WOLCE 2009 NEC Birmingham

Not long left the 2009 WOLCEexhibition after spending a valuable five hours networking.

This is my main post from the exhibition this year, as I did not have the opportunity to spend both days here so descided to spend my time networking rather than in conference sessions, although that is a regret in some ways as the list of speakers was impressive as usual.

From the exhibition floor
There certainly was a real buzz in the hall when I arrived, much more than last year. From a visitor point of view it seemed to be more popular than last year.

Many of the 'usual suspects' were n attendance exhibiting - which is good news in the current climate.

There were some noticable missing orgs including all book publishers, i'm sure that angloamerician and pocketbooks are former regulars.

Also missing were all psychometric publishers, there were two providers of 360 tools, but again it did not appear to be as many as before.

There were fourmembership based orgs in attendance including CIPD, BILD and TrainerBase, all who seemed to be busy most of the time, with both BILD & TrainerBase offering clinic support to trainers.

Having said that there were some elements missing, there seemed to be more stands than before, while some were smaller than in the past, size as they say isnt everything.

Exhibitors were sharing stories of the general downturn and change purchasing policies in recent months, with orders being verbally placed by existing customers, then the reluctant employee phoning just a few hours later canceling the order, saying the purchase had been declined by their line manager. Is this a trend in cost cutting? More than five providers shared this story with me.

While some are finding things very tough, those that have no business debt and can flex with the market demand will be the ones to survive the difficulties.

Overall
A valuable few hours, great people nd valuable connections made and reenforced.

Will be back next year - WOLCE 2010 see you here?

Free seminar sessions at WOLCE 2009

Wednesday 30 September 2009

10:15 – 10:45 Learning fast! - Chris Chappell, Managing Director, Autonomy Multimedia

11:00 – 11:30 Emotionally involved: colleague engagement and the bottom line - Dawn McCutcheon, Business Development Manager, Learning, Grass Roots

11:45 – 12:15 An introduction to e-learning 2.0 - Tony Probert, Managing Director, LightMedia Communications

12:30 – 13:00 Coaching – the fast track to leadership and empowerment - Anita Wild, Director, ADG - Mark Lewthwaite, Senior Consultant, ADG - Tracey Wilson, Learning & Development Leader, Unilever UK

13:15 – 13:45 Are we listening to our learners? - Francis Marshall, Managing Director, Cegos UK

14:00 – 14:30 How virtual classrooms can deliver real behavioural change - David Freedman, Business Director, Huthwaite International

14:45 – 15:15 Drama centred learning – entertaining diversion or powerful training tool? - Graham David, Director, Blue Beetle

15:30 – 16:00 Breakthrough to ROI - Kevin Johnson, CEO, OnTrack International

16:15 – 16:45 Transforming people: radical new approaches to inspiring change - Matthew Pegler, Founder, Altyerre

Thursday 1 October 2009

10:30 – 11:00 Personal learning environments – what does the future hold? - Karen Velasco, Deputy Chairman, the British Institute for Learning & Development

11:15 – 11:45 Learning technologies – tips and tactics - Lesley McGuire, Learning Technology Manager, Macmillan Cancer Support Martin Addison, Managing Director, Video Arts

12:00 – 12:30 Coaching for high performance – a Deloitte case study - Caroline Flin & Ro Paddon, Senior Managers – Learning, Deloitte

12:45 – 13:15 Why informal learning and collaboration is driving the need for better performance and talent management - Martin Belton, Business Development Director, e2train

13:30 – 14:00 Are great leaders born or made? - Larry Reynolds, Managing Partner, 21st Century Leader

14:15 – 14:45 Towards maturity with e-learning - Howard Hills, Head of Research, Towards Maturity CIC

 515:15 – 15:45 Unleashing the power of experiential learning - Martin Thompson, CEO, MTa International

 

 

Who will be speaking at WOLCE conference 2009?

 

Topics, themes and speakers this year at the Birmingham NEC for the WOLCE event include:

 

·         How can L&D contribute to better business performance? John McNamara, Chief Executive, Alliance of Sector Skills Councils

·         Demonstrating the value of the L&D function - Stephen Mapp, Senior Manager – Learning Quality, Lloyds TSB,  Chris Goodwin, Managing Director, Results Driven Group

 

·         Enabling effective change management through L&D - Nigel Jeremy, Head of Learning and Organisation Development, Marks and Spencer and Francis Marshall, Managing Director, Cegos

·         New directions for online learning - Nick Shackleton-Jones, Manager - Online & Informal Learning, BBC

·         Building the role of the line manager in delivering successful learning solutions - Rachel Cairns, Head of HR & Training – Commercial Directorate, Keele University and

·         Suzanne Hitchen, Director, Instep UK

·         Creating opportunities for informal learning in the workplace - Peter Butler, Head of Learning, BT Group and Jack Wills, Chairman, British Institute of Learning & Development

·         The engaged learner - Nigel Paine, Managing Director, NigelPaine.com

 

Thursday - 1 October

·         The changing face of L&D in the current economic climate - Martyn Sloman, Visiting Professor, Kingston Business School, Penny Tamkin, Programme Director – Management & Leadership, The Work Foundation, Malcolm Pickup, Head of People Development, TNT UK , Laura Overton, Managing Director, Towards Maturity

·         The L&D challenge – delivering more effective learning for less - Jo Hutchins, Global Learning & Academy Manager, Diageo and Bob Bannister, Managing Director, iManage Performance

·         Utilising coaching as a vital business tool - Jon Summerson, Career Planning & Development Manager, British Red Cross and Tim Hawkes, Managing Director, Unlimited Potential

·         Developing skills during organisational change - Adrian Snook, Deputy CEO, The Training Foundation,

·         Integrating learning strategy and talent management to enhance skills - Jan Spalding, Head of Workforce & Development, NHS Coventry (Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire Leadership Management Group)

·         Re-skilling employees for new roles - Geraldine Harrison, Head of Learning & Development, Customer Business & Services, Rolls-Royce

·         Leadership development in a changing business environment - Sarah Henbrey, Director – People & Organisational Development, Sony Electronics Europe and Simon Foster, Client Solutions Director, Centre for High Performance Development

·         Driving performance improvements through learning - Penny Tamkin, Programme Director – Management & Leadership, The Work Foundation

WOLCE 2009 - NEC Birmingham

Are you going this year?
I will be there for Wednesday - day one only this year, so watch out for my posts
www.rapidbi.com/

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. Mike can be contacted via

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2009 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Who was and who was not at World Of Learning?

The great thing about World of learning is the fact that the event is contained in one space - good for delegates and good for exhibitors. RapidBI recently exhibited at a trade exhibition and conference and while the organisers asked delegates to visit the supporting organisations, the reality was that the layout of the event meant that almost 50% of delegates 'just did not bother'. WOL is a neat event which as a day visitor can be done comfortable in a long half day or between the sessions of the carefully times conference sessions.

The attendance of the event (conference) was just about 50/50 being public sector and private sector with a few freelance and independent consultants thrown in for good measure.

Of the exhibition itself, my observations are that there are a large number of venues offering their services, a few instrument or profile/ psychometric providers, one book store and one store to buy your training resources. Half a dozen firms that offer tools or 'kits' to use in your own learning events (Jigsaw and MTA etc) and one or two film organisations (Scott Bradbury). There were a number of large scale open course providers and some of the professional bodies representing the industry.

So who was missing?

The big providers that are at HRD - Video Arts, shl etc. Does this impact this event - NO in fact it makes the whole event a little more realistic for the 'typical' Learning and Development function.

Now are the 'big boys' not at WOL because they focus their budget on one or two big events or do they not feel the audience is not right for them? The people that I spoke to on the stands seemed happy with the quality of the leads they were getting - OK not huge numbers - but this type of exhibition is not a numbers game - it is the quality of the lead that is important. Interesting two I spoke to said that while they were regulars at HRD they would not, and had not signed up for 2009 (maybe the move to Excel is turning people off?) but would be back at World of Learning next year - earlier in September!

So WOL gets earlier and CIPD (a move to Manchester from Harrogate) gets later... it will be interesting to see how that pans out.

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Exhibiters - Trainer1 - F1 car

Trainer1 had an impressive looking stand with a Williams F1 car and a team activity of changing a wheel. While most of the people attending the exhibition will remember the stand I am not convinced they will remember who the stand belonged to!

Shame about the noise of the air guns carrying through to the conference sessions...

Exhibiters - CIPD

Yes the CIPD were here.

A shame and missed opportunity that they did not take the opportunity to have the excellent interactive stand (as at Harrogate or HRD) showing the training related content of the site and members area, they seemed to be focused on promoting their training courses.

It was interesting to note the absence of ITOL, the IITT and TrainerBase from this exhibition.

Exhibiters - Scott Bradbury

Scott Bradbury

Scott Bradbury develop effective and flexible training films and courses to help people achieve improved performance at work.

It was great to see Catherine de Salvo and Hugh Murray, both of these individuals have a wealth of experience in the L&D field which is difficult to beat.

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Exhibiters - MTA

MTA are a provider of large and small scale resources for trainers and learning facilitators, while the large kit is obvious, it provides a wonderful learning experience which learners of all ages engage with, While I love the large kits - the small desktop materials are easier to transport... but dont have the wow factor!

Exhibiters - BILD

British Institute for Learning and Development, as a fellow of the institute I would be doing a disservice if I did not mention this organisation. Innovatve as always, BILD recruited some of its members to hold clinics and advisory sessions for other professionals at this event.

Exhibiters - Woodland Grange

Woodland Grange are both a provider of venues as well as excellent development programmes, worth a look.

Exhibiters - Roffey Park

Over the years I have attended a number of event at Roffey Park . all have been well run and valuable contributions to my development - great venue too!

Exhibiters - Glass tap -

Glasstap is a complete resource centre for trainers who wish to prepare the most comprehensive training materials with the help of professional resources. they now also have a resource shop for all those hard to find training 'toys' and energisers. Great to see Rod and the team here.

Final session at the World of Learning 2008

As the last formal session I was looking forward to the summary I knew Rory was going to offer us.


As 3 o’clock approaches our host Rory Cellan-Jones looks around the room in amazement – just 37 people in the audience. He gets the nod from the organiser on the door to commence the session.

Rory introduced Richard Straub, advisor to the chairman of IBM EMA for his presentation:



Driving L&D in a changing business environment.


Reflecting on his own positive experience Straub recommended that everyone in the audience considered the question “What is the portfolio I will have when I leave my employer?”
Straub said that he would be posing more questions than he has answers for and that the answer for many of the questions would be different based on the culture in which we operate. Then using a number of bite size pieces of information Straub provided us with food for thought:

• “The illiterate of the 21 century will not be those that cannot read and write but those that cannot learn – unlearn and re-learn” Alvin Toffler


• That Drucker in the 50s and 60s coined the term knowledge worker.


• That often when we use Organisational Development (OD) models that we fall into the traps caused by over simplified models, and Straub gave examples.
  

For many organisations we are now moving from a closed world to an open world, where once things were top down, they are now bottom up, where once there was command and control and now there is pragmatism. These structural and cultural changes while a challenge provide OD professionals with a wonderful opportunity.




In Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages by Carlota Perez Straub walked through the industrial and technological ages and pointed out that at the end of each age is a crash before the ‘golden age’ of that era was realised. For the age of information and technology many thought that was the dotcom crash, but many feel that what we are experiencing now is the beginning of that crash, and that when we come out the other side we will be on the dawn of a new golden age of information and technology.

Research from IBM suggests that outperformers in many organisations deliver higher revenue growth and manage change more successfully, and that for us in OD and L&D the ability to manage the learning of skills to address business needs is the only competitive advantage.


Characteristics for success at an organisational level are:
1) Speed
2) Risk Taking
3) Flexibility
4) Frequent opportunity for trial and error


We must create the ability for our people to fail fast as we need to be able to learn quickly. Conservatism was acceptable once but will not be a strategy for survival or growth in the current climate.

Research from The Lisbon Council (for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal is a think tank), shows that 80% of the value of human capital is informally developed on the job. We need to create the culture to nurture and capture this learning without stifling it.

Straub put the Klob learning cycle up on the screen and asked for the relevance of this old and well used model, Straub challenged us to the need to re-engage learners with models like this to ensure that the informal learning in the workplace was as effective as it could be, and that learners made the most of informal learning opportunities.

In his final words Straub said that things tend to happen in “hidden champions”, companies of a medium side that get on with things and are often not noticed, it is these organisations that tend to lead the way. How many hidden champions were sat in the audience.




Summary
It was disappointing that so few attended this session as for me it was again one of the most enlightening, Like the final session at the CIPD conference, few attended the last session and missed the best.

Straub’s style made the note taking of this difficult and the reason why the style of this entry is sticky is that it reflected the style of the session.

Closing summary

Rory Cellan-Jones closed the event with some quotes from the two days, including:

• “I don’t chose to retain things I can look up”


• “I am only interested in people that are 100% committed, not 98%”


• “we don’t hire bad people, only good people and make them great”


• “How do you touch 65000 people at once? You go online”


• “We are a curiously conservative profession and we could be decimated by this time next year”


• “Sex, violence and crime.. and all in one hour”
  

My immediate reflections on the event
A valuable mix of the sales pitch and the practical with just a little gloss and spin on the content of the sessions (less than at other conferences). The tome of this conference while discussing the challenges was much more positive that the CIPD conference just a couple of months ago.

The fact that the conference sessions were held adjacent to the exhibition space was great for networking, although the sound damping in the seminar rooms could have been more effective to filter out the low hum of the activity in the exhibition itself – especially as a F1 style car was just feet away have its wheel changed by participants!

Over the next few days I will dig deeper into my notes and add more detail to some of the sessions. If you were at the event feel free to add your comments too.

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Day 2 - the future of learning

The Future of learning

The opening session for day 2 was a panel discussion on “The future of Learning”. This featured Bob Mosher, Jackie Lawlor of Royal Mail, David Clutterbuck, Clive Shepherd and Hugh Evans from Henley Business School.

Rory Cellan-Jones opened the session and shared his reflections on yesterdays sessions, he said that he had found exhibitors were offering everything from learning to cook, to driving a racing car and supporting Manchester United football club as part of his development. Rory as a non L&D professional, I found his view an interesting take on how some of our interventions could be seen from those "not in the know".

With these activities described in what could be seen as a frivolous manner, is it time for the profession to look at not only the underlying learning, but the face validity of the intervention – much like the changes in the psychometric industry in the 1990s.

How is L&D different from five years ago?
The them for the session was “how is L&D different from five years ago?"

Mosher started with the belief that we are more consultative that we once were. He said that in the US they are now starting to see what they call CLOs or Chief Learning Officers, individuals very senior in the organisation with responsibility for learning and development. This raising of the status is a strong indicator that many organisations are taking the development of people much more seriously and that it is a key business driver.

Jackie Lawlor noted the changes to the changes in delivery methodology, with a shift to taking the learning to the learner, rather then the previous model of the learning going to the learning.
Clutterbuck stated that in research his company had completed they were seeing an increased confidence in organisations using internal resources rather than bringing in external resources. For learning and development functions to be more effective Clutterbuck said that we need to look at the culture of the organisation as well as the operational processes and systems, rather than just the skills and behaviours of individuals. This will be a real challenge for many in the profession. We have in the passed focused on learning systems and programmes and now we need to concentrate on the quality and frequency of “informal conversations”

Clive Shepherd boldly stated that it was in fact the L&D profession itself which has been the most reluctant to change, and that if we don’t we could well be a dying breed. He said that we need to understand the needs of operational functions in our businesses and to change what we do and how we do it for both the survival of the L&D profession as well as the survival of our organisation in this challenging time.

Hugh Evans from Henley Business School highlighted that increasingly leaders of our businesses do not have the answers to the issues being faced and this opportunity for L&D to facilitate learning (not to provide solutions) is a significant opportunity for us. Learning he said is the key to survival using both formal and informal strategies.

Many managers do not have time or people they can talk to so that they often lack the ability to reflect on what is happening to make informed decisions – this is an interesting opportunity for us to grasp.

An unscientific straw poll
In an unscientific poll Rory asked the audience “How do you feel about the next six months for L&D?” the audience were:

• 90% optimistic and
• 10% realist (pessimistic).

Clutterbuck added that in a recent piece of research 66% of HR directors said that budgets were likely to increase in the future.

The discussion started to explore the value of SMART goals and the extent to which the range of these was changing from long term to short term tactical. The panel we not in agreement as to which was right in the current climate.

Overall a stimulating session, great for reflectors… not so good for the pragmatists.

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Exhibiters - jigsaw at work

As I contine my exhibition visit I have come across http://www.jigsawatwork.com/a training company with an innovative product for team working.

WOL Conference feel

World of Learning is a unique event in the training calendar. Held in one large exhibition space or hall, the conference sessions are run in two purpose built multimedia rooms at the rear of the exhibition space. With a capacity of approximately 130 - 140 delegates, this is a significant event in the training and learning world.

It is evident that delegates are hungry for information, as many stay to talk to the presenters after each session.

Check out the Watercooler on TrainingZone for a summary of each session I attend.

Going green at the NEC

When the opportunity to visit WOL was made one of the first things I did was to look for a hotel in walking distance. The drive from west London being a fair contribution to CO2 levels.

I chose the Premier Inn because of its proximity to the NEC. As you can see from the photo less than 300m but you cannot walk it, and the drive is around a mile - not far but not suitable for walking..

When will the UKs flagship centre address this, or do they just want the extra £8 from each vehicle... ;)

Summary day one

Introduction and welcome
Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC welcomed us to World of Learning 2008 and opened this conference.

As technology correspondent at the BBC he asked us "is now the time for technology and gadgets? Is this a good time for training?"

Rory wasted little time and handed over to Bob Mosher.

Informal learning
This session was led by Bob Mosher of Learning Guide solutions.

We were challenged to consider what we were missing in terms of learning opportunities for us as individuals and what learning opportunities were being missed as organisations. The myth was dispelled that Informal Learning was only adhoc, Mosher argues that it is real ‘in time’ and just enough to solve the problem or challenge facing the learner.

One of the challenges of selling the Informal Learning approach to the organisations in which we operate is the soft or fluffy perception of the language. Mosher prefers to use the term “Performance Support” when positioning this type of intervention.

Conventional training tends to be an event or series of events with a logical beginning, middle and end. Informal Learning is an ongoing methodology with a small intervention to meet the needs of the learner at the time.

Mosher shared some interesting research about the retention of learning and made a compelling case for continuous informal learning interventions. Traditionally we have used training or learning interventions under two conditions:
1) when learning for the first time
2) when wanting to learn more
This is fine, but in the situations where:
3) individuals try to recall or apply previous learning
4) when things change
5) when things go wrong

Then traditional solutions just don’t work. Informal learning should be equally effective at all five times of learning need. Interesting that when an individual has a need such as in (3) above, often the only solution we offer is (1) or (2) above – in other words we do the same intervention, but often slower and louder! To enhance performance we need to implement new ways of meeting the needs of our learners.So is "Informal Learning" the emperors new clothes? No I don't think is its, i think this marks a move and change of focus in what we as professionals need to do to ensure the sustainability of our organisations, what is unfortunate is the name or label - it sounds too fluffy to be sold in these hard and businesses focused times.

Session 2
Innovative approaches to Learning and development
In this two part session Robin Hoyle from Learnworks and Darren Benzani from LexisNexis Butterworths shared an external and an internal view on innovation in learning and development.
Hoyle introduced the concept of the “Innovation Hit Parade” where innovation in L&D is often targeted in one of three areas:
1) Technology – the use of technology to introduce or deliver learning in different ways
2) Multiple application – where a successful programme or product is packaged and taken from a one time use to a wholesale product or solution.
3) Spread the load – where functions outside L&D are involved in the design and delivery – for example coaching, mentoring etc.

Hi pointed to the challenge we have in the sector and that is of innovation stickiness. In training and management we love the “new shiny things” and often move on before letting new approaches embed themselves effectively. A challenge is for us to us the approach that many marketing firms use – and that is that the launch is just that the launch – for any solution to be sticky in any environment we need a regular and consistent marketing or communications plan. We need to sell our programmes and initiatives as though we are selling a product – we need to keep the concept in the minds eyes of our customers.

Benzani built on these ideas and caught the audiences attention with this opening statement ”Often training budgets are the first to get cut.. but at LexisNexis the training budget is double next year” Benzani is a strong and firm believer in measurement and evaluation and ensures that any programme his team undertakes appropriate measures (learning and operational) for all activity and has some impressive numbers to show the business just how he and his team add value.
Interestingly he is proud of the fact that as a function they do not report into HR, but into sales and marketing. He highlighted this structure as being a critical part of the way they operate and puts this down to the success they have and continue to have.

Using L&D methods for all aspects of talent engagement and retention Benzani has been instrumental in changing the recruitment process from 80% experience based recruitment to 70% behavioural – they believe they can train the experience in to people with talent. They aim for the top 5% and use IQ measures as part of the selection process to ensure this approach.

A culture of business and learner led development is important and use their PDP system as part of their reward system, with individuals receiving bonuses for development towards there behavioural framework, with quarterly meetings and three behaviours targeted each time.

Summary

Overall an interesting session in which this short piece cannot do it justice.
Key messages – back to basics – focus on the needs of your customer (the business) and if you are not the best to deliver a particular activity – outsource!

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Exhibiters - Cotswold Conference Centre

Cotswold Conference centre - A wonderful centre in Broadway in the Cotswold, great new facilities in wonderful grounds - I have been here a few times and find something new to do and explore every time.

Exhibiters - Ellis Salsby - Venue finders and project managers

Ellis-Salsby - venue finders, training and event project managers and back office providers.

Exhibiters - BiteSize

Bitesize learning - providers of short just enough learning solutions.

Exhibiters - Scott Bradbury - Training videos

Scott Bradbury - producers of high quality dvds and training material.

Exhibiters - TrainingZone

The TrainingZone team - www.trainingzone.co.uk
TrainingZone is an online journal providing up to date news in the world of training and learning and development. With regular contributions and an open forum a wonderful resource to the training community.

Arriving at the NEC

The NEC is a well connected venue for a wide range of events.

Welcome to the World of learning Conference

The conference was opened by Rory Cellan-Jones, presenter of News Night and the Today programme.

Rory's opening as he looked around the room said the many were questioning the need for more and more gadgets and technology, he posed the question "is it a good time for training?", asked not in a challenging tone but an inquisitive way.

Rory after a thought provoking 5 minutes quickly moved on to introduce the first session.

Registration for the exhibition and conference

The earlybirds for the event;

The day before

The World of Learning conference begins tomorrow at the NEC in Birmingham.

Having chosen what session I will be attending today is preparation and travelling to the venue. I'm glad I pre-booked my hotel as most of the hotels are now full in the area.

With so much happening in the world of business impacting each of us not only in our everday roles - but economically too, it will be interesting to see how suppliers are positioning themselves for the difficult climate both now and in the coming months.

As well as maintaining this blog, I will be blogging for TrainingZone on a feature they call "the water cooler".

If I don't see you in Birmingham, then please check out my experiences and add your comments.

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Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via www.rapidbi.com/

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

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Starting the process

Yesterday I received my confirmation that I could attend this conference. I have attended WOLCE before - in fact many times but only as a visitor to the exhibition. Having looked at the programme I was torn between some of the main conference event sessions and the free seminars in the exhibition hall.

The sessions I have opted to attend are:

Day 1

• The realities of informal learning
• Innovative approaches to L&D
• Developing coaching and mentoring into an invaluable L&D resource
  

Day 2

• Future of learning forum
• Developing a meaningful learning culture
• Developing leaders to take your business forward
• Driving L&D in a changing business environment.

I will be blogging my experiences both here and at the TrainingZone Watercooler

Free Seminar sessions at World of Learning

As well as the excellent conference there are many free sessions within the exhibition space. An outline of the programme is listed below:

World of Learning seminars- WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2008

• 10:30-11:00 I just don’t get it: using virtual worlds in a learning context
  Pauline Randall, Consultant, virtual-e
• 11:15-11:45 10 tips for better e-learning
  David Swaddle, Managing Director, Healthy Media Ltd
• 12:00-12:30 Technology beyond the LMS
  Gordon Bull, Chairman, Headlight Communications
• 12:45-13:15 Learning through comedy and improvisation
  Gerry Maguire Thompson, Lead Trainer, Positive Comedy Learning
• 13:30-14:00 Exciting and engaging your employees in order to delight your customers – an O2 case study
  Joe Kennard, Managing Director, Purple Media
• 14:15-14:45 Getting the best from online coaching
  Martin Searle, Managing Director, LTI Solutions
• 15:00-15:30 Using an experiential learning simulation to model and rehearse change
  Ann Alder, Consulting Director, RSVP Design Ltd
• 15:45-16:15 A new approach to distance learning
  Jacqui Nelson, Business Development Manager and Victoria Clarke, Marketing Manager, Nelson Croom
  

World of Learning seminars- THURSDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2008

• 10:30-11:00 Cross Cultural Collaboration
  Michael Maynard, Director, Maynard Leigh Associates
• 11:15-11:45 Recession? Make the ROI case and take control!
  Alan Brenton, General Manager, and Sian Howe, Marketing Manager, Outward Bound® Professional
• 12:00-12:30 Discover the key to delivering successful e-learning
  Nicola Foster, Account Manager, Seminar Learning System
• 12:45-13:15 How to become a hero in the quest for organisational change
  Martin Belton, Sales & Marketing Director, and Kate McNabb, Marketing Manager, e2train
• 13:30-14:00 How the public sector is bringing the training into the 21st century
  Malcolm Stewart, Public Sector Business Development Manager, and Myra O’Connell, Corporate Communications Manager, Steljes
• 14:15-14:45 Accrediting and quality assuring employer training programmes to deliver improved business performance
  Gareth Phillips, Director of Sales and Business Strategy, EDI
• 15:00-15:30 The ‘Hollywood’ approach to compliance training
  Matt Plass, Learning Manager, Interactive Services

The organisers of the event recommend that fee seminar sessions are free to attend, simply arrive at the seminar theatre five minutes before the session is due to start to secure your seat.

Is free second class?
Just because these sessions are free - do not underestimate them - some of the speakers here are world class - for example Michael Maynard. I have heard Michael speak many times and he is one of the most engaging and entertaining and yet natural presenters - I may well skip out of the main programme for his session.

Welcome to my World of Learning Blog

Earlier in the year I was invited to blog from the CIPD annual conference in Harrogate, in November I will be at the World Of Learning Conference and Exhibition on the 19th & 20th November in the NEC Birmingham.

Most of my detailed blogging will be on the TrainingZone site (full link when I know what it is) other more informal musings will be here.

Overview of the World of Learning:

• "The World of Learning Conference &
  Exhibition is a premier event, dedicated to providing learning and development
  professionals with the latest in business learning solutions and services.
  Featuring the UK’s leading training suppliers and training venues, a highly
  respected conference, educational seminars and workshops and interactive feature
  areas, the event provides a complete blend of learning products, solutions and
  ideas. The World of Learning is a national event taking place in
  Birmingham"

The main conference:

Wednesday 19 November 2008

• 10:00 – 10:05 Opening of conference
  Rory Cellan-Jones, Presenter, Newsnight and the Today Programme
  

OPENING ADDRESS

• 10:05 – 10:45 The realities of informal learning
  Bob Mosher, Global Learning and Strategy Evangelist, Learning Guide Solutions USA
  

MORNING SEMINARS

• 10:50 – 11:50 M1 Aligning your L&D strategy within the business strategy
  Michael White, Learning & Development Manager, The Children’s Society Martin Belton, Sales & Marketing Director, e2train
• 11:15 – 12:15 M2 Innovative approaches to L&D
  Darren Bezani, Head of Training & Development, LexisNexis Butterworths Robin Hoyle, Senior Partner, LearnWorks
  
• LUNCHTIME SEMINAR
  13:45 – 14:45 Gaining tangible learning out of new technologies
  Kate Day, Director, European Markets Sales Enablement, Cisco David Chidley & Michelle Russell, UK and Ireland Training Manager,Royal Caribbean International & Celebrity Cruises Dr Majid Al-Kader, Managing Director, Skills2Learn
  
• AFTERNOON SEMINARS
  
• 15:00 – 16:45 A1 Embedding the line manager’s role within L&D
  
• 15:00 – 16:00 Case study seminar presentation
• 16:00 – 16:45 Peer group learning session Svetlana Omeltchenko, Global Marketing Development Manager, British American Tobacco Patrick Taggart, Director, GPSVision
• 15:00 – 16:45 A2 Developing coaching and mentoring into an invaluable L&D resource
  
• 15:00 – 16:00 Case study seminar presentation
• 16:00 – 16:45 Peer group learning session Ian Ballantyne, Head of Learning and Development, Department for International DevelopmentAmanda Vickers, Director, Speak First
  

Thursday 20 November 2008

• 10:00 – 11:00 FUTURE OF LEARNING FORUM
  Clive Shepherd, independent e-learning consultant and Chair, eLearning Network Professor David Clutterbuck, Senior Partner, Clutterbuck Associates Jackie Lawlor, Head of Workplace Learning, Royal Mail Hugh Evans, Director of Corporate Programmes, Henley Management College Bob Mosher, Global Learning and Strategy Evangelist, Learning Guide Solutions USA
  
• MORNING SEMINARS
• 11:05 – 12:05 M3 Evaluating and managing expectations of L&D
  Sara Powell, Head of Training & Professional Development, Fidelity Funds Network Adrian Snook, Deputy CEO, The Training Foundation
• 11:30 – 12:30 M4 Developing a meaningful learning culture
  Peter Hallard, Director of Learning and Development, ITV Bob Bannister, Managing Director, iManage Performance
  
• AFTERNOON SEMINARS
  
• 13:45 – 14:35 A3 Creating a thirst for learning within your organisation
  Cathie Wright, HR Business Partner, Volkswagen Group UK Catherine de Salvo, Director, Scott Bradbury
• 14:10 – 15:00 A4 Developing leaders to take your business forward
  Akber Pandor, Head of Leadership Development, KPMG Europe LLP Steve Lang, Director, Motiv8 International
  

CONFERENCE CLOSING ADDRESS

• 15:10 – 15:45 Driving L&D in a changing business environment
  Richard Straub, Advisor to the Chairman, IBM Europe, Middle-East and Africa & Director of Development, European Foundation for Management Development