Resources Shared at Recent ASTD Presentations

Resources Shared at Recent Presentations

Recently I have had the privilege of speaking at a number of ASTD Chapter Meetings.  While the topics varied sum, they all fell under the larger umbrella of Social Media for Learning Professionals.

This Blog Post collects many of the resources that I discussed and shared during these presentations.

BOOKS

• Social Media for Trainers by Jane Bozarth
• Gettin' Geeky with Twitter by Gina Schreck
• The Social Learning Handbook by Jane Hart
• The New Social Learning by Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham

COMMUNITIES

• The Social Learning Community
• #lrnchat

FACEBOOK FAN PAGES

• ISD 2.0
• GettinGeeky Web Show
• Social Media for Trainers

WEBSITES AND WEB PAGES

• Seven Tips for Selling Executives on Social Media (via Social Media Examiner)
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, & the Social Media that Fulfill 'Em (via Flickr)
• How Social Media is Changing the Education Industry [INFOGRAPHIC]

BLOGS

• The 23 Things

VIDEOS

• Social Media Revolution

RECOMMEDED TWITTER FOLLOWS
Note: The value of network is determined by each individual. What I may consider of value may be different than what you do.  That said, here are a few people that I highly recommend following on Twitter if you are looking to learn more about social media use in employee learning.

• Jane Bozarth
• Marcia Conner
• Jane Hart
• Gina Schreck
• Aaron Silvers
• Terrence Wing

Reflections on #lrnchat: The Archive

Image use courtesy of lrnchat and Kevin Thorn (@LearnNuggets)

Each week that I am able to participate in #lrnchat discussion I post a summary of the discussion to my blog. I do this both for my personal development as well as sharing with the Learning and Development Profession at large.

As the number of these posts grows and continue to contribute value to me and others, I have created this post as an ongoing 'archive' and single point of reference to my #lrnchat reflection posts.  The listing starts with the most recent post and goes backwards chronologically.  

What Did You Learn Outside of a Classroom This Summer? (9/19/2011)

http://what%20if%20hr%20focused%20solely%20on%20human%20resources/? (8/18/2011)

Training Project Management (6/7/2011)

Learning Analytics  (4/4/2011)

Content Curation  (5/10/2011)

What Can We Learn about Learning from Star Wars? (Part 1) (4/18/2011)

Preparing for Change (4/16/2011)

Misconceptions About Learning Through Social Media  (3/24/2011)

How Do Learning Professionals Sell Their Strategies in Their Organizations?  (3/16/2011)

Disambiguating Terminology (3/7/2011)

Must-have Tools and Techs (2/22/2011)

If We Could Wipe The Slate Clean...  (2/14/2011)

Information Vs. Instruction  (2/10/2011)

Self-Learning  (1/21/2011)

Learning Technology Standards  (1/19/2011)

FOCUS  (1/9/2011)

Working as a One-Person Training Department  (12/14/2010)

Our Own Learning and Development: Past, Present, and Future  (12/1/2010)

21st Century Skills, Literacies, and Fluencies  (11/23/2010)

Using a Conference Backchannel for Attendees and Non-Attendees  (11/16/2010)

What is Holding Us Back as an Industry?  (11/5/2010)

Aligning and Evaluating Effective, Efficient, and Engaging Learning   (11/1/2010)

Learning in the Workflow  (10/22/2010)

Learning Malpractice  (10/11/2011)

I only started blogging in October 2010, so this as far back as I've been writing reflective posts on the discussions.  For archives of all past #lrnchat transcripts, visit http://www.lrnchat.com/.

Blogging: Why did I wait so long?

It was October 7^th 2010.  I was sitting at home, in front of my computer, about to click the ‘CREATE ACCOUNT’ button on Blogger.com, and found myself hesitating.

Earlier in the week, during a discussion about blogging in the weekly #lrnchat chat on Twitter, I had publicly stated “That’s it, I’m going to start my blog”, which added a level of accountability to an internal debate I’ve had about blogging for upwards of about three years.

I’m generally an early adopter when it comes to technology, but it wasn’t until I discovered the power of a Personal Learning Network via Twitter that I truly embraced Social Media.  A few months ago my opinion about blogging was very different, and like Twitter before it, was largely based on ignorance.

Here are some of the main reasons (or as I now see them to be – excuses) for procrastinating on starting my blog. 

The Excuse: I’ve got too much to do already without adding ‘blogging’ to my list.
The Reality: You're never too busy to do something you love and find important.

We're all busy, but we should always leave time in our schedules for the important things that have no urgency attached to them.  Personal development is definitely something we should be placing some of our focus on, and blogging is an excellent resource for that. In addition, blogging should be something you do because you enjoy it, not because you have to.  It's like the old joke...

Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this"
Doctor: "Then don't do that."

If blogging feels like a chore, guess what?  You can stop blogging.

The Excuse: Nobody is going to read it!
The Reality: What if somebody reads it? Wait... What if Nobody reads it!?!?!?

The core of this excuse comes down to one word: Insecurity.  I had this idea in my head that a blog is something that I'm delivering to the world, and it is.  What I forgot in that equation though, is that I'm at the core of that particular world.  I needed to blog for myself first, and give back to myself and my personal development.  If it turns out that someone wanted to join me for parts of the journey, that would be a welcome bonus. If no one besides me found it of value, that would be OK too.

I found that once I let go of the baggage of "Who will or will not read it?” the pressure disappeared. 

The Excuse: I've got nothing to say.
The Reality: We all have something to say.

In today's collaborative world, we all have something to contribute.  A blog can have a theme, or it can be random thoughts. There's really only one rule in my mind: Write what you feel like writing about.

Special thanks goes out to my wife for helping me overcome this hurdle.  I recall discussing this with her and when I said "I really don't have a lot to say..." her subsequent involuntary twitching reminded me that in the right context, I often have a great deal to say.

Once I made the leap of faith – which is the best way I can describe how it felt – I was fairly quickly asking myself “Why have I been denying myself this resource for so long?”

Blogging has provided me with more benefits than I ever expected.. Here are just a few examples:

Personal growth via reflective writing

Reflection is a great tool for learning.  I incorporate it into the programs I design and practice it myself. A blog is an outstanding resource for this.

I regularly write posts that reflect on the weekly #lrnchat discussions taking place on Twitter.  These chats among peers in the Learning and Development field are excellent and a great source of professional development. The posts I write reflecting on the chats reinforce and add tremendously to those learnings. 

Expands my network in a valued community

Networking is becoming more and more important every day.  For both knowledge and professional growth, who-you-know is often more important than what-you-know. A blog is a great tool to expand your network.

One of the great features of blogs is the ability to add comments.  It adds a collaborative edge to the learning, and helps incorporate you and your writing into a new or existing community.  I've enjoyed meeting and interacting with new people via comments they left on my blog.

Provides the satisfaction of contributing

While I admittedly blog primarily for myself, I also take satisfaction in knowing others have read and found value in some of what I write.  When my blog is referenced by a colleague, it is a tremendous compliment.  It is also a privilege to be able to contribute to the ever-expanding pool of resources that I pull from every day.

As I think back to October 7^th, with my cursor hovering over the CREATE ACCOUNT button like two magnets resisting a connection, I realize a few key things:

1.      I fell into the trap of the unknown, in which we create an illogical fear based on our ignorance.

2.      I completely underestimated the value blogging would provide me.

3.      While I blog for me, I cherish the connections my blog has enabled me to build with others.

4.      Though I did not realize it at the time, I did not have reasons for not starting a blog; I had excuses.

I recall taking my daughter to the pool this past Labor Day. It was cold, but it was the last day the pool was open, so my daughter insisted.  As kids do, she jumped right in without so much as a pause.  I walked to the edge, stuck my big toe in the water and lovingly said to my daughter “OK then… Have fun!”

We debated for few minutes; her repeatedly telling me the water was not cold and me pointing out the ice cubes floating by behind her. She won the debate by using my own words against me…

“Daaadddyyyy. You always tell me I should try things and not just decide I don’t like them”

If you’re considering starting a blog, jump off the edge and into the deep end of the pool.  In a best case scenario, you’ll find a similar love and satisfaction for it that I have.  And in a worst case scenario?  You jump back out of the pool, towel yourself off, and move on. 

Which, for the record, is EXACTLY what I did that cold Labor Day afternoon.

What's your Personal Social Media Strategy?

Last week I participated in a webcast featuring Jay Cross (@jaycross).  During the chat, Jay told the story of two Army Generals who got together for drinks daily and discussed the stories of their day.  At one point, they realized that others would benefit from hearing their stories as well, and a blog was born.  Many of the simple stories shared, like the fact that it's quicker to open a wax-paper-wrapped Tootsie Roll than a plastic-wrapped Jolly Rancher in 120 degree heat (an thus reduce the amount of time you could be standing still in a potential sniper's sights), saved lives.

What I personally do as a Learning Professional is by no means a life and death scenario, no matter what my stakeholders may sometimes think.  However, I was reminded of Jay's story during a conversation I had with my friend Mark Britz (@britz) later in the week.  He was asking me what my personal strategy was related to social media, as the story might be useful for a project he is working on (details below)*.  As I typed up the story for Mark, I was reminded of Jay's story of the Army Generals.  It's for that reason that I ended my email to Mark by asking if he would mind me using the story as a blog post, which if you're reading this, he obviously agreed to.

So, if you find this post of value, I'm glad.  If you don't, well... blame Mark. ;-)

My Social Media Strategy

To be completely honest, I didn't start with a strategy.  I played with Facebook a bit personally, but didn't really fully embrace social media until about two years ago.

I avoided Twitter under the common banner of ignorance labelled "I have no interest in what Ashton Kutcher had for breakfast".  Still, something compelled me to try Twitter to see what all the fuss was about.  It was there that I discovered #LRNCHAT and learned about PLNs (Personal Learning Networks).

The concept of networking has always been there, but looking at it as a community that I could both add value to and pull value from was a structure I had not considered before.  As I became more comfortable contributing, interacting with peers, and developing relationships through Twitter, I started to subconsciously plan my social media and PLN strategy.

There wasn't a specific "What's my strategy?" decision moment at first.  It started with more of an awareness, and a concern around image or brand. I remember seeing a tweet that was incredibly hilarious, yet in truth, completely filthy.  I was about to hit the retweet button thinking that this was too funny not to share, and paused with a thought..."Does this joke match the image I've been forging?"

I think that's the moment when my social media strategy was born.  That moment of pause made me reflect on my interactions on Twitter.  I realized that the vast majority of my tweeting was based on my profession.  Likewise, most of the people who had chosen to follow me seemed to share the interest in the Learning and Performance field.  Through my activity, I had unintentionally created an image, or possibly, a brand.  With that realization came focus, and an important connection.

I hope to one day work exclusively as an independent consultant.  Right now though, being a family man with two young kids and a mortgage mandates the steady income and health benefits of an organizational role.  I've been dipping my feet in consulting and speaking professionally, but my opportunities have been limited, usually to one or two events per year. I was well known in the local ASTD community, but not too much outside of that.  I knew that if I wanted to increase my opportunities, I needed to extend my reach.  I saw Twitter, and my PLN, as a major resource to further develop my skills and extend my outreach.

I started participating more, and decided to finally make the leap to blogging.  That move to blogging too, wasn't strategic at first.  I'd been interested in blogging, but hesitated under the insecurity of "Who would want to read it?"  I remember Dave Ferguson (@Dave_Ferguson) telling me "Blog for yourself, not others" and that inspired me to finally make the leap.  Starting this blog was a major milestone in my social media strategy. 

The blog very quickly became a labor of love, and something that is deeply meaningful and beneficial to me personally.  Somewhere along the way, it dawned on me that people were interested in what I had to say.  It was genuinely surprising to see people talking about my blog, posting comments, and asking me if they could repurpose posts.  That's when my strategic plan really kicked into high gear.  I wanted to leverage this momentum to create a brand for me, with the ultimate goal of creating an awareness of what I bring to the table, and in turn, hopefully having doors and opportunities open up to me.  So far, it's been working.

The 'brand' and reputation I've built were directly involved in me booking my first paid speaking engagement, which was much less about the money and much more about the "Holy $#!+, someone paid me to speak" experience.  I've currently got three additional speaking engagements booked through April, all of which came from doors that were opened by the brand I've forged via this idea of social media strategy.

I'm growing personally and professionally, plus - and this is the most important part of the equation - I'm loving every minute of it.

Keep in mind, my strategy is still in it's infancy.  I only started blogging in October.  Social media moves fast; the best description I've heard has it described as "moving at the speed of Jane"**.  The tools change quickly, and it's likely that today's Twitter will probably be tomorrow's MySpace.  Any social media strategy would need to keep pace with that.  My strategy will evolve and expand over time with the tools and through my successes and failures.  It's likely though that my primary three-prong approach will remain the same: Participate, add value, and create an awareness of what I bring to the table. 

For me, the most important moment of my social media strategy was it's birth.  Looking back, it's kind of humorous to realize that my strategy was born of a 'dirty tweet' that I decided not to re-tweet because it didn't match the image I hadn't even been aware I was creating. 

Want to create your own personal social media strategy?  I bet you, like me, already have and may not even realize it.  Take a look at your tweets.  Take a look at who follows you.  Recognize the pattern that likely exists and ask yourself if that's the image you want to be creating.

Regardless of what the answer is, you probably have the birth of your personal social media strategy.  From there it's just a matter of nurturing it to maturity.

Good Luck, and I'll see you in the network.


*If you're in the Central NY area, on March 30th Mark Britz will be speaking at the Career Connections Conference in Syracuse.  This is more than a job fair; it's a comprehensive day of workshops, job-seeking services, employee recruitment, and more. For details, visit http://www.cnyworks.com/ or reach out to Mark via Twitter (@britz).

**If you don't know what this phrase means, follow @JaneBozarth and you quickly will. ;-)

DevLearn10 Learning Resources: Collected

In a previous posting I discussed way to learn from the DevLearn10 conference via the backchannel. I shared a couple of approaches that work for me, but I forgot one very important technique that can be very effective:

Let someone else do the work for you!

In the spirit of that technique, here are some of the many resources I have collected and bookmarked as part of my DevLearn10 backchannel learning.  I hope this list is of value to both backchannel learners and live attendees looking to enhance their learning.

For starters, the official conference website has the program guide and handouts available.  You can access it HERE.

Conference Summaries and Recaps

DevLearn, Reflected #dl10 by Cammy Bean
DevLearn 2010 Recap by Philip Hutchison
Three Lessons Learned at DevLearn 2010 by Phil Cowcill
DevLearn 2010 Reflections by Koreen Olbrish
DevLearn 2010 - but no time for blogging! by Jane Hart
DevLearn 10: Day 1 by Jay Cross
DevLearn 10: Day 2 by Jay Cross
DevLearn 10: Finale by Jay Cross
What I Learned at DevLearn 10 by Steve Nguyen
2 Emerging Learning Trends Distilled from DevLearn 2010 by Nemo
DevLearn 10 Opens in San Francisco by Bill Brandon
Live from DevLearn 2010 by Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
DevLearn 2010 - Part 2 by Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell     (Added November 12th)
DevLearn 10, The Aftermath... by Laura Dickson
In the Middle of the Curve by Wendy Wickham
My DevLearn 2010 Experience (#DL10) by Brian Dusablon     (Added November 12th)
My (first) DevLearn 2010 review: A different perspective by Kevin Thorne     (Added November 12th)
DevLearn 10 Notes by Michael McCabe     (Added November 12th)
DevLearn 2010 Conference Wrap by Jill Duffy     (Added November 12th)
The DevLearn 2010 Write Up (#DL10) by Aaron Silvers     (Added November 12th)
The Wrap-Up...Much Later Than I'd Intended... by Shawn Rosler    (Added November 18th)
The DevLearn 2010 Cheat Sheet: Refresh Yourself on 4 Key Takeaways (Interviews) by Nemo (Added December 3rd)

Slide Presentations
25+ mLearning Tools in 60 Minutes by B. J. Schone
The State of Learning in the Workplace Today by Jane Hart
Intro to Compressing Audio and Video AND Best Practices for Working with Video in Learning by Nick Florio
Mining the Value of Microsharing by Steve Nguyen
Games for Learning by Richard Culatta
Design Thinking + Democracy by Aaron Silvers

Session-Specific Discussions

John Seely Brown: The Power of Pull by Cammy Bean
John Seely Brown: The Power of Pull by Brian Dusablon
Translating tried and true engagement (Jane Bozarth session) by Jeff Narvid
The State of Learning in the Workplace Today (Jane Hart session) by Sumeet Moghe
The New Social Learning with Marcia Conner - Live Blog by Sumeet Moghe
How to Create a Podcast for e-Learning, DevLearn 2010 (Rick Nielsen session) by Jill Duffy
Multiple Session Notes by Shawn Rosler
Understanding the Tools of the Social Learning Landscape (Mark Oelhert workshop) by Sumeet Moghe
John Seely Brown: The Power of Pull (Mind Map) by Clark Quinn
The e-Learning Guild Announces DemoFest 2010 Winners by Bill Brandon    (Added November 12th)

Miscellaneous
#Lrnchat Live at DevLearn by Jane Hart
Visualization of the #Dl10 Tweet Stream via the Archivist
Making Connections by Harold Jarche
Flickr Stream by Charles Jennings
Enterprise Social Learning Needs Porous Walls by Sumeet Moghe
The Faces of e-Learning by Kevin Thorne
#dl10 Tweet Stream Archive for 11/1 through 11/7
A collection of DevLearn 10 photos started by @onEnterFrame
e-Learning Pros: What did we want to be? by Cammy Bean
e-Learning Product Launches announced at DevLearn by Learning Solutions Magazine
DevLearn 10 Conference and Expo Pics by The eLearning Guild    (Added November 12th)

I will be adding to this list as I discover new resources, and will tweet updates if warranted.  If you know of a valued resource I should add to the list, please add it to the comments or tweet me a link to @LnDDave.

If you find these collections of value, I have posts that consolidate the backchannel resources from other conferences.  An archive of all of these posts can be accessed by clicking the link below:

Click here to access the archive of backchannel resource posts.

Reflections on #lrnchat: What is Holding Us Back as an Industry?

Each week that I am able to participate in #lrnchat discussion I post a summary of the discussion to my blog. I do this both for my personal development as well as sharing with the Learning and Development Profession at large. This summary is based on my own interpretations of the chat; others who participated may have differing opinions or interpretations of the discussion. I welcome those that do to add your ideas to the comments.

The topic of this week's #lrnchat session was "What is Holding Us Back as an Industry?."

I always find looking at the questions that are used to loosely guide the chat as a nice way to see the overall theme of the chat. Here are the five discussion questions that were presented to the group:

Q1) What is holding us back as an industry?
Q2) What is holding back your organization?
Q3) What is holding you back as an individual?
Q4) What is needed to set your organization free?
Q5) What is needed to set *you* free?

Key Learning Points

The #lrnchat discussions are an excellent source of development for L&D professionals. It is one of many resources we can use to develop our skills, add to our knowledge, and help continuing to move ourselves and our profession moving forward. This week's discussion looked at the other side of that coin; what is holding us back?

The discussion first focused on what is holding back the L&D profession. Our industry needs to become business focused in every aspect. Our work needs to provide value to all of our stakeholders, be there investment be financial support or their investment of time via participation. We need to get away from the widget-based metrics of the past and focus on the impact and value our effort have on critical business performance.

Next we focused on what is holding back our organizations. I found that many of the obstacles discussed regarding our organizations were directly tied to the obstacles focused by our profession. One of the more common themes discussed was the continuing battle with organizational silos. If departments continue to manage their own learning and performance issues in a vacuum, how can the organization possibly reach their overall performance goals and objectives?

From there the conversation migrated towards what holds us back as individuals. There were a number of challenges described, from resources to time, and from knowledge to empowerment. Ultimately though, almost all of the items shared were shackles we choose to wear. Even if they were placed on us by someone else, we have the power to choose to take them off.

The discussion continued with what would be required to set the organization free. There were a number of options shared, all of which shared one theme: the L&D group can not set the organization free by itself. We need the assistance and support of others in the organization, from senior management, to middle managers, to front line. Setting the organization free requires changing the organization's culture, and that takes time and buy-in across all levels.

The discussion concluded with what would be required to set *you* as an individual free. I was a little surprised to see a number of responses to this question that suggested things that we don't have control over, such as bandwidth, budget, and other resources. I go back to my shackles analogy from earlier; when it comes to breaking out of the shackles, I want to be the one with the key. If I have to wait for someone else to give me the key, I could be waiting a very long time.

Unfortunately, the answers to these question are not that different than the answers you would have received five or ten years ago. I think that many of those who participate in #lrnchat are, by nature, forward thinkers, and are likely ahead of the curve in these areas. In order to get our profession to move forward, we need to find a way to get those who are not early adopters to jump on the train. That would change the perception of the 'norm' for Learning and Performance programs. If we can do that, many of the obstacles individuals and organizations encounter would be eliminated.

Throughout the discussion ideas and strategies were shared that can help learning professionals adjust to the shifting landscape of workplace learning and performance. Whether you are a novice learning professional or a more seasoned professional that is looking to help build a bridge for novices, you will find many great ideas shared in the discussion. As always, you can find the full transcripts at http://lrnchat.com/.

There are always at least a couple of tweets that resonate well with the topic and seem to really strike a chord. Here are a few that stuck out to me from today's sessions:

On what is holding us back as an industry:
@Quinnovator: lack of evidence-based practice, lack of recognition of the need to look at ‘big L’ Learning: perf support, social, and more
@wilko64: Not understanding who our learning audience is and why they WANT to learn. Not understanding Knowledge work skill needs
@britz: We are often the barrier – we talk learning too much and not enough abt performance, execution, revenue..etc

On what is holding back our organizations:
@britz: Poor execution…lack of communication…oh, and silos…damn you silos!
@everyselearning: Money was holding back my org until I realized how to use FREE as a business model.
@TriciaRansom: Guts, time, $$$, resources (or lack thereof), lack of energy

On what is holding us back as individuals:
@smklausner: Easy to rely on the familiar
@gminks: Not connecting with you guys enough. Forgetting I'm not alone.
@wlonline: Organizational "rules"
@jkunrein: Being honest here... Fear of not being taken seriously if I try the crazy things I dally want to.

On what is needed to break an organization free:
@Quinnovator: "If it is to be, it can not be just me" via @marciamarcia
@lewismal: Higher level champions who will encourage and reward wise risk taking.
@JaneBozarth: cooperation from the middle layer

On what is needed to break *you* free:
@Catherine_Delia: Participating in a chat like this opens new avenues for ideas.
@TriciaRansom: I find I do best work when I have tight constraints. Forces me to be innovative and focused.
@LandDDave: If what you need to set yourself free needs to be provided by someone else, well, you're pretty much screwed.

In my past Reflections on #lrnchat posts, I have ended the summary with what I consider the most thought provoking tweet of the chat. I'm going to cheat on that pattern a bit this time.

For me the most thought provoking tweet came not during the chat, but the morning after from @britz: last nites #lrnchat left me wanting. Good Q's such as "What's holding you, industry, & org back?" But wish we added "what R u doing abt it?"

That's a perfect way of summing up my thoughts on the chat as well. As with learning, knowing something isn't what matters; it's applying that knowledge in a constructive way that matters. Perhaps we'll cover what we're personally going to do to break free our shackles in a follow-up discussion.

Tools for BackChannel Learning: DevLearn10

Last month I wrote a post about extracting learning from a conference you are not attending. In it I explored a number of ways that non-attendees can learn a great deal, even without attending a conference.

This week, I put much of those theories to practice, following the backchannel for the DevLearn10 conference. This blog posts expands on the recommendation from my previous post by exploring the unique backchannel learning opportunities that may exist at a conference, in this case, DevLearn10.

Explore the Program Guides

Learning from a conference is obviously easier when you actually attend it. Therefore, it's also understandable that a backchannel learner may need to do some extra pre-work to help bridge that learning gap.

One way to do that is by reviewing the conference's program guide before the conference begins. This is an excellent practice for any conference you attend, but I think the importance of this task differs for in-person and backchannel attendance. When you review the conference program for planned attendance, the general perspective is one of 'Which session do I want to attend?" For backchannel learning, the review of the program is a more critical part of the learning process, as it provides a fairly thorough overview of the themes, trends, and ideas being covered at the conference.

Another important part of the program guide review is planning what sessions you want to learn from. This, again, is in some ways even more important for the backchannel learner. When I attend a conference in person, my 'work calendar' for those days consists of something like this:

8:00am - 6:00pm: Attend Conference

It's highly unlikely that my work schedule when learning through the backchannel would read: 8:00am - 6:00pm: Follow Conference Backchannel <-- That's unrealistic in most organizations

It's therefore critical for a backchannel learner to review the program guide in advance, so that they may be able to block out time periods with speakers they may want to learn from. As a personal example, I have many projects I am currently working on, but I blocked out the time period for Marcia Conner's DevLearn10 Keynote.

DevLearn really raised the bar for program guides this year with their excellent program guide app pictured to the left. Powered by EventPilot, this app truly set a high bar for future conferences. Then again, would you expect less from the leading e-learning conference and expo?

The app contained much more than the schedule and details of all the sessions. It also included many other features of value to a backchannel learner, including:

* A live twitter feed of the conference hash tag

* A listing and summary of all of the expo exhibitors

* A great number of presentation slides from each of the sessions, which could be searched upon.

* A home page that features what's happening now

* The ability to take your own notes directly into the application, even linked to specific slides, and then email all of it to a colleague or yourself - nice!

That last bullet point alone made this application tremendously valuable to a backchannel learner. I only wish that I had discovered and explored the app more in advance of the conference so that I could leverage it more during the conference. As it was, it still created tremendous value as I explored it on the fly.

Use a Twitter 'Power Tool'

There are a great number of desktop and online tools that provide additional Twitter functionality not found via Twitter.com. Leveraging these tools can greatly enhance backchannel learning.

The tool that I use is one of the most popular: TweetDeck. TweetDeck enables a user to follow multiple Twitter feeds simultaneously. At first glance TweetDeck may seem overwhelming; in reality, it is actually filtering the Twitter stream into more targeted and actionable information. Using TweetDeck, I can simultaneously monitor my primary Twitter feed, as well as various search options.

During DevLearn, I had four primary columns open: My primary feed, my favorites, the DevLearn10 hashtag feed, and mentions. This combination of columns is, for me, the ideal backchannel learning environment. The DevLearn hashtag lists all the conference tweets. As I see something I may want to investigate further at a later time, I can set it as a favorite. If I am actively participating in the backchannel, I can immediately see if people are trying to interact with me via the mentions column.

I highly recommend TweetDeck and tools like it to enhance your general Social Media experience, and consider it to be a prerequisite for backchannel learning. The image below shows the TweetDeck layout I am using during DevLearn10.

Another reason I like TweetDeck is that it very well supports the in-and-out nature of backchannel learning. I can very easily review the tweet stream for a bit, return to my regular work for a period of time, and come back to TweetDeck without missing a beat.

I leverage TweetDeck's 'Clear All' button for this purpose. During DevLearn, I have TweetDeck running as shown in the above image. When I have the opportunity to review the backchannel, I do so. When I need to return to regular work, I click the Clear All button in each column to clear out the tweets. That way, when I return to TweetDeck later, I know anything on my screen is new and I should review.

Engage in Conference Learning Activities

DevLearn10 had a couple of excellent activities that expanded on the learning and engagement of the conference. One such activity that I participated in was called Backchatter.

Backchatter is an interesting game that further engages conference attendees. The idea behind Backchatter is simple: Participants think about the conference and choose the three words that they think will appear most often during the upcoming 60-90 minutes of backchannel. Those words are scored based on how many participants chose the word, and points are earned every time a tweet contains the word.

It was a simple game with real-time scoring that definitely added another leavel of engagement to the conference. It also enhanced backchannel learning.

For one thing, participating in this game put a backchannel participant on almost equal ground with an in-person attendee, at least in relation to the game. It also further enhanced backchannel learning. One basic rule of learning is just as true in the backchannel as it is in any other type of learning: If you are engaged, you have a better chance of learning. Backchatter definitely succeeds at increasing engagement.

Another way that Backchatter contributed to the learning was a subtle part of it's home page. It included a tag cloud that showed the most commonly chosen words of the participants. Like the program guide, this tag cloud provided a glimpse into the overall themes and ideas that were floating through the minds of conference participants.

Search the Hashtag for Tweets with Links

Monitoring a conference backchannel can be time consuming. Doing so live is preferred, as it gives you the option to interact with conference attendees. Unfortunately, that's not always an option.

When time is an issue, that doesn't eliminate backchannel learning. You can make best use of your limited time by performing an advanced search for tweets that provide more detail for your backchannel learning.

In my previous post on learning from a conference you did not attend, I suggested performing an advanced search looking for blog posts about the conference. For DevLearn10, I used a different approach that I think casts a wider, and more effective, net.

Using the advanced search functionality of Twitter (available at http://search.twitter.com/), search on the conference hashtag. In addition, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the search options, you will see an check box option labelled 'Containing Links'; check that. Here's what the results of such a search look like:

Since most tweets referencing blog posts include a link, this search covers that. It also catches much more valuable information for backchannel learning, including:

• Photos from the conference, often including pictures of slides being displayed.
• Links to resources and tools that speakers recommend
• Links to videos that compliment the conference content.

These are just a few of the techniques that can be used for backchannel learning. I have found them very helpful in enabling me to learn a great deal from the DevLearn10 conference. I hope these tips help you learn from an upcoming conference.

If you have any additional tips for learning via the backchannel, please add it via a comment.

Lessons Learned from the ASTD Chapter Leaders Conference - Part 2

The first day of the ASTD Chapter Leaders Conference was great. The sessions were informative, I was able to network with new and existing friends and peers, and I ended my day with a pretty extensive action plan for my chapter.

Of course, like most conferences, the marathon day was a little tiring, and I was looking forward to getting some much needed rest. I should point out that with a six year old and one year old at home, it's rare that I don't wake up earlier then I'd prefer each morning, so I was really looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunity and 'sleeping in' till 7:30 or so.

That was, of course, before I learned that Bob Pike was going to be conducting an informal Q&A session during breakfast, starting at 7:00.

Informal Q&A with Bob Pike

I arrived a few minutes after seven, and there was a already a crowd of about 75 people and growing present. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought listening to Bob Pike was worth getting up early for. By the time the session ended, there were probably 300 people in the room.

Bob Pike has always been a friend to ASTD, not only at a National level, but for the individual chapters as well. I was very impressed with how chapter-specific and relevant his comments were. Here are some of the highlights.

An interesting statistic was shared regarding the Learning and Development field: 50% of all trainers have been in the business for less than 5 years. That shows that half of those who may be interested in our events are novices in their roles. Does our programming reflect that?

There was discussion regarding legacy, specifically wondering if there is legacy to your chapter. Here's a good yardstick to initially measure legacy: if the incoming Chapter President is here less then three years, it shows that there is likely no legacy in the chapter.

Bob also discussed the marketing of chapter events and used a great example to drive the thought home. He asked how many of us would be able to attend a session he was having on October 28th, about 3 weeks from today. About 10% of the audience raised their hands. He then asked how many of us would be able to attend the same event if it was held on March 3rd 2010, and about 80% of the audience raised their hand. The same concept applies to our chapter meetings. People need to plan ahead - the more notice we give em, the better attendance we will likely see.

Bob closed his chat by reviewing what he considers to be the three major reasons that people join a local chapter: Content, networking, and most importantly, connections!

The session ended with the National Advisors for Chapters presenting Bob with a gift and thanking him not just for the morning, but for all the support he has given to ASTD and the local chapters throughout his career.

I could not agree more. It was a great way to start the day (and well worth getting up early for).

Breakout Session- Center Stage: Social Media

This session was actually broken into two parts. The first part was facilitated by Deb Lang and Linda Pinkham of the Central Indiana chapter. Their presentation was on introducing Social Media within Chapters, with the main focus being introducing Twitter to the group.

I've seen 'Introductory Twitter' taught a number of different ways, but never like this. All participants were issued handouts that had a number of fallout boxes on them. The facilitators used these boxes to walk the group through setting up their Twitter profile, composing their initial tweet, and the concept of reviewing, retreating, and following other people.

It was a highly interactive session that was informative and fun. As the audience started handing their pages around the table to review and retweet the tweets of others, there was a great deal of laughter. More importantly, there was learning, as there were a number of questions being asked of myself and the other Twitter users at the table by those that had not yet taken the jump into the Tweet-stream.

After a short break, it was time for the second half of the breakout session. This portion, facilitated by Patrick O'Malley of the Greater Boston Chapter, focused on marketing your chapter via social media.

Let me just say one thing before I talk about the learning points. If you have the opportunity to attend a session that Patrick O'Malley facilitates, DO IT. Don't think about it, just do it. You will not be disappointed. This was a highly energetic session, filled with extremely valuable and actionable content, delivered in a roll-off-your-chair humor style. Patrick is obviously a
naturally funny person, and he is able to channel it in a way that it enhances his message and the learning of his audience in a way you rarely see. This wasn't just the best session of the conference for me and others; we all agreed it was one of the best we've attended, period.

OK, that should be enough to warrant a referral fee of some sort. Now I can share with you some of the tips from the session. Patrick gave the audience a number of great ideas on how chapters can better market themselves via social media.

If people search Google for "professional training organization", you want your chapter's name on the top of the search results. Why is that so important? Consider this: ten percent of people never go past the first Google search page. If your chapter appears on page two of the search, ninety percent of searchers will never see it.

Google likes it when one sites points to another - it helps up your rank. If every chapter listed the other chapters on it, all of their Google search profiles would be raised.

Patrick also recommended that chapters market their events via Television commercials. There was a large number of people who sarcastically chuckled at this suggestion, as generally chapters don't have the budget for TV advertising. It wasn't until Patrick pulled the Flip camera out that people really grasped his message. If you have a Flip or an iPhone, you have all you need for TV advertising, via YouTube.

Have a speaker record a 30 second summary of an upcoming event, upload it to YouTube, and BINGO, you now have a TV Commercial that you can link to in your chapter communications.

Another area we explored was LinkedIn, and how chapters can find potential new members in its database. A popular misconception about LinkedIn search is that when you are searching for people to connect with, you search for the person's name in the PEOPLE search option. That label is misleading, because what you are really searching when you use the PEOPLE search option are profiles. That's important, because you can search for job roles like Training Manager or Training Specialist to find new people that may be interested in your meetings. This functionality is further expanded via LinkedIn's advanced search options.

Patrick also gave some tips for using Facebook and Twitter to market chapters.

He discussed advertising on Facebook as it targets the ad to profiles that may be interested in it. There is no upfront cost to advertising on Facebook, but there is a cost every time a user clicks on your add.

As for Twitter, it was suggested to search phrases that trainers may include in their tweets to prospect for members, such as "Taught a class" in your region. In addition, Twellow, which functions as sort of a Yellow Pages for Twitter users, was recommended as a resource.

The session ended with cheers and a well-deserved standing ovation. I look forward to my next opportunity to learn from Patrick.

Patrick has made the slides from his session, as well as a host of additional resources available on his website. You can get all the information HERE.

Keynote: Tony Bingham

Tony Bingham's keynote was what closed the conference for me, as I had an phone appointment during the last session of the conference. Tony shared with the group some important chapter updates, including:

*CPLP bundle is approved for public funding in NY - how can I leverage this?
*There is now a portal that chapters can use for collaboration. It is available at http://www.collaborate.astd.org/.
*CHAMP/website fees will be phased in. Fees will be scaled based on chapter size category. Specific fees will be announced in October.
*Chapter websites - ability to add new pages coming this month!
*Chapters are currently required to have 30% joint members. This will be staying at 30% in 2011, and increasing 5% annually till it reaches 50%. Currently the average joint membership for chapters is 41%; that percentage goes up to 67% if you're on CHAMP.
*National has just released a new toolkit for chapters that provide practices for succession planning.
*There have been enhancements to the CHiP program, including 10% on conferences and 10% on job bank referrals (employers also get a 15% discount when referred by a chapter)

At the conclusion of the session, many of the exiting members of the National Advisors for Chapters were thanked for their service, including the exiting NAC President, Cindy Hugg (Great Job Cindy! Thanks for all the assistance!).

Day 2 and Conference Summary

Day 2 reinforced the feelings that I had at the end of Day 1- that this was a valuable experience for me as an ASTD Chapter Leader, and one I hope to repeat in 2011.

The conference left me with many action items to review and plan for in the coming weeks and months. My train ride from Washington back to New York City was about 3 hours, and I spent the whole time reviewing and refining my notes from the conference.

My only regret regarding the conference was in my travel plans. I came to the conference late Thursday night after work, and left Saturday evening at the end of the conference. There were a great deal of chapter leaders who were there earlier than me and who stayed the night on Saturday, and I would have enjoyed continuing the networking with those peers.

Thanks to all those I met and shared with at the conference, both in person and via the Twitter backchannel. I look forward to seeing you again in 2011.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Why "Misadventures in Learning"?

Another delay in me creating a blog was struggling with what to title it. Most of the really good blogs that I have read have some sort of title that answers the question, why does this blog exist?

That begs the question "What would I blog about?". Now there aren't any rules that I'm aware of that restrict what I can or can not post a blog entry about, but I did want it to have some sort of cohesive theme. In thinking about what I would probably right most about, it would be my passion, Learning.

When it comes to learning, I've always felt that our greatest learning moments often come not from our successes, but from our failures. In that regard, I have A LOT that I can share; hence the title of the blog, Misadventures in Learning.

I imagine that most of my posts will be sharing my experiences and perspectives in the Learning and Development field, as well as sharing many of the resources I find and use that cause people to often ask "how do you find out these things?"

Of course like learning, I expect this blog to be more about the journey than the destination. If you are reading this, thanks for coming along for part of the ride.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I've set up my blog! (now what?)

Well after thinking about it for years and almost starting a number of times, I've finally set up my own personal blog. Of course, the question now turns to content, which is probably why it took me too long to start the blog in the first place.

I think that part of the reason that I procrastinated with starting a blog was that I was completely misinterpreting the blog experience. I equate it very much to my feelings on Twitter. I, like many non-tweeters before me, looked down on Twitter as a pointless community with no value that was full of egotistical maniacs who for some reason think I should care about what they just had for breakfast. In reality, most of that, well... Actually most of that is true, with one HUGE exception. I discovered a tremendous value in Twitter as a development tool and professional learning network builder.

I have really grown to love Twitter for the sharing that is available through the people I have connected with. It has also helped me see the value of a well-written blog, as many of my connections will post a quick Twitter update when they update their blog, and I have discovered a wealth of knowledge and expertise through this network.

I've decided to start my own blog to add the the knowledge and skills being shared by my network. In doing so, I'll be getting over my final hurdle - questioning who might find a blog from me of value. While I hope that some people do occasionally read my blog and find some value in it, in truth, as long as I and others find value in me writing it, it will exist.