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A Little Elf Gave Me an Early Christmas Gift

Last week, The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus, showed up on my doorstep unexpectedly. Apparently, I ended up on a list somewhere (holiday spirit says “Santa’s nice list”, but in reality, a vendor or conference probably passed along my name).

A leadership book based on a Santa theme? I expected it to lay a steaming Yule log. But it was a short book, and I was intrigued, so I gave it a try.

Despite my initial bah-humbug attitude, the book works and provides sound foundational leadership principles and practices.

A few time, I found myself relating to and laughing at the Santa-based examples of guiding and motivating a diverse workforce (elves, reindeer) to execute the mission and manage the logistics of a large, long-term project with a critical delivery date and multinational stakeholders with different priorities.

The lessons offered aren’t tremendously deep, but the examples are clever and the advice is solid. Each of the 8 chapters has 3 key takeaways that are offered as a checklist at the end of the book.

Most lessons are items that are known to leaders after a short time in the role. The book would work best for individuals transitioning into a leadership position, or as a gift to the more seasoned leader to remind and reinforce the foundations in a light, fun way.

This book is a very fun gift this holiday for the aspiring leaders on your “nice” list.

 

Thursday, November 24th, 2011   Tags: , ,
Category: Book Reviews   No Comments comments

What Happens in Vegas, Doesn’t Stay in Vegas

 

The eLearning Guild’s DevLearn Conference is happening next week in Las Vegas.

Because of business priorities, I can’t go. So, I’m pissed.

A Guild conference is a careerlife-sustaining activity. It’s the “power up” charge in the video game right when your character is on fumes (quite like the therapeutic experience of  participating in a weekly #lrnchat).

Going to an eLearning Guild conference immerses you going into a cocoon of concentrated learning awesomeness.

  • Every person I’ve encountered at a Guild conference “gets it”- when personally meeting attendees, I genuinely come to like and respect them quickly (really, no turkeys running around these conferences…    …uh, I just realized I may be “that guy”, but please don’t tell me if I am the turkey)
  • Every keynote is top-notch
  • Every session offers something thought-provoking

Attendance is either transformative (you change how you do things), or validating (you understand that those who get it are also rallying against those who don’t in their organizations, and that the battles can be won).

Either way, it’s high-value.

And I can’t go. Too busy driving to fill up with gas.

So, what do I (and several of my colleagues who also can’t attend) do?

What Happens in Vegas Goes to the Backchannel

David Kelly (twitter handle @LnDDave) curates backchannels for learning conferences on his site, http://misadventuresinlearning.blogspot.com.

David has done this for several conferences over the past couple of years. He does a tremendous job of collecting and organizing resources from these conferences.

I’d say “in my opinion” except for the fact that he’s done such a great job that the DevLearn organizers are coordinating with David to bring added value to the backchannel.

Although a backchannel cannot replicate the contact high you get from participating in the conference live with peers, it is a great option to gain exposure to the resources from the conference.

This is not just for those of us who can’t attend, but for those attendees who have to make the hard choice between which session they will attend for each time slot (boo hoo, cry me a river- I can’t go!). With the wealth of options at a Guild conference, choosing between two or more great sessions during the same time is the norm. Attendees can use the backchannel to gain insight and resources from the sessions they miss.

With David’s experience and the DevLearn organizer’s active endorsement, I am eager too see what the DevLearn backchannel will provide this year.

My sincere thanks to @LnDDave for providing this service. I am still ticked about not being able to attend, but the backchannel helps take away a bit of the sting.

For those of you who are attending- have an amazing time (I am sure you will).

And, please, resist all temptations sing “The Gambler” while walking through a Casino.

 

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011   Tags: , ,
Category: Conferences, Elearning Guild, Resources   3 Comments comments

OpenSesame – Expert Reviewer

OpenSesame is a marketplace for e-learning content. I beta-tested the product in an extremely restrictive LMS environment. I was very impressed with the ease of setup, and wrote a review of the experience.

Since then, I have graciously been offered a role of Expert Reviewer to evaluate the training products offered through the site.

I have been very fortunate in my professional career in terms of my exposure to quality content. I worked for a few colleges that had relationships with top vendors to source and private label content. I’ve worked at regional tech schools that provided certified training for several different software companies. I currently work with a multibillion dollar financial organization that buys entire catalogs of content from many industry-leading training content providers.

I have literally seen thousands of course offerings from the most established and top-rated vendors and organizations in the industry.

I am finding that a good amount of content posted to OpenSesame for purchase is the same caliber at a fraction of the price.

So, the rest of this post will be brief.

If you need training content for your LMS, check out OpenSesame:

  • they have a wealth of quality content available
  • at very attractive price points
  • it will work with your LMS

 

Saturday, October 1st, 2011   Category: OpenSesame, Resources   2 Comments comments

Behind the Scenes of an Online Forum

 

Last week, I had the privilege of presenting as part of the eLearning Guild’s Online Forum for Assessments and Evaluation. I was able to attend several sessions from fellow presenters and was astounded by their offerings. It was truly an honor to present among such insightful, committed, and respected professionals.

quote open Significant work and support is provided by the Guild to create high-quality offerings from presenters eacquote closeh and every time.The high quality of Guild events is no accident. It is designed into the process. I wanted to share my experience  as an online forum presenter. Significant work and support is provided by the Guild to create high-quality offerings from presenters each and every time.

The quality is all about the support, and the Guild provides a tremendous amount of support.

Christopher Benz, the Director for the Online Events for the Guild, approached me to discuss presenting as part of this forum after my live presentation at Learning Solutions 2011. Chris manages an amazing amount of detail for the online forums, from covering the initial expectations and timeline with presenters, right through to performing the final sound check just moments before presenters go live (and everything in between, which I won’t attempt to cover in this blog). Chris makes the process manageable for presenters and handles each question and issue with grace and ease.  He is a true master of his craft.

Every presenter is also assigned a mentor. Mentors orient presenters to Adobe Connect, keep them on-track with tasks leading up to and during the event, and participate in practice sessions to offer advice about enhancements. A minimum of 3 mentoring sessions are performed prior to the live event.

I am very thankful for all the guidance and support provided by my mentor, Melissa Chambers.  Her contributions and insights as my mentor resulted in key improvements to my session. She also partnered with me during the presentation to take on the task of managing the interactive polls, so I would not need to multitask.

If you are ever extended the opportunity to speak on an eLearning Guild Online Forum, take it. I cannot speak highly enough about all the Guild does to support presenters in moving confidently through the process, and the expert advice and insight that is shared during this process. It not only improves the final deliverable, but also develops the presenter’s skills and insights about what it takes to construct and deliver a high-quality online forum.

 

Monday, August 22nd, 2011   Category: Assessment and Evaluation, Elearning Guild, Presentation, Webcast   No Comments comments

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