A let down at the end

I'm not sure if anyyone else feels this way but I've found, after attending many professional conferences, that the last day is usually made up of sessions that I just don't feel much connection to. Do organizers know that many attendees leave early or aren't as engaged on the final day? Do presenters know the audience would rather be at the bar or getting ready for their flight home (or at the pool is you're in sunny Orlando like me!)than attending sessions through the afternoon on the last day?

For whatever reason I didn't feel that spark today like I did the previous days, and I didn't find any sessions that spoke out to me. While I'm so happy that I'm going home with tangible plans for enhancing my work output I wish I'd have been able to carry that through the fourth day. Maybe that's the issue right there... ASTD made the decision, who knows how long ago, to spread their conference out over 4 days - with huge blocks of time throughout each day without any learning sessions going on. Every other conference I've been to has had at least 4 sessions per day. Perhaps the feedback they got was that 4 sessions was overload and their solution was to space out the learning by adding an additional day. Well, now that this experiment has run its course for a few years (I had the same reaction after lat year's conference) I'd highly recommend cutting out one day, getting rid of hours and hours of wasted time each day, and keep us charged by offering heavy hitting sessions through the end of the conference. We pay too much, and invest too much time, for there not to be critical learning offered all the way through to the end.

Evaluation and relationships - working together by sharing the right message

I'm seeing a trend in my choices of which sessions to attend at ICE this year. Apparently it's all about evaluation for me. I think I've seen everything the Kirkpatricks have had to say so far, I spent this morning learning more about the do's and don'ts of Level 1's, and now I'm sitting in the front row waiting to hear part 2 of Jim and Patti Kirkpatrick's presentation on the new world of their 4 Levels - ROE - Return on Expectations. I'm finding the further I move into my organization managing expectations, or helping others identify or realize their own expectations of me and my work, is more and more critical.

Along those lines, I attended a session yesterday with Rob VeVerka where we focused on building relationships with senior leaders and how important it is to craft messages, and expectations, to match their business needs rather than expecting them to know or care how we think and operate. That's an important message for me because in my former life everyone I spoke to came from the same place - all education all the time. We all shared the same language, we all came up through the same ranks and had similar experiences we could all share. It made relating to even senior leaders so much easier. But now, as I try to plug my education and learning background into a business environment I find it so much more difficult to communicate, to get them to care about what I care about.

So I attend these sessions learning how to craft my message, and gather the right kinds of data by asking the right kinds of questions so I can share the right kids of information with the right kinds of leaders. It all makes sense now that I see the connections. I don't think I'd have been able to make that connection, as quickly at least, without attending this conference. I love it when I can point to THAT thing that makes the expenditure of time and money seem so worthwhile.

Hearing Kirkpatrick for the last time

Sitting in the audience waiting to hear Don Kirpatrick, the father of the 4 levels of evaluation, present for the last time at ASTD2011. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I've already seen him at ASTD in DC, and his talk probably hasn't changed much (although his son's presentation yesterday hinted at significant changes to the application of the 4 levels), but I'm still so happy to be here. A triple-sized room is packed to the gills - how did folks not anticipate this and get here early like I did? Silly people.

ASTD 2011 International Conference & Exposition - getting warmed up

Just sat down for the first of many sessions @ ASTD's 2011 International Conference & Exposition. I'm already overwhelmed, as I usually am, at the sheer numbers of people involved in these events. Although a former colleague of mine used to chastise me for not making more of the networking opportunities available at these events it's good for me to just get to a session room, relax prior to the session, and really focus on the material. The chaos of the hallways and main registration areas is often way too much to take in, except in small doses. I'm really looking forward to meeting some new people, browsing the book store, and wandering through the expo but my focus, as I'd assume it should be, is on the content of the sessions.

And now on to the first one... "Do you have the right e-Learning culture?" by Marc Rosenberg. This should be perfect for me and one of my main responsibilities at work - leading a very 'sit and listen' organization into a new century.