plans and social learning. 

Thursday, June 21, 2012, 12:30 – 1:30PM PST: Results First: Integrating Formal and Informal Learning to Accredit Proven Skills

There's formal learning and there's informal learning, and never the two shall meet. Unless, that is, you really care about results and transfer back to the job. This case-study will show how formal learning, on-the-job transfer, and cutting-edge social technologies are being integrated into an employee accreditation program and a sales readiness initiative. An integrated approach to blending the formal with the informal also provided an opportunity to use workforce analytics to measure impact.

Aids and tools will include: 

• How to focus on results to get the investment you need
• A matrix for developing an integrated solution
• How to respond when your customer asks for something you disagree with
• How to use your LMS to track employee accreditation and results

Thursday, June 28, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: “Zombies in my workspace” – Building Scenarios using Articulate Storyline

Using the book, “Scenario-based Learning” as a point of reference, Ray Jimenez, Chief Learning Architect of Vignettes for Training, will walk you through how to combine engaging and instructionally sound scenarios with the features of Articulate StoryLine. The source code to a basic scenario “Zombies in my workspace”, authored in StoryLine will be provided to you in advance. This will allow you time to investigate the authoring design prior to learning more about the approach during the actual webinar.

Ray will explain how to:

• Build basic scenarios and decision tree with scenes and slides, timelines, layers and triggers
• Use variables for reported visited scenes and decisions
• Provide game-like feedback for progress tracking
• Download and obtain the free source code for the Articulate StoryLine scenario “Zombies in my workspace”(Ray Jimenez, 2012) – ideal reference for your development.

Free webinars for May

The sunshine and fresh spring air is finally here! So “freshen up” your learning by taking advantage of some (or all) of the free webinars being offered this month. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The ROI LIE: The Facts Behind Why Training ROI  is Undermining Credibility

Training is a business function, so why doesn’t management treat Training as a business function? Training's credibility within an organization can be fragile, and management often questions attempts to prove Training’s worth and validity. In recent years, concepts such as Training Return on Investment (ROI) have been touted as the solution to Training’s credibility gap, but has a focus on Training ROI helped or hurt Training’s position? Learn how to identify why the subject Training function is unable to gain management support. You’ll then help develop credible solutions to build support for the subject Training function and demonstrate sustainable business results, all while learning how to demonstrate training results in business terms for your own Training function.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Basics of ROI Workshop

Never before has ROI been of such importance. The ROI Institute’s ROI Methodology is the most documented approach to measuring and evaluating learning and development programs. Join Patti Phillips, President and CEO of the ROI Institute as she presents the key elements in the ROI process including: five levels of evaluation that have served as the foundation for the ROI methodology since the 1970s, six types of results generated by the chain of impact, ten steps in the ROI Methodology process model and twelve guiding principles that support the ROI Methodology.

This is the first of a four part series. Part two is offered May 29, 2012.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Create a Powerful Connection with Your Audience

Teachable moments begin with transforming an audience, but an audience will only change if you resonate with them. Attend this webinar to hear presentation innovator Nancy Duarte demonstrate a new way to create a powerful connection with your audience. Nancy will show how to communicate with carefully crafted messages and how to train learners so they are transformed and help their organization succeed.

Thursday, May 10, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Making Learning Easy: The Impact of a Unified Learning Environment

Is learning in your organization more difficult than it needs to be? Research shows that feedback, career development, and training opportunities rank as top factors for increasing employee engagement; yet most employees say they simply don't get enough development opportunities. For some organizations the culprits are real funding and resourcing issues, but Brandon Hall Groups research has found that for many organizations it is actually complex systems and poor processes that can lead to difficult learning situations. Join Dave Wentworth, Senior Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group, and Saba's Naren Patil, senior director of product marketing, as they explore both process and technology improvements that can have a real impact on making learning easier and more accessible.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Eliminating the “Terrible Too’s” of Workplace Training

In 1992 Brandon Hall Group launched their first report on technology enabled learning and the changing direction of the learning industry, at that point the internet was in its infancy and true web based multi-media learning was impossible. Over the last two decades, business and learning leaders alike have continued to strive for relevant learning that was accessible where and when the learning communities needed performance improvement efforts. Today, both the internet and the learning industry have matured, and the possibilities are endless, so why are so many organizations still using old approaches and old ideas to try and meet the learning needs of a new workforce? Join Mike Cooke, CEO of Brandon Hall Group, and Dan Cooper, CEO of eJ4 as they share their unique business perspectives and industry research on learning efforts that exceed leadership expectations.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Impact of Business-Led Learning (Case Study – Techtronic Industries)

Techtronic Industries is a $3.7 billion global company. No organization grows to that size - and continues to grow - without a keen sense of what is contributing to its success. Proving the impact of business-led learning is Matt De Feo, Senior Vice-President for Sales, Training and Recruiting at Techtronic Industries. Since he joined the company in 2006, Matt DeFeo has made sure that rigor also applies to the learning and development function. In this presentation, sponsored by Certpoint Systems, Matt and Rachel Ashkin, COO of Brandon Hall Group will discuss the impact of business-led learning. Matt will also share several instances of proving the value of learning, and some hard-won lessons along the way.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Virtual Training:  Building a Global Training Strategy

As enterprise organizations expand to support a globally dispersed employee base, providing regular training and updates becomes a significant challenge. Live physical training sessions and events, simply don’t scale globally and cannot be implemented quick enough to keep up with the constant requirement for new information. By building a virtual training strategy, enterprise companies can effectively deliver real-time training that can be accessed by any employee or partner, from anywhere. In this webinar, learn how webcasting and virtual environment solutions enable you to create virtual learning centers that can be customized to expand your training to multiple theaters and various languages. From delivering individual training broadcasts, to building virtual corporate universities, this presentation will highlight how to increase the reach and effectiveness of your training programs, including:

Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: How to make Technical & Compliance Training and eLearning Fun and Engaging

“Boring”. “Tedious”. “Painful”. “Do I have to?” These are the moans and complaints of learners as receivers of the data-dump type of very technical and compliance forms of eLearning. Technical and compliance elearning can be fun and definitely help people learn when we shift the design by focusing less on just the technical view and instead, considering the learner’s perspective. Ray Jimenez, Chief Learning Architect of Vignettes for Training will present ideas on how to make this shift possible.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Effective Workforce Planning and Development Starts with a Talent Audit

Have you conducted a Talent Audit lately? Organizations regularly conduct financial audits, risk audits, and technical audits – but a Talent audit is often overlooked. Over 66% of CEO’s, in a recent PWC Global CEO survey, said that the lack of the right skills is their biggest talent challenge. The term talent is subjective, but it assumes that someone has the right competencies, background, personality traits, and motivations to exceed expectations. An effective talent audit will help you identify your talent needs and assess your organization against those needs – and most importantly provide concrete details on how to best fill the gaps. Join Stacey Harris VP of Research, Brandon Hall Group as she details key practices in conducting a Talent Audit that helps identify skills gaps, development needs, and talent opportunities.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: 10 Steps to Employee Engagement

More than 70 percent of employees are either disengaged or neither engaged nor disengaged, according to a recent Avatar HR Solutions survey. Lack of engagement quickly leads to lackluster results, productivity losses, and low organizational morale. But in today’s world where everyone is expected to do more with less, how can organizations not only boost engagement but empower their employees?  Discover best practices from two employee engagement experts to learn how to foster employee engagement and empowerment.

Thursday, May 24, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Five Keys to Realize ROI from Social and Mobile Learning

The average sales rep loses more than 80 percent of the knowledge learned within 90 days after a formal training program. How can you help ensure the effectiveness of your sales force when they lose their knowledge so fast and don’t have time for a refresher course? You can become a strategic partner to your business by enabling sustained know-how and sales excellence through continuous social learning and by rapidly sharing know-how — anytime and anywhere. Join this session to learn how to enable sustained sales excellence with social and mobile learning and enable top-line growth.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Collecting Data (ROI)

A variety of data collection techniques exist to help you capture the information need to measure the success of your training programs. Join Patti Phillips, President and CEO of the ROI Institute as she presents the types of data collection methods available for each level of evaluation, options for timing of data collection at each level and sources that provide you the most credible information.

This is the second of a four part series. Part three is offered June 12, 2012.

Thursday, May 31, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Interactive E-Learning Made Easy with Articulate Storyline

You want to build more than click-and-read elearning, but you don’t have the programming skills to do it. That’s where Articulate Storyline comes in. It helps you build highly interactive elearning with no programming required. Join TomKuhlmann, VP of Community at Articulate as he discusses key elements of interactivity and shows you how to build them with Storyline.

Free April Webinars

Spring has arrived with lots of rain, a touch of snow and a little sun.  Take advantage of a rainy (or snowy) days and sign up for one of the free webinars being offered this month. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 6AM – 7AM PST: The Neuroscience of Leadership: Understanding the Brain to Create Better Leaders

In a constantly changing world, the organizations that succeed will be ones that are the most adaptive. Brain research shows why change is hard, and how organizations can get better at change. This research can improve how you make decisions and solve problems, manage emotions, collaborate, and create change. By understanding the underpinning biology of leadership, leaders can create better organizations, and organizations can produce better leaders.

Thursday, April 5, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Getting to Kirkpatrick Levels 2 and 4: Delivering Believable Value

Attend this information-packed hour to learn how to structure initiatives so they enhance on-the-job performance and impact the bottom line. Learn directly from the creators of the Kirkpatrick Model the newest way to implement the four levels. This program will focus on tactics at Levels 3 and 4 and provide ideas that any professional can implement in their own organization. Attend this session to learn:

• Why starting with desired results in mind is critical for any initiative to be successful
• Specific tactics for influencing on-the-job behavior
• How to create a plan to implement a program that enhances on-the-job behaviour and bottom-line results.  

Thursday, April 5, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Thinking of Replacing Your LMS?

Join Scot Lake, Senior Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group, and Saba's Naren Patil, senior director of product marketing , as they share insights that can help reduce your fear of change and increase your odds of success. They'll discuss best practices from hundreds of successful transitions for creating a strategy for the upgrade, as well as tools and tricks for preparing your organization for a limited-impact change. Key takeaways include:

• Insights on business strategies for change
• Best practices for selecting solutions for the future, not just today
• A technology migration framework, highlighting both the risks and rewards in the migration process
• Tips for preparing your organization and data for a straightforward change
• Insights into managing expectations and change-management goals
• Award-winning case studies and practical steps to help you make a successful transition

Thursday, April 5, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Developing Results, Aligning Learning`s Goals and Outcomes with Business Performance Measures

This webinar is based of i4cp in partnership with ASTD Research’s latest report, Developing Results: Aligning Learning’s Goals and Outcomes With Business Performance Measures. It is intended to examine the ways in which high-performing organizations approach the evaluation of learning and tie that measurement to overall business performance measures. The Study found that a strong correlation exists between goal alignment and market performance, as well as a strong correlation between alignment and a learning function that is effective at meeting its own goals and the organization’s goals. Some of the issues and topics addressed in this webinar includes: the development of the learning strategy, the measurement of learning’s impact on results, challenges to maintaining and measuring alignment.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Making E-Learning Stick

The e-learning module or virtual class is animated and interactive, but are participants using it?  Join Barbara Carnes, CEO of Carnes and Associates to learn the latest research on e-learning and live virtual design practices – what works and what doesn’t work to make the e-learning stick. You will learn research-tested techniques you can begin using immediately, with any training topic, to increase transfer to the job.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Props, Magic & Object Lessons – 11 Ways to Involve Participants & Anchor Learning

Magic, props, and object lessons can energize and anchor learning -when they make a point. The story is the key! Attend this session and walk away with at least four magic tricks, props, or object lessons that you will immediately be able to use in your own training. Everyday objects like envelopes, rubber bands, and pennies create memorable learning points that are fun for both participants and the trainer. You'll see each example demonstrated in a compelling way. The speaker will then pull back the curtain and take you behind the scenes to learn how to do it yourself. Come to learn, be amazed, energized, and inspired. Leave prepared to do the same thing for your classes. You will get secret links to videos that demonstrate the various examples.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Engaging the Front Line Workforce: Training and Development that Generates Respect

Front line employees are the nameless heroes in today’s workforce. These employees interact with our clients, build our products, and offer our services day in and day out. Yet, this audience often receives less training and limited development opportunities. Working conditions can make training difficult, and operational demands require that training time has immediate bottom line impact. Research shows that small changes on an organization’s front line can have a major impact on business – so the real question is how you leverage training to engage performance and improve business outcomes on the front lines. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group and Joel Copeland, COO for KMI as they share recent research on training and development that engages the front line workforce, and creates an atmosphere of genuine respect.

Thursday, April 12, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Human Capacity Building in Emerging Economies

Governmental and non-governmental agencies are highly involved in projects to improve human capacities in developing countries. In addition to emerging economies, they are also targeting critical priority countries (CPCs), as per the U.S. government (Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Sudans), in an effort to transition to more secure and stable environments and to strengthen and sustain economies. Many of these agencies, have well-defined approaches to human and institutional capacity development (HICD) from long term experiences overseas. However, these approaches may be limited in practical ways to address elusive cultural aspects of human resource development, which are key determinants of successful project work. In this session, the speakers – a training director from an established international development consulting firm and a globally recognized consultant on culturally appropriate interventions – lead you through the process of identifying likely cultural constraints to improving capacities and devising appropriate ways to address them.

Monday, April 16, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Yin and the Yang of Formal and Informal Learning

How would informal learning change the way you do things? Is it right for your situation? What about formal learning? Why so little support and so much action? Informal learning has obvious value for individuals. But, how could informal learning benefit the enterprise charged with developing customer service reps, nurses and truck drivers? Join Allison Rossett as she looks at formal and informal learning for the enterprise, where promises are made beyond individual inclinations. She will use real cases and an online tool to look at what these forms mean, how habits affect us, and whether the approaches are fertile for something you and your organization want to do.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Sustainable Career Management Models for Medium Sized Businesses

In the next five years, businesses will experience major demographic changes as far as their workforces are concerned. Just to name a few: workforces will continue to become more diverse; millennials are projected to represent more than 50 percent of the overall labor force; and the capabilities required to lead in tomorrow’s economy will be different than the capabilities required today. So, in light of these anticipated developments, how does a company successfully engage and prepare such a diverse workforce? Many organizations are turning to career management programs to resolve these challenges.  For mid-market organizations, is this the right answer? For this segment, the answer may be career enhancement over career management. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research and David Wentworth, Sr. Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group as they share the latest research in creating career enhancing programs that work for mid-market organizations.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Whack on the Head Part 2…Now What??? Redesigning Learning Design

This is a follow-up to lively discussion and debate in the March 6 webinar, 'A Whack on the Head: Redesigning Learning Design'. In ' Part 1' (recording available) Lance Dublin, Chief Solutions Architect of Dublin Consulting laid the foundation for redesigning learning design.  Part 1 looked at the challenges facing organizations today, the "alphabet soup" of proven learning and business methodologies at our disposal, and the expanding tool kit of learning and performance support technologies and approaches. The session then outlined eight principles that could form the foundation for a new approach.  In 'Part 2' you will do a quick review and then dive into an in-depth exploration, discussion and debate of these eight principles. Come and join in the discussion and debate.  Prepare to challenge and be challenged.  And, together let's define and operationalize the next generation of learning design!

Thursday, April 19, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Virtual Training Implementations: Preparing for Success

When rolling out virtual training to your workforce, how can you ensure it goes smoothly? What steps do you follow to get facilitators ready and participants on board? Whether you have a blended program for a large global audience or a single synchronous session, proper preparation ensures success.
Join Cindy Huggett, author and CPLP, as she shares proven practical tips for implementing virtual training in your organization.

Thursday, April 24, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Whole-Brain Instructional Design – Rapid, Inexpensive, Durable. Helping Learners Learn Facts, Discoveries, Methods and Values

Cognitive sciences have proven that people learn and perform best when they fully utilize their brains. The challenge for instructional designers is how to make this idea simple  and easy enough to apply in the practical day to day world of rushing through learning and eLearning projects, in a rapid way and of course effective manner. Join Ray Jimenez as he covers:

• The difference between traditional instructional design and whole-brain design
• The new learner is fully engaged, whole-brain speaking, without knowing it or without even trying hard
• The key questions when asked of the learners, increase engagement and learning
• Step-by-step process of designing lessons using whole-brain based applications
• Making very complex topics easy to learn using the whole-brain methods
• Applying the whole-brain design when  creating learning objectives, presentation, exercises and tests and tracking of applications
•  Developing eLearning that is rapid, inexpensive and durable through whole-brain methods
• Demos and examples of a whole-brain eLearning design
• Feature: Thiagi’s 4-Door Learning and Tayko’s WBLDI Online System
• To be received in advance: PRE-WEBINAR STUDY KIT, white papers, demos and examples 

Thursday, April 26, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Create Interactive Software Simulations with Articulate Storyline

Need to train people on using software applications? But you’re not sure if you want a video or interactive tutorial. Have no fear because Articulate Storyline makes the process super simple by offering the best of both worlds in software simulations. You have the choice of inserting demo videos or interactive step-by-step tutorials that simulate the software’s functionality. And you only need to record the screen once. Then you can choose what type of tutorial you need. And you can change it at any time. Join Tom Kuhlmann, VP of Community at Articulate as he discusses screencasting simulations for software training; and then shows how to quickly create and edit them in Storyline.

Thursday, April 26, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Expanding Learning Development Capabilities: Global Outsourcing Done Strategically

Learning budgets are on the rise, but today’s buyers are savvy and have high expectations. Today’s content buying community is looking for quality content at a cost effective prices. They are also looking for organizations that can meet their growing content needs quickly. If you are in the business of publishing on-line learning content for general use, training on global products, or simply creating custom on-line learning content for clients – the one thing you have in common today is the need to develop content quickly and cost-effectively. You need to meet growing client demands and keep up with the changing development practices. The combination of content creation and outsourcing, has had mixed reviews in the past – but organizations are beginning to re-think their approach to outsourcing and their strategies. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group and Bill Rosenthal from Communispond as they share research and practical on-the-ground strategies for effectively working with global outsourcing firms.

Free March Webinars

Spring is in the air and it’s a great time for new beginnings. Become informed about new trends, new directions and new research on interesting training and development topics by signing up for free webinars offered in March. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Thursday, March 1, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Connecting Your LMS to Your CRM: A Better Way to Bring Training to Sales

The connection between successful sales and training has been demonstrated time and time again, but bringing training to sales is often challenging. Sales forces are often dispersed and on-the-move, pausing only long enough to record a contact or sales call in the CRM. So one strategy for connecting sales to training is to bring the training straight to the place where sales lives and breathes - the CRM. Join Scot Lake, Senior Learning Analyst for Brandon Hall Group, as he discusses key practices for improving sales by integrating your LMS with your CRM. Key takeaways include:

• Tips for setting up access to LMS training in a CRM
• How to select the right content for sales training
• The latest research around measuring training’s impact on sales

Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: A Whack on the Head: Re-thinking Learning Design

Today, organizations are dealing with a unique set of challenges while also having even greater opportunities for innovation. At the same time, we now have at our disposal an “alphabet soup” of learning and business methodologies – ADDIE, HPT, BP, Six Sigma, LEAN, AGILE - and an expanding toolkit of formal, informal, social, virtual and mobile technologies and approaches. So, what does this mean for how we design, develop and implement efficient and effective learning solutions? Join Lance Dublin, Chief Solutions Architect, Dublin Consulting as he: 

• Identifies the new and different organizational challenges – and opportunities!
• Describes six learning and development methodologies and how they impact learning design
• Identifies the range of  learning technologies and approaches now available
• Defines the 8 principles of new learning design

Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: How to Market your Online Training (ASTD members only)

Join webinar marketing veteran Roger Courville for a rapid-fire session of pragmatic, get-it-done ideas on improving registration, attendance and revenue in your online training programs.
Attend this interactive webinar to learn:

• How to market the  unique qualities of online training
• 3 tactics for making your invitations and registration site sizzle
• How to avoid everyone’s big social media mistake
• What your audience is willing to pay

Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: The Learning - Talent Connection: How a Single Technology Platform Can Accelerate Workforce Performance

 Organizations routinely leverage the efficiencies of technology platforms for their learning and development initiatives, but many of these same organizations continue to use manual processes to manage their talent. As a result, there’s little opportunity for technology to easily align training with organizational performance. Learning and talent management are inseparable, and managing them in two silos means missed opportunities for increased effectiveness. Join Scot Lake of Brandon Hall Group and Marc Blumenthal of Intelladon as they discuss the competitive advantages of integrating learning and talent management using a single technology platform.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Contextual Learning - Cheapest, Fastest and Easiest Way to Deliver Learning

Join Ray Jimenez, Chief Learning Architect of Vignettes for Training, Inc to learn key principles and practical examples of contextual learning. Most learning approaches are top to bottom, mandated and driven by leaders, trainers and learning specialists. In today's economy, this is costly, slow and often times late. Contextual learning principles and methods suggest that learner's learn best by referring to their own context, first and foremost. What matters is the learners' view of the content, competencies and skills to acquire as they see fit on the job.

Thursday, March 15, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Telltale Signs You Have Outgrown Your LMS

Learning and development is undergoing dramatic shifts. The workforce is changing. The way workers access and use knowledge is changing. Does your current LMS meet new technology and business expectations? How are learning and development functions to respond, and what role should learning management systems be playing in all this change? Join Brandon Hall Group Senior Analyst Scot Lake as he discusses these terrain-altering changes and six key requirements the learning management system should provide to help organizations adapt and thrive.

Thursday, March 22, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: Bring Your On-Demand Training Content to Life with Video

An increasing number of organizations are turning to technology for on-demand learning to supplement their live learning programs. Geographic dispersion and cost management pressures drive this trend, along with a recognition that just-in-time learning mechanisms can provide more timely, more motivated learning precisely when it's needed, increasing motivation and knowledge retention.
But it can be tricky to build cost-effectively on-demand content cost-effectively that truly engages. Why? On-demand training modules frequently lack “charisma” due to software or cost constraints. Kirstin Lynde of Randstad Professionals and Michael Kolowich of KnowledgeVision explain and show the basics of bringing an on-demand training content initiative to life.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST: An Active Approach to Teamwork Training

Teamwork is an essential component of organizational productivity. Today's leaders require a wide variety of skills for high performance teamwork, and it is up to learning professionals to use the most-up-to-date methods available to develop these skills. Join Thiagi, Resident Mad Scientist of The Thiagi Group and Tracy Tagliati, Training Manager of Move Inc. as they explore a variety of high-impact activities, jolts, and interactive learning strategies that have been specifically chosen to teach and apply some of the most critical teamwork competencies and concepts that we all need.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST: Leading in the Learning Function as a Business Partner (ASTD members only)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is top notch for learning and development. Hear from Chief Learning Officer Jody Hudson's team how continuous, agency wide learning supports the business partnership. Also find out, how do you teach effective leadership? How do you enable employees to learn from each other in communities of practice? And learn why job rotation is a critical element of government training and development.

Free February webinars

Our apologies for getting this blog post up a little late. Check out a number of interesting free T&D webinars being offered this month. We hope they will inspire and motivate you.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Contextual Learning - Cheapest, Fastest and Easiest Way to Deliver Learning

Join Ray Jimenez, Ph.D., Chief Learning Architect of Vignettes for Training, Inc., in this session to learn the key principles and practical examples of contextual learning. Most learning approaches are top to bottom, mandated and driven by leaders, trainers and learning specialists. This is an old production and content oriented model where the training departments must produce content for learners to consume. In today's economy, this is costly, slow and often times late. In work conditions where change is rapid and learners are adept in the use of technologies (mobile and collaborative tools), trends show that contextual learning is a faster, cheaper and easiest way to deliver learning. Contextual learning principles and methods suggest that learner's learn best by referring to their own context, first and foremost. What matters is the learners' view of the content, competencies and skills to acquire as they see fit on the job.

Tuesday, 07 February 2012, 210AM - 11AM PST

Selecting a Learning Management System

Amid the adoption of informal and social learning strategies, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) continue to play a growing role in employee training initiatives. These systems provide learners with access to content and provide managers with the ability to track a wide variety of information. In industries that require certifying or monitoring training, no better way exists to ensure that individuals are qualified to do their work than by measuring their skills and knowledge using a Learning Management System. How do you pick the right LMS for your organization? Join Scot Lake, Sr. Analyst, Brandon Hall Group as he describes a key practices and a disciplined methodology for selecting the right LMS for your unique organization.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST (ASTD members only)

Serious Play: Blurring the Line between Work and Games

In a sequel to Intrepid Learning’s popular webinar Make Learning Stick: How Games Help Improve Performance, Jason Gorfine, resident customer experience and user interface expert, will take a deep dive into the eight principles of HOW games help us learn. Join Jason for an examination of how “gamifying” a concept can turn obligatory, less-that-exciting tasks from mind-numbing to manageable (and maybe even fun).  Jason will cover a brief history of humanity’s affinity for games, give an overview of the importance of gaming, and a take a tour through of the eight principles of learning (with corresponding real-world examples).

Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Monetizing your LMS: Turning your LMS into a Profit Center

Most organizations tend to start shopping for a learning platform because they have internal learning and development needs. But with a vision, a plan, and the right technology, it’s possible to reach beyond internal learning communities and transform learning platforms into profit centers. Join Rachel Ashkin, Chief Operating Officer, Brandon Hall Group and Nancy Rickles, Director of Training, Super Enterprises as they present a case study on how Super Enterprises brought valuable learning content to their extended enterprise to create an often overlooked revenue stream.

Thursday, February 16, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Beyond Check-the-Box Professional Education: Associations that Push the Edge of Learning Delivery and Elevate Industries Served

Associations, membership functions, unions, even corporations are being asked to help elevate their individual industries by providing extended professional education to their industry communities. In today’s market were the gap between skilled and unskilled labor can mean the difference in survival for both employees and organizations alike, we are seeing a growing demand for professional education and development. Those who provide these services, such as Associations, want to better understand how to support their communities, industries, and members – while obtaining greater value from their investments in increased memberships and revenue opportunities.  

Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group, and Christina Turner, VP Client Success & Implementations, Digital Ignite, as they share recent survey data and key practices in increasing the value and effectiveness of Professional Education Programs. They discuss four key practices in improving professional education programs including: Creating a continuum of learning activities, pragmatic social learning, creating membership pipelines, and integration of access and communication points. They’ll share real world examples from associations that have increased member value, revenues, and industry impact – while continuing to elevate the goals of their communities and associations.

Thursday, February 16, 2012, 9AM – 10AM PST (ASTD members only)

Critical Competencies for Today's Leadership

Successful leadership involves managing one’s self and relationships with others to move toward a specific business goal. The role of a leader is to grow others: help people grow their skills, knowledge and their confidence to develop leadership themselves in a real, practical context. The real world has other plans, however. Business goals are fluid, people are stressed, and one way technological messages continue to invade every moment of our lives. One thing remains the same – leadership is all about people. How can you clear a little chaos and build a high performing team? Join Lou Russell from Taleo to consider a new approach to leadership as we are all faced with predictable, constant chaos.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Let’s Get Mobile: Changing your Concept of Mobile Content Design and Delivery

We know that by 2015 over 7.1 billion mobile connected devises are predicted to be in service around the globe, and they estimate over 287 million tablets will ship annually. With the launch of Kindle, Fire at $199 – Tablets are now feasible replacements for printing costs. We are at the tipping point, and mobile delivery is here to stay. Many organizations have dabbled with mobile learning, but they haven’t figured out how to take it to an enterprise level. The feedback has been less than positive on simply turning e-learning courses into mobile courses and end-users are requiring that learning organizations speed up the process of delivering better, faster, more relevant mobile content that meets the needs of their on-the-go lifestyle.  

You know that you shouldn’t be asking “if” you need mobile learning, but rather “how” do I best invest resources in mobile learning? Because mobile learning changes all the rules and your learning customers have high expectations. Mobile is a consumer driven market, and learners are not just critical of your approach but vocal if it doesn’t meet their expectations. Join Stacey Harris, VP of Research for Brandon Hall Group, and Mark Hellinger, CEO of Xyleme, as they share recent findings from the Relationship Centered learning market and best practices in expanding your mobile learning efforts. If you’ve been planning on going mobile or have already taken your first steps, this webinar will change your view of the options.  

Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Blended Learning: Critical Design Decisions 

What does blended learning mean in today’s learning landscape, and how is it being used?  What guidance or tools are available to help you select the right delivery methods and the most appropriate instructional strategies? Join Sally Hovis, Vice President, Learning Design, SkillSoft, to learn some key points to consider when developing blended learning programs.

Thursday, February 23, 2012, 11AM – 12PM (ASTD members only)

LMS Selection and Implementation

Too often, vendor selection decisions are made in a vacuum. Without consulting others in your organization, utilizing research, and tying the decision to organizational objectives, you risk having the project rejected, a costly and drawn out implementation or under-utilization of the system. Michael Baker and Stacy Lindenberg from First Citizen's Bank address the entire selection process, and shares best practices along the way. In addition, you will receive templates to use in your own organizations to support the process. You can plan ahead and avoid pitfalls associated with vendor selection and learn the step-by-step process of vendor selection, creating buy-in, presenting to executive level stakeholders, implementation and continuous marketing.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 10AM – 11AM PST

Evaluation Basics: Four Challenges that can Make or Break Survey Research

Surveys and questionnaires are common instruments used to collect data of all types. Whether evaluating a training program or assessing organizational climate, self-administered surveys are a tool with which we must contend. Join Patti Phillips, Ph.D., President & CEO, ROI Institute, as she presents the four basic, but critical, challenges that can make or break a successful survey project.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 11AM – 12PM PST (ASTD members only)

 Transforming Learning at Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Chief Learning Officer Kimo Kippen will lead this informative session about how a 93-year-old company reinvented itself and transformed learning. During this session, Kimo will share how the company recognized the need to relaunch its learning and describe the strategic approach behind what would be the immediate areas of focus.