30 Under 30 @ Learning 2011

It was an honor to share the stage with my fellow 30 Under 30 friends. The videos from our intro and closing sessions  have been posted! http://www.learning2011.com/Videos/30-under-30.htm

Learning 2011- live blogging

30 Under 30

I am so grateful for the opportunity that my company gave me to attend Elliot Masie's Learning 2011 Conference. As a 30 Under 30 participant, I was able to engage in extra speaker sessions and projects available only to us. The other 29 learning leaders under the age of 30 were an impressive group of well-educated and experienced professionals. It was an honor to meet them and I hope to continue to learn more about them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I appreciated the guidance we received from Elliot, Bob Baker, Nigel Paine and Meghan Cernera.

Some of of my highlights from the Learning 2011 Conference:

- meeting and working with the other 30 Under 30 participants and then getting up on stage with them in front of 2,000 conference attendees.
- learning about how CNN has shortened their technical training into "blitz" training. Nice to know vs need to know.
- hearing Doug Lynch from the University of Pennsylvania express his views about calculating ROI on training and what he thinks about management books like Good to Great (he's not a fan of either).

President Bill Clinton

- watching 2,000 people play heads or tails to win a night's stay at Cinderella's castle!
- Hamburger University @ McDonald's- transforming from traditional instructor-led classrooms to using simulations and blended learning. Amazing use of technology in their classrooms- electronic flip charts, pod-style tables, smart boards.
- meeting the producer of Undercover Boss, Stephen Lambert.
- getting advice from the founder of Boston Scientific, John Abele.
- hire the right people and train them for the job. They know how to have fun at Southwest Airlines. I'm curious how their training team will handle the AirTran merger.
- connecting IRL (in real life) with fellow Twitter-ers.
- listening to Bill Clinton give his keynote speech. He was amazing!

John Lithgow

- participating in the reverse mentoring session and giving advice to three "30 and older" leaders in the learning and development industry.
- meeting new mentors and having the opportunity to ask them a few (quick) questions during the speed mentoring session.
- learning about what it's like to work at Facebook and how they approach learning and development.
- watching John Lithgow perform his one man play, "Stories by Heart".
- thinking about ways to incorporate Creative Commons material/photos into what I do.
- getting inspired by the innovative mind of Dean Kamen, inventor extraordinaire.
- hearing more about non-profits such as Head Held High and FIRST Robotics.

Learning 2011

In less than a month, I'll be headed off to Learning 2011. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend Elliot Masie's presentation at PACT, a local training and development networking organization I belong to. During his speech, he spoke about the 30 Under 30 program and after returning back to the office, I was inspired to apply. Since this is my last year of being in the "Under 30" category, I was very excited when about a month later, I received an email from Elliot letting me know that I was accepted into the program.

10 reasons why I'm excited for Learning 2011:

10) Meeting the other 29 Under 30'ers.
9) Attending sessions to learn about training at companies like Google, Starbucks, Facebook and more.
8) Helping to facilitate and lead sessions.
7) Reverse mentoring.
6) Former President Bill Clinton is a keynote speaker.
5) John Lithgow (Trinity killer from Dexter) is another keynote speaker.
4) Watching the best of the best from the learning industry live in action.
3) Getting e-published along with my other Under 30 peers. (Still need to complete my writing assignment!)
2) Networking opportunities with fellow trainers and developers.
1) A work conference at Disney World!

A link to the Event Guide: http://www.learning2011.com/images/stories/L11EventGuidePREVIEW.pdf