Attending a conference in-person is not always an option. Budget constraints, scheduling, and getting approvals can often prevent you and your staff from participating as attendees, or even presenters. 

More and more, we see virtual conference options being offered – either an entire virtual conference, or the virtual attendance option for an on-site conference. These live virtual learning experiences have extensive benefits (and limited drawbacks) if they’re well produced and facilitated.

The Producer Perspective

I have been producing and facilitating virtual conferences for several organizations for the past five years. These are virtual tracks at the conferences, meaning that we broadcast only specific sessions that are taking place on-site. This gives attendees a multi-day experience with sessions chosen from the overall schedule to be streamed live.

Remember the adage “the cobbler’s children have no shoes?” It’s a reference to the fact that we tend to be so focused on using our expertise and special talents to help others, that we neglect our own needs. 

That is so true for us in the L&D profession. We dedicate our careers to enabling others to be successful while often not managing our own personal learning paths. And when we do focus on our own talent development, we overlook the value of true face time.

Let’s face it, all this virtual, online learning is great. But getting together to learn can be energizing, and fun! An in-person training conference can be a great learning opportunity that keeps you connected to trends, new training approaches, and can expand your personal learning network.

I'll tell you a secret. I enjoy speaking at ATD TechKnowledge more than I do ATD ICE. The people at this conference are so focused on a common goal - using EdTech to support the learning function. Everyone you talk to has a story to tell and a problem to solve - and I believe I learn more from the attendees then they learn from me!

If you attended and have feedback or would like to continue the conversation reach out to me on Twitter @InSyncJennifer #ATDTK.

2016 Online Learning Conference Recap

Greetings from Chicago! Members of the InSync Training team, including Jennifer Hofmann, have had the privilege of attending Training Magazine’s 2016 Online Learning Conference (OLC). This three-day, in-person learning event highlights some of our most favorite things about our industry: a community of practitioners who believe in collaboration and the transformative power of online learning.

With learning legends and rising stars on the presentation agenda, the lessons learned were innumerable. In the spirit of the modern classroom, which supports skill-building through access to a myriad of resources, we would like to share takeaways from two of the keynote sessions, and some resources to support key themes present in the conference agenda.

Recently, we had the privilege of sponsoring and attending Training Magazine’s 2016 Conference in Orlando, Florida.

This event brings industry thought leaders and practitioners together to learn from one another, collaborate to find solutions to common challenges, and celebrate our successes.

The wisdom gained is worth sharing beyond the conference. The most important lessons we learned included the power of hands-on learning, applied deception, collaboration and curiosity, as well as two big trends we are extremely passionate about ourselves.

Training Magazine’s 2015 Online Learning Conference (OLC) has come to a close. While yesterday was a short day for many attendees due to travel, the wisdom imparted by session presenters was no less impactful.

Yesterday, the Training Magazine 2015 Online Learning Conference (OLC) included a day full of learning and networking. I participated in informative and hands-on sessions,attended the conference networking night at Howl at the Moon, and interviewed Kevin Thorn, President of Nuggethead Studioz. I’m excited to share all of that with you in this post!

Greetings from Denver!

Please allow me to introduce myself: my name is Katelind Hays and I am the Social Media Marketing Manager for InSync Training. I have the great privilege of attending Training Magazine’s 2015 Online Learning Conference (OLC) with InSync President Jennifer Hofmann.