Five sessions not to miss at ATD 2018

I am lucky enough to be attending my first ever ATD International Conference and Expo in San Diego this May with the Totara team. While you may find me at the stand (#1027) for most of the conference, I am hoping to sneak out to the following seminars, that you’ll no doubt see me at:

1. Keynote – May 7th, 8:30 – 9:30am 
   One word: Obama. I remember reading the announcement back in October and being absolutely gobsmacked. Once word got out about who was announced as the keynote, everyone in the Brighton office raised their hands pretty quickly to come along to ATD 2018. Now, whether or not you agree with Barack Obama’s politics, there’s no doubt about it, he was a great leader, inspirational to many and influential to American history.
2. TU112 – The Power of Podcasting: Using Podcasting in Your Learning Strategy | Tue, May 08 | 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM | Room 14
   Now, this might not be for everyone, but I’ve fallen hard onto the podcasting bandwagon. There’s a few that I listen to weekly, and I’ve even debated starting a couple with some of my friends and colleagues on a bevy of topics. I’m intrigued by podcasting not only from a marketing perspective but how it can also fit into an L&D strategy if done effectively. If you think about how marketing teams use podcasts as a way to tell the stories of products and case studies, why not use the same tactics to teach your internal teams on sales training? What’s better than being right in the ear of the person you’re trying to influence?
3. W23EXD – How to Give Your Organization the Freedom to Lear | Wed, May 09 | 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM | Room 23B
   You’ll hear a lot about learning platform implementations and how to pick and choose the right one during ATD, no doubt about it. You’ll be sucked into a few sales pitches, shown a few product demos, and that’s all part of the fun of a huge conference and expo like ATD 2018. While I highly recommend you come equipped with a list of critical questions to ask vendors if you’re in the market for a learning management system, I also suggest you attend seminars where you’ll hear first-hand case study accounts of working with the system. I am most definitely biased with my #3 choice of sessions, as Totara CEO, Richard Wyles will kick off this seminar with a background on Totara’s Four Freedoms, and how we operate our open source learning platform and how it differs from others in the market. Delegates will get an idea of how flexible and innovative the Totara Learn ecosystem really is, by hearing first-hand case studies by our very own users, including Indeed and Sandler Systems, and why they made the switch to Totara from proprietary learning management systems. Add this session to your showpla.
4. ATD Forum 1 – Building a Culture of Continuous Innovation: The Concept Poster | Mon, May 07 | 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM | Room 7B
   The fourth Industrial Revolution has not been kind to many organisations who haven’t been able to adapt and innovate in this era of digital transformation. But for others who have been able to stay competitive did so by embracing this change, and innovating as fast as change is happening. This session promises to help demonstrate what an innovation-orientated culture looks like, and from my perspective, I am curious to see if there are any further ties between a culture of innovation and open source. Bonus, for those interested in how digital transformation has altered how training is delivered, be sure to catch this sessio on a similar theme.
5. M200 – Amplify: #LeadLikeAGirl and Ignite the Impact of Women Leaders | Mon, May 07 | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Room 6A
   Time for some female self-empowerment at ATD 2018! Recently I was asked to participate in an interview with our content partners (and fellow exhibitors at ATD) – GO1, for International Women’s Day. Throughout the process, I realised how fortunate I am to work in a team of three talented female marketing professionals – Minna, Kayleigh and Iris, and how I’ve been inspired by many other women since my early days in the learning technologies/e-learning industry. That being said, I know that there’s still a significant amount of work to do here in Australia and abroad, to raise women up in the workplace. I am looking forward to this session to hear how we can really start a movement and make an impact.

And there you have it. While this isn’t the exhaustive list of sessions I am going to try to attend, there’s an incredible mix of sessions between leadership, learning technologies, preparing for the future, and more.

If you’re keen to learn about how we’re disrupting the world of learn tech with our open source learning platform, Totara Learn, head over to our stand #1027 where we’re showcasing the very best from our learning ecosystem. This includes includes visiting our partners who are changing the reporting landscape with GO1 and their content marketplace, and we invite all delegates to discover the freedoms of Totara from our platform partners by visiting eThink Education and Ken Cook at ATD 2018. Remember to add Totara to your ATD 2018 showplan here, and we look forward to seeing you there!