DevLearn 2013 Lessons Learned

I'm a notoriously bad note-taker (I blame it on paying attention), but coming out of DevLearn this year, I had some big epiphanies that I wanted to get down in writing.

First, thank you, as always, to the e-Learning Guild for hosting a wonderful event. Every year I say I'm going to present less and attend more sessions, and every year my dance card fills up. David Holcombe, Heidi Fisk, David Kelly, Reuben Tozman - another inspiring year! And a special thanks to Juli Balding, who is the world's best herder of cats.

In no particular order, my thoughts and observations on DevLearn 2013:

1. People have a hard time breaking out of "conference mode" - I would have liked to see more people building Lego robots. Maybe next year I can convince them to have a "Battle Bot" competition during DemoFest and bring in a Battle Bot alumni to host (ironically, I know one...). In general, I like the hands on learning activities, but I think it's difficult to get people to transition from soaking it all in to trying something new. Still...I think this is worth broadening and refining - and could evolve into a real application at a conference of immersive learning.

2. I wanted more diversity in the keynotes.

3. I didn't have to explain what immersive learning was so much anymore. I had GREAT turn outs at my pre-con workshop and Morning Buzz sessions. I like seeing the shift from "ooh shiny" technology focus to "what can we really do with this," and not in a dismissive way.

4. The data sessions were packed, and it's clear that many people still don't know what or how to measure. What the LMSs typically measure and track aren't the metrics that executives care about and that is a serious gap we need to bridge. A few years ago, I did a panel with Cammy Bean and Ellen Wagner at Learning Solutions on speaking the language of the business. We need that BIG TIME in data analytics. I want to show more examples. I want to break down a PNL for training professionals to really get what we need to communicate. I already have ideas on how to refine my session. Maybe there's a book in there.

5. There seemed like a lot less higher ed and government attendees. I like seeing a good mix, but all of my sessions were heavy on the enterprise attendees. I'd love to see more diversity, not less!

6. I worry about the new tech hype. As the girl who touted virtual worlds a few years back, I am seeing parallels in some of the new technologies. Augmented reality hasn't found it's home yet. Mobile is still struggling with good design practices. Games are finally accepted as valuable, but still there are so few examples of organizations implementing them in deep ways...still a lot of pilot tests. And now we have AI and robots and Google Glass and sensors...and yet many are still struggling to show how training adds value (and is not just a cost center) to an organization. Which, of course, takes me back to analytics...we need to keep the horse in front of the cart, and while I'm a huge fan of new tech, I worry that we need to catch up to where tech was 3 years ago. (Am I getting old and jaded?)

7. I was thrilled to get to hear Ian Bogost's keynote and even more excited that he delineated games from gamification. It's a message that learning folks need to hear, and he really broke it down well. I hope it helped some of that "let's make this boring activity a game" syndrome. Plus, I fan-girled out a little that he recognized me.

8. I've been talking about ARGs for 5 years and people still don't really know what they are. Part of it lies in the confusion of games versus gamification, but I'd like to really push more examples and case studies. It's a low cost way to create immersive learning that is completely under-leveraged. It may be time to jump back in to that pool.

9. Don't get a tattoo in Vegas when you live an hour from LA. Especially if you already got a tattoo in Vegas last year.

10. People are sheep. NO ONE would enter the Silver Clouds exhibit at the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Bellagio, even after John and I stormed in. Why would you not experience the art? Jump into it, people. JUMP. IN.

11. Every conference I go to, I think about the difference in value of presentations versus conversations.  Presentations are valuable, but it's usually the conversations where we learn the most. What would it look like to structure sessions around conversations with the goal of an outcome. Something like, "I need help with..." and "I can help with...!" and pair people up? Maybe we need problem - solution speed dating?

12. I didn't get as much social time this year. I think that's ok, but I do like to stay for the whole conference, which I couldn't do this year. There's always next year, right?

13. Smart people I admire take lots of good conference notes, or compile peoples' tweets, etc. You should check out Cammy Bean's blog for notes on the sessions she attended (including one of mine, and Ian Bogost's previously mentioned keynote). And David Kelly's compilation of the conference back channel, of course.

14. People really do love lynda.com. I can't tell you how many people stopped me to tell me their personal stories, and thank me for what lynda.com has done for them. It really makes me proud to represent a company that people feel so passionately about.

A few more thought-provoking conversations will be covered in separate blog posts, but my key take-away from DevLearn 2013? It's still all about the design, and the data, not the tech. We just need to figure out design and data FOR the tech. 

Live events still rock & thoughts on the future of virtual events

Over the past week I attended two very different live events that epitomized where virtual events need to go in order to gain more widespread acceptance.

Geeks Celebrating Their Geekiness

The lovely Pamela Kucera & I geeking out

Last Friday, I attended the Philly Geek Awards, conceived and hosted by Geekadelphia and featuring awards for all kinds of local geek-related activities: tech start ups, film making, comic art, blogging, podcasts, viral videos, geek fashion, art, science, app development, game development...really, a veritable smorgasbord of geekery. There were mentions of Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, and bacon (lots of mentions of bacon). At one point, a furry accepted an award. Besides the furry, let's just say I was with my people. It was a black-tie event, the equivalent of a geek prom. It was a blast.

Cosplay Kids Category Winners at BCC

On Sunday, I attended the Baltimore ComicCon. This is the 3rd year I've attended, and it continues to be my favorite of the ComicCons (no, I haven't been to San Diego) because of the emphasis on the writers and artists. I got to see Anthony and Conor from Kill Shakespeare, peek behind the big black curtain to glimpse Stan Lee, chat with the writer/artist for one of my son's favorite kids graphic novelists, and see more cosplay than I need to for the entire year.


What do both of these events have in common? They bring together busy communities for an opportunity to bond.

Granted, both of these events focused on people in creative industries...industries full of innovators, entrepreneurs and creators. They provided an opportunity for people who busy themselves making things a chance to look around and see what their peers are making. There is immeasurable value in that...in lifting up your head from your own work and seeing the success, hearing about the trials and failures, of others. I loved being a part of these events because they inspire me to look at my own goals and dream bigger.

Can virtual events recreate that experience of allowing creatives and creators to talk, share, bond and inspire each other? Yes. But they need to reach beyond their own user groups.

Right now, the most successful virtual events are focused on the communities and people engaged in virtual events. No surprise there, really, and its encouraging to see people eating their own dog food. But as a designer, I think about how these technologies could enable the extension of the communities that gather in person for events like the Philly Geek Awards and ComicCon on an ongoing basis. I don't think the live events will go away, nor do I want them to, but I see potential in extending out the connections made, information shared, and inspiration disseminated at these events on a more consistent and ongoing basis. We're not just a community for an annual event...we're a community all year round. We're not a community when we're face-to-face, we're a community that exists in interest and common goals no matter where we are.

Virtual worlds and event platforms can enable that type of interaction whenever you need it, not isolated to the scheduled dates and times. Pervasive community interaction already takes place in 2D tools like Facebook, but it doesn't capture the feeling of presence and engagement that 3D environments provide. It's really not possible to have a Facebook "event" and Twitter, although it provides the opportunity for live chats, is lacking the visual sharing that is such an integral part of creative communities.

Consider this a challenge to my creative friends. We push the boundaries and pride ourselves in creating new things. Shouldn't we be the ones to embrace the most progressive technologies for establishing and growing our communities?

Openness and communities

Last year, Tandem Learning had the honor of transitioning the ThinkBalm Innovation Community into the Tandem Learning Innovation Community (TLIC). The community was housed on LinkedIn and was in many ways a "closed community": you had to request to join, agree to the community rules, and then be approved by one of the moderators. Within the community, the goal was to talk about innovative technologies and their use for "serious" purposes, including business, education, etc. With membership over 500 members, it was a fairly large community and there was information being shared through member blogs and posts on a consistent basis.

One of the struggles for me with the TLIC was that it wasn't really integrated with the other social media tools I use consistently, namely Twitter and Facebook. Although it was beneficial to feel like there was a closed community that could share topics of mutual interest, I was "sharing" much more through my other social media accounts even when topics would have been of interest to the TLIC community. I suspect that other community members were doing the same.

Another struggle was with the idea of community participation and moderation. Of course we wanted as many people as were interested to join the community and I will freely admit that as long as someone said they agreed to our community "rules," they got in. But is it really up to just Tandem Learning to moderate the community? Or is it more effective for the community to self-moderate and Tandem Learning to step in when an issue is raised?

With the release of the "Open Group" option on LinkedIn, we needed to make a decision about the structure of TLIC and what it might mean for the future of the community. I want to be able to integrate our group communications with my other social media accounts and I want to connect to other members' accounts as well. I want to attract as many people as possible into our community to actively participate. And I trust the community of professionals that have joined us in the TLIC to let us know if something is happening in the community that needs to be addressed. Because of these reasons, we have decided to make TLIC an open group.

I welcome any feedback from our existing group members and I look forward to their continued participation. I also am looking forward to who our extended visibility may attract to participate in our community. I truly believe our community will be all the richer for becoming more open.

DevLearn 2010 Reflections

Tim and Lynn at the booth (photo: Jay Cross)

Back from San Francisco and just starting to come out of the whirlwind that was DevLearn 2010. This being our third year attending, presenting and exhibiting at the conference, I think we had some assumptions of what to expect...but I don't think we got close to anticipating the excitement, energy, and flat out level of busy that we experienced this year.

Me at the Dr. Strangelearn Information Station

In no small part, what kept us jumping was running the Dr. Strangelearn ARG. HUGE kudos to Kristen Cromer who did the lion's share of the work on the ARG, including manning the Dr. Stranglearn Information Station at the conference and co-hosting the Breakfast Byte debrief. I think both Kristen and I will be writing up our reflections specifically around Dr. Strangelearn in the next week or so; but suffice it to say, I was thrilled with the participation and level of engagement of the players and am excited to continue the conversations started this week around ARG design for organizational learning.

Talking about the future
(photo: Philip Hutchison)

The other thing that kept me busy was the 5 sessions that I presented. It didn't sound like that much leading into the conference, but wow...the speaking gigs kept me on my toes. From the ARG session on Wednesday, to Thursday's guest appearances at Mark Oehlert's Social Learning Camp and Alicia Sanchez's Serious Game Zone, then onto the Dr. Strangelearn debrief on Friday and ending with my Future of Learning Technologies session...it was a fun challenge to reframe the work that we do at Tandem Learning throughout the year for the different subjects and audiences.

I made people DO stuff...they seemed ok with it
(photo: Philip Hutchison)

The session I was most looking forward to was the Future of Learning Technologies session, and it was so much fun ending the conference with a packed room and talking augmented reality, virtual worlds, geolocation, and social media...I think we even talked holograms, jetpacks and teleportation. What was interesting in reviewing the twitterstream after the session was that the least technology-related point I emphasized seemed to resonate the most: Start with the problem you are trying to solve. In the end, all of the cool technology in the world isn't much use if it doesn't help us solve organizational issues that can't be addressed in other ways. But I digress...

Let me close with a few highlights of the conference for me, in no particular order:

• Just being around all of you smart, interesting people. I know I'm going to miss mentioning some of you here that I had great conversations with or got to meet in person for the first time. DevLearn is still for me the one time of the year that I get to see my personal learning network face-to-face, and it was tough to walk even a few steps without recognizing a friendly face or someone recognizing mine. There's just nowhere else this happens on this scale, and it is an exhilarating ride.

  

  Hobnobbing at DemoFest
  (photo: Jay Cross)

• Finally meeting Jane Bozarth. And immediately she called me out for not greeting her with the aggressive hugging that I had promised. I quickly remedied that. 
• Hanging out in Berkeley with Clark Quinn, Harold Jarche, Charles Jennings, Jane Hart and Jay Cross, otherwise known as the Internet Time Alliance. Although I had met each of them either in person or virtually before, it was such a pleasure to spend some time getting to know them outside of the conference scene. Thank you so much for hosting a great shindig and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again soon.
• Another "finally got to meet" was Tom Crawford, who was just as awesome in person as he's been virtually and via phone. He also co-witnessed the Irish Raverdance (not a typo...) introduced by a certain social media evangelist and I'm hoping his phone was better than mine at capturing some incriminating video.
• Introducing Aaron Silvers, Brian Dusablon, BJ Schone and Gary Hegenbart to the Blue Bottle Cafe.



Getting people moving on social media tools 

• Visiting Mark Oehlert's Social Media Tools workshop on Tuesday and noticing that Sumeet Moghe took a picture of me and Aaron Silvers. It was GREAT to meet him and it kinda made me feel like a celebrity...until I realized that Sumeet was literally the best documenter of the DevLearn conference this year...seriously, check out his blog!
• Comparing dresses and shoes with Alicia Sanchez and Gina Schreck. The gamer girls were bringing it with the fashion this year, seriously.
• Talking life, love and the pursuit of happiness with Neil Lasher. I can't thank him enough for his pep talk!
• Catching up, even if only briefly, with Cammy Bean, Kevin Thorn, Nemo and Josh from Bloomfire, Ellen Wagner, Marcia Conner, Wendy Wickham, Kris Rockwell, Stephen Martin, Michelle Lentz, Kristi Broom, Joe Ganci, Andy Petroski, Philip Hutchison, Steve Nguyen, Enid Crystal, Stephanie Daul, and probably another 20 people who I'll think of after I hit "Publish" on this post.
• Being SO excited to meet Anne Derryberry and not too long after getting into serious discussions on our views on gamification and gender perspectives on games. 
• Hearing the players of the Dr. Strangelearn ARG give great feedback, and particularly enjoying hearing the perspectives of our big winner, Rich Miller. 
• Getting to know Karen Burpee and having a lot of fun talking ARGs and bullets in military slides...
• And finally, the one interaction that will stay with me far beyond DevLearn this year, was when I met Jeanette Campos and she brought me to tears with the kind of compliment that makes you think maybe all of your hard work, passion and faith might actually count for something. Thank you, Jeanette. You probably don't know how much your kind words meant to me.

Thanks to the Tandem Learning team for their innovation and hard work both before and at the conference...Jedd, Kristen, Tim and Lynn represented on site and Jen and Marcus kept the ship moving forward in our absence.

Our Master of Ceremonies: Brent Schlenker
(photo: Jay Cross)

And last but not least! A huge thanks to the E-Learning Guild, in particular Brent, David, Heidi, Luis, Juli and Mary, who put on such an amazing conference every year. We can't wait to do it all again in Las Vegas next year!

Tandem Learning at DevLearn 2010

The Tandem Learning team is gearing up for next week in San Francisco at DevLearn 2010. By now you may have heard some of the buzz about what we'll be up to at the conference, but here's a complete list of where you'll see us at the conference. Hold onto your hats, everyone! Tandem is bringing the learning to the city by the bay...

Do this now:

• Sign up for the alternate reality game (ARG) that we are running - Dr. Strangelearn: www.drstrangelearn.com 
• Download the DevLearn 10 app for your smartphone. Its amazing!

Wednesday 11/3:

• Visit us at booth 410 in the Expo Hall.
• Register to win an Extreme Makeover: Learning Edition! at our booth
• Check out our "Why in 5!" Five-minute information sessions at our booth, where we'll be introducing new, emerging and exciting learning technologies and WHY you should be thinking of integrating them now.
• Come find out more about ARGs (and maybe find some clues) at the Dr. Strangelearn Information Station (next to the Serious Game Zone)
• If you haven't already, definitely sign up to play Dr. Strangelearn - it's not too late to see what all the excitement is about!
• 4:00 - 5:00 Understanding Alternate Reality Games and Why They Work in Salon 4.

Thursday 11/4:

• Visit us at booth 410 in the Expo Hall.
• Register to win an Extreme Makeover: Learning Edition! at our booth 
• Check out our "Why in 5!" Five-minute information sessions at our booth
• Come find out more about ARGs at the Dr. Strangelearn Information Station 
• If you haven't already, definitely sign up to play Dr. Strangelearn
• 11:00 - 11:40 am Come hear me talk about Emerging Social Learning Ideas at Mark Oehlert's Social Learning Camp
• 12:00 - 12:40 pm Come hear me talk about Emerging Game Technologies in Alicia Sanchez's Serious Game Zone

Friday 11/5:

• 7:15 - 8:15 am Dr. Strangelearn: ARG Debrief is a Breakfast Byte in Nob Hill AB
• 9:45 - 10:45 am New and Emerging Learning Technologies session in Salon 14-15

We are all really excited about the conference this year! Besides the activities listed above, there will be some onsite announcements and surprises as well. Stay tuned and see you at DevLearn!

Tandem Learning Innovation Community: 1st event recap

Just a quick post to thank everyone who attended our first official Tandem Learning Innovation Community event. We hosted the event on our new Second Life island and I'd encourage all of you who were unable to make it to stop by any time and take a tour. The island is open and public; we'd be happy to share the space with any member of the TLIC who'd like to run a meeting in SL. Feel free to contact me if you'd like a guided tour or assistance in how to work our browser displays.

I can't thank Earth Primbee (SL name, for those not in-world) enough...he did a fantastic job building the island to suit our needs, and he completed the entire build in just a few days. Amazing. He also served as tech support and transcriptionist during the event. Big kudos on an amazing job and for all of his help!

We had about 15 attendees for our first event, ranging from people in academia, corporate training, consultants and designers/developers. Although we kept the event informal, we spent some time doing introductions and talking about topics we'd like to see discussed in future TLIC events before letting people explore the island. 

One of the topics discussed was what new technologies community members would be interested in learning about through TLIC events. Suggestions included:

• OpenSim
• Unity3D
• Alternate reality games (ARGs)
• Jibe
• Augmented reality
• Geolocation technologies

The consensus was that community members would be more interested in hearing about case studies in future events than in seeing new technology demos. We also discussed what major issues organizations are facing in implementing new technologies. The major issues raised included:

• access to the technologies (firewalls, hardware, etc.)
• interface design issues 
• ease of use

It was great to see our friends in avatar form and meet new community members who provided great feedback and insight. Plans are already underway for our next event and we're looking forward to some additional announcements to the community in the next few weeks. 

In the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts on what new technologies you'd like to find out more about and what types of programming for future events would be of interest to you!

Announcing the 1st Tandem Learning Innovation Community event!

We are pleased to announce the first, official Tandem Learning Innovation Community event scheduled for Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 9:00 am SLT/ 12:00 pm EST. We’ll be hosting an open house on our new Second Life island. The official networking event, led by Koreen Olbrish (SL: Nina Sommerfleck), will be an informal discussion of community topics, including:

• New technologies for the TLIC to explore
• Major challenges in technology adoption for the community to address
• TLIC at DevLearn 2010 – call for interested parties to be showcased

Please let us know if you plan to attend by emailing Jedd Gold via linkedin or at jedd.gold@tandem-learning.com. We will be sending out the SLURL the day before the event to everyone who RSVP’s.

If you haven't yet joined the Tandem Learning Innovation Community, you can request to join here.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

ThinkBalm Innovation Community becomes the Tandem Learning Innovation Community

After we broke the news that we planned to disband the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, members of the community expressed lots of interest in finding new leadership for the community moving forward. We are excited to announce that effective immediately, Tandem Learning will assume the community management responsibilities of the newly named Tandem Learning Innovation Community.

The value of this community is in the membership and the collective wisdom and experience of the group, and Tandem’s focus on new technology, user experience, learning design, and strategic business innovation allows them to touch on the areas of interest that bind our community together. We believe the leadership at Tandem is committed to maintaining the integrity of the community while finding new and exciting ways to add value to everyone who participates.

Exciting times are ahead for all of us and we’re looking forward to what happens next!

Erica Driver, co-founder and principal, ThinkBalm
Sam Driver, co-founder and principal, ThinkBalm


We’re so pleased to have the opportunity to continue the amazing work that Erica and Sam began in 2008 as we assume responsibility for the newly deemed Tandem Learning Innovation Community. While we know many of you from our work in virtual worlds and immersive technologies, we’re looking forward to interacting with all of you in the weeks ahead as we plan for the future of the community. In our new role as the community managers, we will honor the tenants of the community as established under ThinkBalm and will seek even more ways to bring value to our members. Please feel free to contact me directly with your thoughts, ideas, and feedback...this community belongs to all of us and it’s your input that will continue to make it valuable and successful.

Koreen Olbrish, CEO, Tandem Learning
Koreen.olbrish@tandem-learning.com

LEEF wrap up: The best little conference you're missing

Just back from LEEF 2010 at Harrisburg University, and in its second year, it did not disappoint. Last year we attended the first LEEF conference, and were thrilled at the structure and the content. With a focus on serious games, simulations, and virtual worlds for learning, we were treated to in depth case studies and demos that you just didn't see at other conferences.

This year was even better. The quality of the sessions was amazing. We got to see demos of products, like IBM's Innov8, before they are released on the market. We got to play full blown games and ask all of the design and strategic questions that you don't normally get to ask at conferences. And we got to really meet and connect with brilliant practitioners in our field.

The keynotes blew me away. Mike Cuffe, Vice President, University of Farmers, Claims at Farmer's Insurance, is doing some of the most cutting edge training I've seen. It was refreshing to see a visionary in corporate training who practices what he preaches and is vigilantly staying ahead of the curve. Jerry Heneghan, Managing Director, Virtual Heroes Division at Applied Research Associates gave a really inspiring presentation on 3D immersive games that gave some insight into how they have been effective in changing behaviors. I am looking forward to seeing what his group will be doing next related to health.

Tandem presented two sessions on ARGs (alternate reality games) and both were really fun for me, in different ways. The first was our case study overview and we presented to a pretty packed house. Even more exciting for me was the line of people afterwards that wanted to talk more. I'm excited to see ARGs really seeming to have some traction for corporate learning, and I'm looking forward to our next projects in this area. The second session was a debrief of the ARG that we helped support at the LEEF conference, The Robots are Eating the Building. It was a truly valuable learning experience, and I got a lot out of the debrief.

Thanks so much to Jen Reiner, Andy Petroski and Charles Palmer for putting on such a great conference. Can't wait to see what you put together next year...and hopefully some of you who haven't already will join us!

What I've learned from my Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Next week, you'll find me in San Jose at DevLearn 09. I'm doing a pre-conference session with David Anderson on virtual worlds, on Thursday one of my esteemed colleagues will be talking about games for learning and on Friday, we'll be debriefing the Zombie Apocalypse. Oh, and we'll have a little booth in the hallway to talk about what Tandem can do for you :).

As excited as I am about all of that, the thing I'm most excited about are seeing live and in person all of the folks who will be in attendance that have taught me, made me laugh, challenged me, and helped me grow as a learning professional over the last year. I tend to call them my Twitter friends, but they aren't confined to Twitter...now on Facebook, a fellow member of the Black Swan Society in grou.ps, riding Google Wave with me, a connection on LinkedIn, a fellow Skype-er, just someone who I'm IMing with in Gchat. I'm proud to say that over the course of the last year, I've had the privilege of meeting in person many of the people I've connected with through social media. But DevLearn 09 is where worlds will collide on an epic and awesome scale.

In preparation, I've been thinking about what I've learned this year through my personal learning network (PLN) and have compiled a few things here:

• Evidently I'm funnier in person
• Occasionally people do read my blog, so it matters what I write here
• I have a sixth sense for knowing when people are talking about virtual worlds so I can pipe in to the conversation
• Connections you make personally and professionally through social media technologies can be as and even more meaningful than ones you make face-to-face
• Some of my best friends I met online
• We is (usually) always smarter than me
• I enjoy the support of people who think like me and value the challenge of people who don't
• I love finding other women who are interested in technology, games, and learning...it feels like an elite sisterhood and I feel an instant connection and bond with those women
• Its amazing how willing to share my PLN is. I am constantly in awe
• Changing my hair color and updating my avatar picture cause a dramatic reaction in people who haven't even met me in person
  
• I like hearing about people's day to day trials and tribulations to help me get to know them as much as I like the value and knowledge they bring to intelligent discussions
• As much as I love hanging out with my friends virtually, I still love to get a drink with them in real life

So, if you'll be in San Jose at DevLearn next week, come find me.  I drink whiskey sours, lots of cherries.

iFest 09...what I might have forgotten to mention

Sometimes I get passionate about opportunities for change. So much so that I forget to notice (or in this case, mention) all the good things already going on. Here's the other side of the Joint ADL Co-Lab Implementation Fest 2009 that I didn't highlight in my last post:

*Its awesome that there's even such a thing as iFest. Its great to see ADL bringing people together, talking about new technologies and what people are utilizing them for. ImplementationFest was an opportunity to hear from people who are testing the waters and pushing new boundaries. It signals a willingness to look to the future and a desire to figure out the best path forward. I might get frustrated by lack of focus on design, but I'm encouraged by having an opportunity and a venue to even raise the issue.

*Wow, look at all the women in leadership positions. I was beyond thrilled that two of the most powerful and interesting keynotes at iFest were delivered by women. It says a lot that in the military and government culture, which I traditionally think of as male dominated, that these women were invited share their experiences and perspectives.

*Focus on the future. It seems that there's a lot of change coming to ADL. New leadership, new organizational structure, new plans for the future. There was much discussion about the future of SCORM, about how ADL can support the Dept. of Defense in new ways. There was even a session that focused on collecting success stories from the participants (I mean, wow! Data collection at a conference?). My last post focused a lot on the changes I'd like to see in government and military training/learning initiatives, based on my observations. What's encouraging is that ADL seems like its stepping up to the plate to lead some of these changes.

*Everyone's talking about change. I spent a lot of my time talking to other iFest attendees. What seems to be universal is the acknowledgment that change is coming. Sure, people disagree on where we should end up, and people certainly disagree on the path to get there. But everyone is talking about change. And that's exciting.

ADL did a great job with iFest 09, bringing people together to talk about current challenges and thinking about how to address them while highlighting success stories. All signs point to it being a year of transition. It will be really interesting to see how far things have progressed at iFest 10.

IQPC's Corporate Learning Exchange recap

Back from vacation, I had some time to reflect on my experience at IQPC's Corporate Learning Exchange. If you have never been to an event like this, and my guess is most people haven't, it is structured a bit like a timeshare sales pitch crossed with speed-dating. Attendees were by and large executive learning professionals, and most of the day was spent in presentations by their peers. But in between, there were 25 minute one-on-one meetings with learning vendors.

I was a learning vendor.

I won't bore you with logistics, but I had 14 meetings in 3 days. The first couple, I had no idea what I was doing. The interesting part of the experience was that in the process of holding those meetings, I had to get really good at explaining what we do, succinctly. The good and bad news is that we do something that very few other companies do. Its tough to talk about social media with people who haven't used a wiki, never blogged, and have never been on Twitter. Its hard to talk about virtual worlds with someone who doesn't know what an avatar is. Of course, its also an opportunity...and by the end, I was excited that I could talk about what we do much more clearly and in a way that seemed to make sense to the executives I met with.

The other interesting observation at the conference was the lack of technology. No one else was on Twitter. Hell, no one else had their laptop or mobile device on to take notes. It was pens and paper as far as the eye could see. Not only the participants, but the presenters focused an inordinate amount of attention on face to face learning. I think f2f is great...but it has so many limitations. I spent most of the time in the presentations thinking about ways to supplement or replace the f2f experiences being described with some form of distance learning technology.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the format. I met some fascinating people and am already neck-deep in follow up meetings. But more than anything, this conference opened my eyes to just how far web 2.0 has to go for enterprise learning.

Are you going to 3D TLC?

A quick commercial while you can still register for a steal...I'll be speaking at 3D TLC this September and would love to see you there!

3D Training, Learning and Collaboration (3D TLC) - http://www.3dtlc.com - taking place September 23-24, 2009 in San Jose CA, is the leading event for businesses seeking to understand and maximize business strategies using virtual worlds. 3D virtual worlds have broad implications for business not the least of which is cost savings and energy conservation. Companies are using 3D environments can also strengthen their communication internally with employees and externally with customers and business partners. Come join us to learn how to take advantage of these technologies.

Early registration ends August 14th (price goes from $595 to $795). Use this Special Discount Code: SPEAKERVIP and register by August 14th to save an additional $200 off. With the earlybird price + your discount = your cost to attend is only $495! (full price is $1,295 so you save a bundle). To register go here: http://www.3dtlc.com

My conference recap: Innovations in E-Learning

I paid $300 to go to the Innovations in E-Learning conference, run by George Mason University and DAU, in Washington, DC. I got a hotel room at the conference hotel through Priceline for $60 a night. But without question, the experience I had at the conference both in sessions and with the other attendees was priceless. I didn't attend any of the workshops on Wednesday, but came in Wednesday evening to meet in person two of my favorite people in my Twitter network. Dinner (sushi & Sapporo) was excellent but the conversation and face-to-face time was even better, worth the entire trip.

Thursday was my first official day at the conference and it was kicked off with a keynote by Vint Cerf, who was one of the two guys who really did invent the Internet. He started out a bit slow (I'm pretty sure he insulted Twitterers as "twits" early in the presentation) but as he progressed through his presentation, things got more and more interesting and frankly, more and more surreal. Google Mars was very cool, but the Interplanetary communication plan, IPN (InterPlaNet), that's he's working on in his spare time made me feel like whatever I accomplish in my life, its never going to be as cool as Vint Cerf. And it was only 10 am.



Next up was Mark Oehlert's (@moehlert) pinch hit for Intellagirl (@intellagirl) Sarah Robbins, who couldn't make it to present. I did my best not to pipe up too much, but the topic was on virtual worlds and sometimes I have some opinions on that topic. Good thing Mark is smart, both in what he said about virtual worlds, but also in not making eye contact with me to give me an opening to talk.

One of the things I find fascinating about conferences is how much interesting conversation happens outside of the conference. I took the next session "off" and instead hung out with a group of smart friends to talk about various aspects of the morning's keynote, mobile learning, and other various geeky topics before heading over to lunch.

The keynote after lunch was...Will Wright. Um, yeah. He's developed such little games as SimCity, The Sims, and Spore. As a simulation and game developer, I'm not sure if there's too many people that rival Will Wright in sheer idolness for me. And his keynote? I don't know when I have spent an hour thinking more about simulation, game design, and learning. He made my head spin, not only from the pace but also from the sheer brilliance of the information he was sharing. I hear that his keynote will be up online soon. When it is, I'll provide a link.



I then had the pleasure of sitting in on Aaron Silvers (@mrch0mp3ers) session that focused on a case study of how Yammer was subversively integrating into his current organization. Some great observations and lessons learned about how social media adoption CAN be viral, but that sometimes viral demands an executive push.

Final workshop of the day was supposed to be on blogging for educators and learning, presented by Robert Scoble (@scobleizer). Honestly, I'm not sure how we all fit in the room with all of the names that were dropped, but we did get a sneak preview into how Scoble works at filtering his information and news streams to determine what is worthy of him to post about. That said, I was annoyed with his lack of focus on learning, oh, and his COMPLETE lack of focus on blogging. It does appear that Twitter and FriendFeed have taken over the relevance of blogging, at least to some extent. Who knew blogging was so old-fashioned ;)



After the workshops, there was a reception to announce the winners of the GameJam contest, awarded by Dr. Alicia Sanchez, Will Wright, and Dr. Brenda Brathwaite (who had presented a workshop on Wednesday). So there I was, having made fun of a certain friend for idol-geeking out all day...and I had to not only introduce myself to Will Wright and Robert Scoble, but also ask for pictures with each of them. Me=shameless.

Dinner and drinks congregated old friends and new ones to talk more about the mind-blowing awesomeness of the day. Its absolutely fascinating when you think you can't possibly take any more information in...you hear the perspectives of shared experiences and suddenly the learning continues.

Day Two started with Gen. Frank Anderson presenting about how the DAU is implementing innovations in learning. They train A LOT of people. Not that I didn't already know it, but it made it all the more impressive that an organization as large as DAU had people with titles like Innovation Evangelist and that they are actively looking at how to incorporate virtual worlds into their curriculum delivery mix. It was also pretty cool to see the Tandem Learning logo up on one of General Anderson's slides, even more so because it was unexpected.



The next session, I just couldn't decide what to do. There was an impromptu meeting in the coffee shop; a few people were gathering to talk about overcoming institutional obstacles to implementing new technologies. What it ended up being was a rich discussion of how innovators and internal evangelists across verticals (government, enterprise, academia, K12, and yep, even vendors) all share similar obstacles. The result was the formation of the Black Swan Society--a group focused on helping each other address the issues facing innovation and organizational adoption of (and adaption to) technologies and processes that more accurately affect how we work, communicate, and learn. I encourage you to come contribute to the conversation.

I had to get on the road after the first unofficial meeting of the Black Swan Society...but my head was full. Perhaps this conference, more than any other I've attended, represented for me the best of what conferences can be. Brilliant and inspirational keynotes, engaging workshops, challenges to my pre-existing assumptions, strengthening my network, meeting amazing people who are facing my same challenges AND with different perspectives, and a plan for continuing the conversation after the conference.

And I got to meet Will Wright...

Top 5 reasons I'm on Twitter

I'm not keeping up with my blogging like I should, and I blame Twitter. The conversation is so dynamic, it makes my blog seem slow and isolated. I like to think through some topics in more detail and so no, my blog is not obsolete. But if you want to really keep up with what's going on with business, virtual worlds, games, learning, or if you just want to see pictures of Tony Hawk skating (and sometimes his kids)...you should really be on Twitter.

What are the top 5 reasons I'm on Twitter?
1. It's a news source. I get information that I wouldn't have the time or energy (or even the know-how) to find on my own. Information, references, articles to read, the latest news...all streaming by for me to pull from. Hashtags (#) can help you sort through content to find topics of relevance, as can search tools.
2. It's a 24/7 networking opportunity. I've met the most interesting people. Networking is a skill, and in-person networking is tough. But on Twitter, you can find really smart, funny, and engaging people to exchange ideas with very easily. I'm learning from them every day. And now, having met some of my Twitter friends in person, the awkward first meeting isn't really awkward--I already know these people. Events like the #lrnchat live chats have allowed me to meet a lot of new people all interested in the same things I am. The development of communities of practice and learning through Twitter seem to be one of the ways the medium can be leveraged even more effectively for networking in the future.
3. It's a social outlet. Sadly, I work most of the time (I'm working on better balance though!) and the Tandem team is "geographically diverse" so work is sometimes a bit isolating. Twitter gives me a chance to take a break, exchange some banter, and build friendships along the way.
4. It's professional development. I've got filters and groups organized in Tweetdeck that allow me to keep up-to-date on the latest industry trends and events. I get inspired and challenged daily from my interactions on Twitter.
5. It's business development. Much has been said about using Twitter to market your services. Personally, I find Twitter marketers annoying. That said, people who demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in a particular area, I start to trust. If I needed help with a project now, I'd know a lot more people to contact. I've had people contact me through Twitter for my own expertise. And that's where I see the real value of Twitter "marketing."

So why aren't you there yet? Follow me @koreenolbrish

I'll say it again...instructional design is dead

I've been perusing blog posts written by other instructional designers and their thoughts on learning conferences and this one from Ellen Wagner struck a particular chord.

You see, I don't go to learning conferences to learn anything. Wow, yep, I said it. I go to the learning conferences to talk to other people who are in the learning space, sure, but mostly I go to talk to people about what I've been learning by rubbing elbows at OTHER conferences. What are these other conferences? Virtual worlds conferences. Serious games conferences. Design conferences. Next week, for example, I'm going to GDC. I'm so excited about the sessions that I don't know if I have time in my schedule for a bathroom break. To be honest, I'm not interested in networking too much at GDC. I don't think I'm going to sell any training there. But I know for a fact that I'm going to learn. A LOT. And the anticipation of being at a conference where people will be talking about user design, user engagement, gender issues, generational barriers, narrative and motivation...yeah, I might need a moment. Whew.

So listen up instructional designers and learning conferences! Instructional design is dying a slow death. Young talent are going in other directions. The kids get gaming and use technology without thinking about it...its not a question of if, its a question of how. And how to do it better. And how to make it more effective. Instructional design should not be lagging behind the curve...we should be leading the way. We need experienced mentors but we also need young leaders. More importantly, we need people with vision. This is what learning conferences should be about: inspiration and innovation and brave new ideas. They shouldn't be about trying to play catch up with the sexier industries.

If you're on the slow boat to the ADDIE model, it might be time to change boats. I'll be taking the speedboat to GDC next week, thank you very much. And I'll thank you not to suck my wake.

eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering recap and random thoughts

Another week, another conference...but this one was with some of my favorite people at the eLearning Guild. I may be slightly biased, but I will say with conviction that the eLearning Guild runs some of the best conferences I've attended. Well organized, great integration of technology, free wireless!, and some incredibly smart people gathered together in the same place. 

This was a bit of a whirlwind conference for me. I presented 4 different sessions: Concurrent session, Panel (thanks Bill Brandon for the photo), Breakfast Byte, and Espresso Learning. One of the other Tandemites led a Master Class. We were all virtual worlds, immersive learning simulations, and serious games all the time. Oh, and we had a booth. 

That's not to say all was perfect, of course. Here's my conference feedback, from a presenter and exhibitor's perspective:

What I liked:

• Great Twitter stream throughout the conference and loved that the Guild payed attention to the tweets. There was a screen where the latest were displayed. I got to connect in person with people I had previously only known on Twitter. Loved it.
• This may sound strange, but I loved how lunches were set up. Sit down and start networking/socializing immediately while people bring you food. Beats the buffet or trying to find someplace to grab a bite between sessions. 
• The ID Zone and Master Classes held in the Expo Hall drove visitors in. A March conference in Orlando with sessions held in another part of the building and a sunny pool enticing people away from ever making it to the exhibit floor...it was nice to have some valuable sessions featured near the exhibitors booths.
• Espresso Learning sessions were a great way to spark discussion. Although I loved them, one suggestion: it might be helpful to hold the Espresso Learning towards the beginning of the conference to spark discussion and networking earlier!
• Breakfast Bytes were also good, but whoa! Early! I wonder if lunchtime discussions were scheduled if they would serve the same purpose (some sort of brownbag lunch learning sessions?).
• Yay! Free wifi! I can't tell you how happy this made me. Seriously happy.

Suggestions and feedback:

• Attendance wasn't what I expected, and traffic was super light in the Expo. Economy, beautiful weather, etc.--not sure that there's a cure for this, but it was a bit disappointing.
• No simultaneous virtual conference? I don't think its easy, but it should be a goal to offer some of the content virtually for people who can't attend live. I have some specific suggestions on how to do this, but won't bore ya'll here.
• More networking events in the evenings. There was talk of a Tweetup, and there was a cocktail hour in the Expo hall one night, but it was pretty scattered. It would have been nice to have an evening event of some sort.
• I was not a fan of the long, narrow session rooms. I'd have been much happier with round tables for discussion. I was longing for some group activities.
• I hate Orlando. The weather was lovely, but I'd almost rather go anywhere else. Its not like I was outside much to enjoy the weather anyway :)
• I'd love to see Keynotes that get it. One keynote asked us about the attendee demographics the night before he spoke; he didn't have a clue who was attending the conference or who he was speaking to. Another of the keynote speaker marginalized the value of future trends like social media and (gasp!) virtual worlds. I'm not saying he wasn't making valid points (although shockingly I'm not sure I agree), but keynotes are a bit of a presentation and perhaps his ideas were better suited for a discussion or debate. 

All in all, I had a great time at the Annual Gathering and am truly looking forward to DevLearn in the fall. I'm hoping if I have the privilege of presenting again, I won't break my heel right before my session this time...

Classic western review of TechKnowledge 09

Alright, so I've been to a few conferences over the last year...so many that I'm now Silver Preferred on US Airways. I've seen really well run sessions, exhibit halls and networking activities, and I've seen some epic fails. 

I started out my 2009 conference season last week in Las Vegas at ASTD's TechKnowledge. It was my first year attending this conference and I wasn't sure what to expect. Going in with no expectations, it's a little easier to make comparisons and critiques. And so, in the spirit of Clint Eastwood, I bring you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of TechKnowledge 09.

The Good

• Smart people presenting: I like to surround myself with people who are smarter than me, and it was easy to find them at TechKnowledge. I had invigorating and insightful conversations with people I already knew and people I just met. It says something about a conference that it's able to attract that level of attendees and presenters. 
  
• Attendees willing to participate: every session that I attended, the attendees were actively participating and asking questions. This is a big change from most conferences where getting people to participate is like pulling teeth. 
  
• Hands on sessions: I love the idea of hands on labs where people can actually DO something. Creation Stations and Learning Labs are a great idea. Two suggestions--most people have laptops, so can we just use them for the activities? And if I'm in a session in front of a computer, let me play and explore within the given parameters of the topic--don't lecture me while I have the opportunity to actually practice.
  
• Active solicitation of feedback: a lot of conferences have the little surveys at the end of sessions. I was impressed at the encouragement to complete these forms, and it seemed most people did fill them out. Not only was feedback solicited for the sessions, but several times throughout the conference, overall feedback was asked for as well. 
  
• Virtual conference: I haven't had the chance to hear how people who attended the parallel virtual conference found it to be, but I give ASTD kudos for trying. I have been amazed whenever I go to a virtual worlds conference that they don't have a virtual presence to capitalize on all of the benefits that the current technologies can bring. I think it was brilliant for ASTD to attempt this with TechKnowledge and I expect more conferences will begin to follow suit. 

The Bad

• Conference guide: it's just a little thing, but I didn't think the guide was well laid out. It was confusing to try to plan which sessions to attend. A simple chart, color-coding by topics...all basic information design that would have been extremely helpful.
  
• Expo floor: I was so disappointed by the expo floor. The expo was small, and of the vendors that were there, I wasn't overly impressed by the innovation. I would have expected to see much more cutting edge technology on display at a tech conference. Of the four short rows of booths, one was more than half empty. As a vendor, I was really happy with my decision not to purchase a booth. That does not bode well for my involvement as a vendor at future ASTD conferences.
  
• Limited networking opportunities: There was an ice cream social. There was breakfast and drinks. That's about it. I would have loved to have seen more opportunities to meet other attendees with similar interests. 
  
• Overuse of the term "virtual": This is a particular pet-peeve. I went to one session that discussed the use of virtual worlds for learning, but it was mainly focused on Second Life and the questions raised in the audience were regrettably not answered appropriately for a corporate audience. For the record, there are well over 50 virtual world platforms, not to mention options to integrate Flash with multiplayer servers. Every other session I attended that had "virtual" in the title was really referring to web meetings. It was painfully obvious that there was no one at the conference who knew very much about virtual worlds and their applications and challenges for enterprise implementations. Again, for a technology conference, this was a huge disappointment.
• Lecture-style sessions: I've got to keep beating this drum until someone listens to me. How many learning professionals really think that the best way to get people to learn is by lecturing to them? And yet, learning conference after learning conference that I attend, the majority of the sessions are lectures. C'mon people! When are we going to start practicing what we preach?
  

The Ugly

• Wifi access: This is just inexcusable. I was shocked at the lack of wifi access throughout the conference. A TECHNOLOGY conference. We are all knowledge workers, most of us mobile. Not having adequate wifi access during the conference was unacceptable.
  
• Lack of cutting edge technology: ok, maybe finding the latest new technologies to showcase is a bit more difficult than getting wifi access at a conference, but its pretty important if "tech" is in the name of your conference. I really was hoping to be exposed to new technologies and see how people were applying them to learning. I've seen more new technology shown at industry specific conferences like SPBT and I/ITSEC. If this is really going to be billed as a technology conference, I'd like to see something more groundbreaking featured than PowerPoint. Oh, and again, Second Life doesn't count unless you can show me how to apply it to enterprise integrations.
  
• Lack of practical focus of sessions: one way of getting around vendors promoting their services in sessions is to have more people on the academic side presenting. So what do you lose with this strategy? Information on the practical applications of the information presented. The majority of the sessions I attended, and feedback I heard from other attendees, is that either sessions were too theory-based with no guidance for how to apply the theory or that the sessions were too case study-based and couldn't easily be applied to varied contexts. Either way, as an attendee, I'm leaving the conference with information that I'm not sure what to do with. If the goal of most conferences is to provide information to attendees that they can go back and apply in their companies, relying on mainly academic speakers is not going to suffice. Sure, I'm a vendor, and maybe a bit biased, but you know what? I work with a variety of companies across industries and I know what the challenges are for implementing simulations, serious games, and virtual worlds in an organization. Other vendors know a lot about the challenges and strategies of implementing their products and services. Its not promotion, its expertise, and for those willing to share expertise at a conference perhaps its worth the occasional promotional comment. At least there's a greater likelihood that attendees could leave knowing a lot more about the realities of learning technology implementations in their organizations instead of just theories.
  
• Lack of integration of Web 2.0 and social networking tools: even some of the most poorly run conferences I've attended have set up pre-conference networking sites for attendees. This would have been especially helpful at TechKnowledge, particularly if people had the ability to network with the virtual conference attendees as well. During the conference, despite the best efforts of Michelle Lentz and others to build the twitterstream, your best bet to meet up with someone was to bump into them or already have their cell phone number. There were lots of ideas presented in sessions about how to integrate these tools into learning, but very little evidence of their integration at the conference. 

Typically I live blog some of the sessions I attend, but wireless access being non-existent prevented me from doing so this time. I would like to give a shout out to Tony Karrer for integrating tweets with his keynote (very cool) and keeping me awake even in Vegas at 8 am (though I don't think I agree that everyone starting a blog is a good way to move technology integration and adoption forward...). Ironically, my favorite session was also at 8 am; you should check out Mark Oehlert's session slides here and his notes on the conference here. 

Putting the gun back in the holster for now, but expect to hear more thoughts after Training 2009 in Atlanta next week.

 

On the road again and again and again

So the conference season will have officially kicked off for '09 as of next week. First up is ASTD Techknowledge in Las Vegas, then Training '09 in Atlanta in February. After a quick breath, we'll be all over the eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering in Orlando and Defense GameTech User's Conference '09 the same week, also in Orlando. The end of March I'll be heading out to GDC in San Fran, then skipping down to DC in April for 3D TLC, the enterprise spinoff of the Association of Virtual Worlds conferences. In May, we're still considering SPBT in Chicago, immediately followed by Corporate Learning Exchange also in Chicago.

I'm tired just thinking about it. 

So why do all these conferences? We're still new, so its helpful to get some exposure. Obviously we're hoping all this activity leads to sales. But I do think that soon, the only conferences we'll really be interested in attending are the ones that we're speaking at. And maybe, MAYBE the occasional conference to just keep up with trends, like GDC. 

And maybe I'll give the virtual conferences a try. After all, its good to practice what you preach.

Doing good

Last night me and most of the other Tandemites attended a (the second) Refresh Philly meeting. High level, about 100 design and development professionals in Philadelphia showed up to learn from each other and figure out how to use our collective talents to make Philly a better place. 

Also this week, a discussion about mission and vision statements prompted me to look up the vision statement that my team had created at my last gig. (It reminded me how much I truly miss those peeps!) We had spent a lot of time thinking about what would make us truly fulfilled in our work, and as a result, a significant amount of our team's vision was focused around how we could give back to the community.

Sure, we're all in business to make money. But truth be told, a lot of us want more out of our lives than that. We want to build community, we want to contribute, we want to leave the world a better place than we found it. 

It's not easy to balance the demands of work with giving back. But its important. 

I'm thrilled for the opportunity contribute to Refresh Philly (or as one of the Think Brownstone boys referred to it, a chance to be one of the Super Friends in the Hall of Justice). What is your super power? Can YOU use it to help save the world?