By John Quincy, editor, WorkplaceXpert newsletter

The ASTD International Conference & Exposition is one of the premiere events for everyone involved in workplace learning and performance. Before registering for this year's ASTD conference in San Diego, I had to wonder if it was going to be worth the investment and live up to that pledge. Money is tight. I wondered if it would be worth the time or the expense. Ultimately, based on past experience and hopes of taking advantage of the networking opportunities, I decided to make the journey to San Diego.

The need for training has never been more important that it is today. Not only do many of our organizations face tough economic times, we also face new mandates that demand the most effective and efficient solutions available. Eight thousand learning and performance professionals from 71 countries attended the show this year. Attendance was down from previous years, but that is not surprising to anyone, given travel budget reductions and limited resources in this sluggish economy. What is important, and very encouraging if you ask me, is that there is a very vital training and learning industry - and it is filled with dedicated professionals who really believe in training and realize the value in meeting with peers to exchange new ideas.

The theme of the week was a combination of  "back to the fundamentals" and "look at what we can do now." Resources are constrained in most organizations and purchases are scrutinized. With those parameters, attendees were determined to find value and measurable results from training solutions. They focused their attention on products and ideas that provided results and enabled them to "do more with less."

Readers of WorkplaceXpert newsletter have echoed these priorities. We recently conducted a survey of more than 7,000 of our readers. Across the board, training and HR professionals indicated they were most interested in presentations and skills training, leadership training, instructional design and content development, as well as more information on measuring training effectiveness and demonstrating return on investment.

NOTE: A free copy of the executive summary and results of this survey is available in the June issue of WorkplaceXpert.  Click here to see the results.

Additionally, large and small organizations alike reported they are generally optimistic about an economic recovery for their companies and their industries in the coming year. Budgets for custom training materials, classroom, as well as eLearning initiatives and new technology investments are claiming increases in the coming year. 

These purchase intentions are welcome news by patient industry suppliers who are hopeful corporate purse strings will be loosening soon. The buzz heard on the show floor about products and services on display revolved around the topics of collaboration, blended learning solutions, scalable/improved technology and display and projection technology.

The expo hall featured a loyal base of traditional training and learning suppliers. They shared lots of great ideas and information. I know first hand about the ease of collecting piles of literature, as demonstrated by the bulging briefcases hauled home. In spite of the challenging times, there were also a number of companies testing the waters at the show, looking to tap into the huge potential of this market with new solutions and services. The learning industry remains an intriguing new area for expansion for these major - well-funded - players who plan on investing heavily in our industry in the coming months.

Highlights of the ASTD 2003 International Conference & Exposition included:
 
· Three keynote speakers:
Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, presented a new way of understanding change - illuminating how these trends sometimes behave like epidemics. He also discussed how to recognize, use, and promote social power in organizations.

Frances Hesselbein, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Leader To Leader Institute, formerly The Drucker Foundation, addressed the imperatives of leadership in tenuous times. She also discussed why leaders of organizations must be mission focused, values based, and demographics driven.

Jim Loehr, co-author of "The Power of Full Engagement™" and with 25 years of experience working with the world's greatest athletes to help them perform, talked about how extraordinary performance in today's business climate demands Full Engagement: being physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with the corporate mission.

· Legends Sessions - new to the ASTD International Conference & Exposition - these sessions featured the following thought leaders and innovators who have helped to shape the learning and performance profession: Ken Blanchard, Peter Block, Donald Kirkpatrick, and Margaret Wheatley. These Legends shared inspiring insights that left attendees thinking about learning in a new way.

· More than 300 training suppliers showcased their latest products and services in the EXPO.

· Educational sessions in 10 tracks covered the following topics: careers, e-learning, leadership/management development, learning as a business strategy, measurement and evaluation, innovation, organizational change, performance consulting, personal and professional effectiveness, and training fundamentals. Conference attendees were able to choose from among 300 educational sessions based on their level of experience.

· In "View from the CLO" sessions, attendees gathered insights from chief learning officers at the highest levels of the profession to understand how they are moving businesses forward in a volatile economy.

To the credit of ASTD's education planning teams and volunteers, all these subjects and more were addressed in the conference sessions, special events, expo hall and keynotes. Solid content, well delivered to an eager audience looking to learn, share and network at the premiere association conference serving the training profession world-wide. The ASTD 2004 International Conference and Exposition will take place in Washington, D.C., May 21-27, 2004.

John Quincy is the editor of WorkplaceXpert newsletter. Published monthly, WPX is a free, online newsletter. Click on the link below to see the current issue and to subscribe. Results from the 2003 Readership and Training Business Climate Study will be published in the  June issue of WorkplaceXpert.

John Quincy previously served for eight years as the research director and marketing services manager for VNU in Minneapolis, Minnesota, publishers of Training, Online Learning, Presentations and Potentials magazines and producers of numerous conferences.