American Society for Training & Development - Twin Cities Chapter

Note From the Editor
by Jane Neumiller-Bustad

Wow - hard to believe that the 2011 Regional Conference is less than a month away! As a member of the planning committee, I'm deeply impressed by the hard work and dedication shown by our conference team. They've worked for months to put together a learning event that is of national quality and interest! The team spent quite a bit of time reflecting on the comments and feedback from the last couple of conferences so we could create a strong learning experience that meets the needs of attendees, vendors, sponsors and speakers. 

Details are in the articles below, but this is a tremendous opportunity to learn from a myriad of excellent presenters and interact with a wide range of vendors to the industry. Terri Cheney has written a great article on how to use the vendor fair in the Exhibit Hall to build your industry knowledge base. We couldn't put on the conference without the support of our vendors and sponsors, and we thank each and every one for their contributions to the profession. 

You can also reduce your conference fees by voluneering to help with the Conference. Join the "crew" and take $40 off your registration!

But the learning isn't limited to the Conference, by any means! Join us on October 21 for our monthly meeting with Bob Mosher. As a highly regarded expert in the field, Bob will share his experience on developing informal learning experiences. If you've been in this field for more than a week, you realize that all of your great e-learning modules, PowerPoint presentations, technical manuals and online directories pale in comparison to the power one employee with 30 years of experience has with his peers at the lunch table. If that more seasoned employee says "it's bunk...here's how you really do it around here," then you can watch all of your hard work swirl down the drain. Bob will help us understand how to use the power of informal learning to support and enhance our more formal efforts, rather than being frustrated by those experiences. 

And - more good news with Talent Scout! 13 current openings. We encourage you to post your company's jobs and short term projects on the board. Thanks for your support of Talent Scout!

Until next time, enjoy the learning!

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October 21, 2011 Monthly Meeting: Informal Learning - Are We Missing a HUGE Opportunity?

Presenting internationally known learning expert Bob Mosher 

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Metropolitan Ballroom & Clubroom 
5418 Wayzata Blvd.
Golden Valley, MN

Click here to register.

Some research suggests that up to 80 percent of learning in the workplace occurs on an informal basis. Even with this being the case, most corporations spend more than 80 percent of their training budget and effort on formal training. This workshop will address the issues and methodologies surrounding understanding and effectively delivering informal learning, including e-communities (forums and synchronous environments), electronic performance support systems (EPSS). See how some emerging and nontraditional methods are stepping up to fill this much needed training opportunity.

In this session you will learn to:

• Integrate informal learning techniques into existing learning models.
• Recognize the types of learners that are best served by informal learning and plan programs accordingly.
• Obtain the buy-in for informal learning
• Recognize the tools used to create effective informal learning environment

About the Presenter

Bob Mosher joined LearningGuide in November 2006 as Global Chief Learning and Strategy and Evangelist with a leading role in LearningGuide’s international management team. Bob has been an active and influential leader in the learning and training industry for over 23 years and is renowned worldwide for his pioneering role in eLearning and new approaches to learning. Bob joined LearningGuide from Microsoft, where he was Director of Learning Strategy and Evangelism. Before, Bob was the Executive Director of Education for Element K where he directed and influenced their learning model and products. He is an influential voice in the IT training industry, speaking at conferences and participating within industry associations such as CLO Magazine, CompTIA, ASTD, and The eLearning Guild.

Cost: $30/member; $45/non-member; $20/student; +$10 after 10/13/11

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Please Vote! ASTD-TCC 2012 Board of Directors Slate

The 2011 ASTD-TCC Board of Directors has approved the slate of new Director candidates for the 2012 Board. As a member, you have the opportunity to ratify this slate of candidates. Please review the candidates below and vote yes or no for the new members of the 2011 ASTD-TCC Board of Directors. 

The deadline for ratification is October 30, 2011.

Click Here to Vote for the Board of Directors

• President Elect - Esther Sykora 
• Director of Conference 2013: LaVasha Lobbins
• Director of Professional Development: Thom Kinney
• Director of Corporate Connections: Karen Rulifson
• Director of Finance: Janet Mancini
• Director of Interactive Communications: Jacqueline Prescott

Please note that board members serve two year terms and not all board positions are open every year. Board members at the end of their first year of service are not voted upon. The current board can be viewed here.

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Join us for the Regional Conference - Early Bird Registration Still Available!

The 2011 Regional Conference on November 14 - 15 will be better than ever! Over 300 of your colleagues have already registered for this premier learning event and we'd love to have you join them. We have a schedule full of nationally and internationally known presenters, and many experts in their field. You get full-day and half-day immersions on November 14 with the wide range of pre-conference learning sessions, and almost 30 different breakout sessions on November 15th. We have two of the most respected experts in their field, Gary Cohen and Michael Allen as our keynote speakers. It's not all hard work and slaving over a laptop or notepad - join us for informal networking after both days at the Liffey across the street from the RiverCentre!

You don’t want to miss the grand prize drawing on Tuesday, November 15. Simply visit with 10 exhibitors for your chance to win one of many fabulous prizes!

You can find out more details here:

• Schedule at a Glance
• Session Descriptions
• Speaker Biographies
• Get More Details Here
• View Exhibitor Floor Plan

We also appreciate he willingness of our speakers to whet your appetite with a series of short podcasts. Click any of the links to listen:

• "Approaching Learning as a Business" - David Vance
• "How Do You Make Good Decisions" - Gary Cohen
• "Igniting the Innovative Capacity of Individuals, Teams and the Organization" - Jacqueline Byrd's Podcast
• "Integrating OD with Strategic HR Roles and Functions" - Dr. David Jamieson's Podcast
• "Graphic Facilitation: How Graphics Can Transform Group Productivity" - Joan McIntosh's Podcast

Travelling in from out of town? We have a group rate available at the Holiday Inn across the street until October 13:

Holiday Inn St. Paul Downtown
175 W. 7th Street
St. Paul, MN 55012

Click here for the online booking code.

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Tour Your Whole Profession in One Exhibit Hall!
by Terri Cheney, ASTD-TCC Past President

Using the exhibit hall to maximize your conference experience

Most people are well aware that it is sponsors and exhibitors that make it possible to offer high-quality conferences at reasonable prices. And, most conference attendees enjoy the opportunity to "see what's out there" and explore current trends and innovations in their profession. But many people don't know how to get the most out of this field of opportunities when vendors and service providers are assembled in one spot. Often attendees feel anxiety instead of anticipation. 

What should you be looking for? Where do you begin? How do you handle those awkward moments of fleeting eye contact with that person behind a booth?

Start with the idea that you are on a mission to learn about the current state of your profession. For starters:

• What technologies are new or being used in a novel way? 
• What are the hot book titles, and what do they focus on? 
• What patterns do you see in the types of services on offer?
• What kinds of challenges are the exhibitors you are already familiar with experiencing, and what are they doing about them?

Think you don’t have anything to say to an exhibitor? Try asking questions that will help you identify trends and patterns in their industry. People manning the vendor booths should be experts in their fields. Ask straight up what issues they are seeing. Then consider these questions:

• Who benefits most from this?
• What is the best practice for [subject]?
• What is the most exciting project you have ever worked on?
• How can I do [subject] faster, cheaper or better?
• My desired outcome is [topic]. What would you recommend?

Having a purpose as you move through the exhibit hall will make it not only a useful experience but also an enjoyable one. Instead of assuming you'll learn only in breakouts or keynote sessions, you'll find yourself acquiring new knowledge during your visit to the vendors and sponsors.

And with your uncertainties or anxieties reduced, there is more room for serendipity. Who knows what might germinate from the connections you sow? A month or even a year from now you may recall a particularly good conversation from the exhibit hall, and you dig out the business card that ultimately solves a major dilemma for you or for someone you know. You may find you have stumbled on a valuable partner and didn't realize it at the time. 

An exhibit hall at a conference can be a delightful professional gift - unwrap yours on November 14 - 15 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul! 

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Conference Keynote Highlight - Forget What You Know About Instructional Design and Do Something Interesting!
by Denise Patrick-Johnson

Interview with Michael Allen

Meaningful. Memorable. Motivational. Join Dr. Michael Allen as he inspires us to think outside the usual learning paradigms to get at what it really means to focus on learner needs. Dr. Allen, Chairman and CEO of Allen Interactions and this year's recipient of ASTD's Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, closes this year's ASTD-TCC Regional Conference in November with a message to help learning and training professionals reach for new ways to engage and motivate learners — to find what fascinates them.

Chances are, as a learning professional, you have also been in the learner's chair. "You know that if you can't remember what [the learning] was, it didn't work. If you remember that it was a good class, but [you] don't get how it works, it didn't work," explains Dr. Allen. The learning equation is meaningful x memorable x motivational. If any one element is missing, then the learning will not work.

So how do learning professionals develop learning that works? Orchestrate the learning event so that learners absorb meaning by figuring out tasks on their own, which empowers them to continue and motivates them to learn.

To more clearly understand Dr. Allen's perspective, I asked him what improvements learning professionals could make to develop more engaging and effective learning. He shared four from his new book, Successful e-Learning Interface: Making Learning Technology Polite, Effective, and Fun (Pfeiffer, 1st edition. August 2011).

• Spend as much time as possible with learners to really listen and talk with them in order to capture what fascinates them.
• Focus on the experience rather than the skills hierarchy to motivate learners. Rather than delivering A and B before C, try starting with an activity you don't think learners can do (C)?the exciting stuff. Apply the relevant background of A and B only as needed.
• Consider simplifying or not including classically written learning objectives at the front of the lesson. Yes, learning professionals still need to identify for themselves what they are so they properly inform the design. However, often learners skip them to get to the good stuff?what they want to know. 
• Finally, Dr. Allen reminds learning and training professionals that "Training is not about knowing things. It is about enabling performance, and it is an instrument of behavioral change. If learners can actually perform and want to, mission accomplished."

Michael Allen is a recognized leader in the architecture and design of interactive multimedia learning systems and strategies. He is chairman and CEO of Allen Interactions, which builds custom interactive learning solutions and provides consulting and training for interactive multimedia professionals. Allen holds a PhD in educational psychology from The Ohio State University and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He has written several books including the best-seller, Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning and his e-Learning Library Series. Additionally, he is editor of Michael Allen's e-Learning Annuals. The 2012 e-Learning Annual was published in July.

Michael will be our closing keynote speaker at the 2011 Regional Conference on November 14-15 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. 

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Pre-Conference Highlight - Graphic Facilitation: How Graphics Can Transform Group Productivity
by Denise Patrick-Johnson

Interview with Joan McIntosh

Joan McIntosh loves to see the light come on in peoples' eyes when they get excited about what they are doing and it has meaning for them. Joan has been using active listening and visual communication for over 30 years to help that light shine. She is an OD consultant and trainer through her company, Joan McIntosh Consulting - Change:: by Design, and a Senior Associate at The Grove Consultants International. During her ASTD-TCC Regional Pre-Conference session on November 14, Joan will give you the opportunity to add some of the fundamentals of graphic facilitation to your current skill set. This will help you bring meaningful visual communication to your meetings, brainstorming sessions, trainings, and learning design.

With the explosion of technological devices, virtual teams, and the growth of conceptual jobs that work with ideas and design more than the nuts and bolts, the timing couldn't be better to learn from Joan about how to make our interactions with colleagues and clients more meaningful, simple, and fun! In her podcast interview with Michael McIntee, Joan shares that graphic facilitation is about:

1. Listening for understanding and being fully present to the speaker in order to create connections and bring out their authentic self.
2. Knowing that words are simply not enough to describe the whole story.
3. Helping people to literally "see what they mean."

By using visual communication in our everyday touchpoints with colleagues and leaders, we can capture the real conversation, ideas, challenges, and questions of the group so we have "an envelope of information that people can access when they need to make a decision, solve a problem, or reach for more innovation," explains Joan.

Joan's graphic facilitation principles also enable greater accountability and ensure that all voices are heard. When people work together, one commonality is our attention span. It is continually on the move. Having a person committed to recording visually for everyone in the room what speakers actually say, in their own words, assures that good questions, ideas, and challenges don't disappear. Everyone who contributes is a visible part of the conversation. This record helps participants better understand each other. You can ask questions, challenge task assignments, or ensure enough information has been presented to go to the next step.

Graphic facilitators accomplish their goals by using simple pictures and key words to capture what people really say. By making visual connections with arrows, lines, bullets, and color, you too can capture what people are thinking, hoping for, feeling in a way everyone can connect to and understand. The simple tools - marker and paper - can be the bridge between what people say and the actions they take after the meeting.

In addition to practicing Joan's techniques, she will share a list of resources both national and local that include templates for strategic planning, visioning and other types of gatherings; ideas for approaching people in your organization about using graphic facilitation, and more complex tools useful for virtual teams.

This pre-conference session, packed with participation and knowledge sharing, is sure to give you news skills you can put to work immediately on returning to your office. 

Joan McIntosh brings to her clients the knowledge of behavioral sciences and 21st century management systems, tempered by years of experience in collaboration with individuals and teams around the world. She is owner of Change:: by Design, her practice where she uses collaborative design, careful listening, client orientation, and compassion to companies her skillful work as a facilitator and coach and a Senior Associate at The Grove, a graphic facilitation teacher and practitioner for 25 years.

Joan is leading one of our pre-conference workshops on November 14.

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Pre-Conference Highlight -Using OD Practices to Advance Your Own Career
by Denise Patrick-Johnson

Interviews with Jill Hauwiller and Vic Massaglia

Human development professionals spend their day applying change management, organizational change and effectiveness, transition, teamwork, and other methodologies and tools within their organizations or practices every day. What happens if we apply them to ourselves? Join Vic Massaglia, career strategist with Cygnus 360, and Jill Hauwiller, Learning and Development Manager at Donaldson Company, for a half-day pre-conference session at the ASTD-TCC Regional Conference on November 14 about just that?using OD practices to advance your own career.

By using self-reflection and group work and by participants sharing their tried-and-true and the tried-and-failed interventions and experiences, Jill and Vic will use OD practices to help training and development practitioners as well as OD and human resource practitioners take a closer look at their own career path. Whether you are happy where you are but looking to create a personal development plan or looking to transition to another career or employer, this session is for you.

You will leave with a specific plan and new, repeatable tools you can apply to yourself and to the organizations you serve. You will also learn how to shape your personal brand to help you articulate succinctly and consistently who you are and what you have to offer throughout all touch points in the transition plan. Throughout the session, acquire the tactical skills to do self-assessment, goal setting, and identify your personal career direction.

You can do the following to help you prepare for this session:

• Reflect on transitions in your life, both successful and unsuccessful. What did you wrestle with emotionally and tactically during the transition?
• Look over any former assessments you have completed, such as Myers-Briggs®, StrengthsFinder?, StrengthsQuest?, or Insights® Discovery.
• Finally, what is your goal? Ask yourself, “If I were to make a career transition, what would it look like?”

The Using OD Practices to Advance Your Own Career pre-conference session is an exciting and fun opportunity for you to pause for a few hours and apply internally what you do every day for others.

Jill Hauwiller is the Learning and Development Manager at Donaldson Company, where she leads learning and leadership development initiatives for employees at all levels of the organization. Previously, she spent 4 years as an Associate Director and Lead MBA Career Coach at the Carlson School of Management - University of MN. Before joining the Carlson School of Management, Jill spent nearly 10 years in the business sector, in increasingly demanding Human Resources roles in several divisions of a Fortune Global 500 company. She has been actively involved in recruiting and organizational development and training throughout her career. Jill earned her Master of Arts in Communication from Bethel University, with an emphasis in conflict management. Jill speaks at local and national conferences on professional and career development. She is a certified facilitator for many programs and tools, including the Minnesota Alternatives to Violence Project, Development Dimensions International, Lominger International and the Bar-On EQ-I Emotional Intelligence Assessment.

Vic Massaglia loves his job as a career counselor for the University of Minnesota Law School. He is also principle of Cygnus 360, a career development consultancy practice that helps career counselors, career services offices, and clients use social networking tools and other technology to be more productive and connected. Vic has over 25 years of experience in communication, personnel administration, organization development, coaching, training, college instruction, and management for private and public organizations. He holds a Masters degree in Human Resource Development with a concentration in Career Development from the University of St. Thomas (UST), and a degree in English education from Minnesota State University-Mankato. Prior to working for the law school, he was an Associate Director of Learning and Development for UST's Center for Business Excellence.

Jill and Vic will run a pre-conference workshop on November 14 at the Regional Conference. 

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Regional Conference Volunteers Needed - Save $40!

We need over 30 volunteers to help make our Regional Conference a success! For as little as 30 minutes of your time, you can take $40 off of your conference registration! We need help with the following tasks:

• ASTD-TCC Booth Representative
• Ask Me Crew Member
• Photographer
• Registration Desk Crew Member
• Session Room Host

Click here to register as a volunteer!

Combine your volunteer efforts with early bird or student pricing through October 17 and save even more!

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Conference Vendors and Sponsors Welcome!

We have room for additional vendors and sponsors at the conference as well! 

This conference offers international-quality presenters, an enhanced expo for our valued vendor partners, and unique opportunities for you to create lasting impressions with your target market. Registration is running well ahead of last year, and we'd love to have your share your expertise with attendees. More than 25% of the attendees are at the Director or C-level for decision making. We still have openings to share your expertise through vendor demos or  a 75-minute breakout session slot!

Click here to download your copy of the sponsorship prospectus and sign up today.

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Social Media Support of the Regional Conference

We are continuing to expand our use of social media with the Regional Conference on November 14-15. We encourage you to participate with the following resources:

1. Follow ASTD-TCC on Twitter: @astd_tcc
2. Follow our conference updates on Twitter with our hashtag:  #astdtcc2011conf 
3. Use the hashtag to share your thoughts during the conference 
4. Retweet our posts about the conference to your Twitter followers
5. Share the link to the conference with your friends and colleagues on LinkedIn and Facebook 
6. We have a great selection of podcasts and videos with our conference speakers! Click here to listen.

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Reach the Biggest Pool of Training and Development Talent in the Twin Cities!

You can tap into a huge talent pool when you list your open training and development jobs, gigs, projects and freelance opportunities on the Talent Scout portion of our website HERE. We are on track to have an excellent year of advertising openings, and we invite your organization to participate.

We don't advertise job openings in the chapter's LinkedIn group, since our job board is a well known resource in the training and development community. Paid job listings benefit you as a member, since it is a source of income for the chapter. They and other advertising opportunities help keep our dues affordable. Talent Scout postings are cost-effective and targeted to the people best able to benefit your organization.

Track the openings on the main page of our website with the Talent Scout tracker! We currently have 13 opportunities listed.

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Upcoming ASTD-TCC Events

We are committed to planning and delivering quality programs with knowledgable and engaging presenters who will provide you with tools, tips and techniques you can apply to your career and company.

Don't miss these upcoming events:

We welcome your event listings!

Every month, ASTD-TCC sponsors monthly meetings, special interest group meetings, educational seminars and special events for members and nonmembers alike. In addition, our partner organizations, i.e. MCDA, sponsor events of interest to our members.

We also accept calendar listings for your organization's workshops and seminars. Please click here to view our submission guidelines, costs and convenient online submission form.

ASTD-TCC is the go-to resource to drive business results through learning, performance and development. Be a part of it!

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Thanks to our new and renewing members for your support of ASTD-TCC.

New & Renewing Members

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What would you like to read?
If you have ideas for articles or information that could be shared in Spectrum, feel free to contact the 2011 editor Jane Neumiller-Bustad at janen@astd-tcc.org.

Spectrum is a subscription-based email publication from the American Society for Training & Development's Twin Cities Chapter to its members.