Blog

  • November 13, 2012 8:00 AM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    Activating Leadership
    Seraphim Consulting & Training Solutions

     

    JUST IN - Those who register with their ASTD member ID can attend for $199 instead of the $299 list registration price!

    November 13, 2012
    8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
    Double Tree Hotel
    18740 International Boulevard
    Seattle, WA 98188

    Discover the 7 KEYS to actuating the competencies that inspire leadership and motivate others into action. Managers/leaders will be able to increase their personal credibility, confidence, and influence with the awareness and skills that are critical to get the best from their people and lead in a manner that others will follow. This course utilizes small group activities, discussions, and includes a leadership self-assessment.

    Register Online
    www.seraphimconsulting.net

    Cost is $299. Register yourself and bring a guest for only $149. Cost is $349 after November 1st.

  • November 12, 2012 11:35 AM | Anonymous
    The next meeting of the 2013 Innovation Initiative planning team will be this coming Thursday, November 15th, 11 AM - 1 PM, on the Eastside.  There is still time to get involved with this exciting effort.  Come for the full time or for as much as you can.  RSVP to Dr. Bud at government affairs@astdps.org for venue location.
  • November 08, 2012 10:00 AM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)
     ASTDps 2012 Ignite Your Mojo Conference: Thank You! The Learning Continues opportunity; reply by Monday, Oct 15th

    As a follow up to member interest about the new Tin Can API (next generation SCORM) mentioned at the Ignite your Mojo event we are hosting a webinar on the topic. The webinar will be on Nov 8th at 10:00 AM Pacific. There are a few more details and a sign up at http://blog.saltbox.com/.
  • November 03, 2012 8:30 AM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    Organization Systems Renewal® Graduate Program
    Celebrate OSR. Now at BGI. featuring:


    Thiagi
    The HUB Seattle
    OSR at Bainbridge Graduate Institute
    Saturday, November 3, 2012
    8:30 – 5:00 pm
    Attend the day for $99
    Register: http://tinyurl.com/9739o98

    Thiagi
    The Power of Games
    Play with the Mad Scientist of Games
    Discover new ways to tap the genius and creativity of groups
    Gain skills and fun to apply immediately
    Connect with the dynamic OSR learning community
    Celebrate!


    Bring a prospective student interested in the OSR 19 Master’s Program – pay only $49.
    Already applied, or seriously considering applying to OSR – attend for free.
    Email Paula Brekke at paula.brekke@bgi.edu for promotion codes

     

    Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan is the Resident Mad Scientist at The Thiagi Group, an organization with the mission of helping people improve their performance effectively and enjoyably.
    Thiagi’s long-term clients include AT&T, Arthur Andersen, Bank of Montreal, Cadence Design Systems, Chevron, IBM, Intel, Intelsat, United Airlines, and Liberty Mutual. On a short-term basis, Thiagi has worked with more than 50 different organizations in high-tech, financial services, and management consulting areas. For these clients, Thiagi has consulted and conducted training in such areas as rightsizing, diversity, creativity, teamwork, customer satisfaction, human performance technology, and organizational learning.
    Thiagi has published 40 books, 120 games and simulations, and more than 200 articles. He wrote the definitive chapters on simulations and games for ISPI’s Handbook of Human Performance Technology, ASTD’s Training & Development Handbook, and the American Management Association’s Human Resources Management and Development Handbook.
    Thiagi currently writes a monthly online newsletter, Thiagi GameLetter. This newsletter, now in its fifth year, features Thiagi’s training games and other creative interventions that deliver results quickly and effectively. He served as the editor of NSPI Journal and Performance & Improvement for more than 10 years. He currently edits the simulation/game section in Sage Publication’s journal, Simulation & Gaming. He is also a contributing editor of the monthly journal, Educational Technology. Thiagi has made hundreds of presentations and keynote speeches at professional conferences. At ISPI,

    Thiagi holds the “records” for making the most presentations, conducting the most
    preconference workshops, and being invited to make the most Encore presentations. Thiagi is also a regular presenter at Lakewood’s TRAINING Conferences and the annual conferences of American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA). Thiagi has been the president of the North American Simulation and Gaming Associating (NASAGA), International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), and Association for Special Education Technology (ASET). He has received 17 different awards and Presidential Citations from ISPI, including the society’s highest award, Honorary Life Member. He also received an Honorary Life Member award from NASAGA as well as its highest award, Ifill-Raynolds Award. Internationally recognized as an expert in multinational collaboration and active learning in organizations, Thiagi has lived in three different countries and has consulted in 21 others.

  • October 24, 2012 5:00 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    The Symposium brings together change management professionals to connect with the change community and share thought provoking industry trends and ideas.
    For more information and to register, visit:
    www.acmppnwnetwork.org

    HOSTED AT NIKE WORLD HEADQUARTERS
    BEAVERTON, OR


    » WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, 5:00PM-8:00PM
    » THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25TH, 9:30AM-4:30PM

    Change Connect opens with an evening of networking and is followed by a full day of conference activities. The Symposium features a panel of dynamic business leaders exciting breakout sessions and keynote address by renowned leadership expert and author Mark Thompson.


    $350 Symposium cost includes
    »»NIght before networking event
    »»Symposium presentations and track sessions
    »»Light breakfast and lunch
    »»Optional NIke Campus tour
    20% Symposium cost discount available for early bird, groups
    and ACMP members

    Business Leader panel features:

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    James Shillaber, Director,
    Learning & Development

    Bonneville Power Administration
    Kim Leathley,
    EVP of Internal Business Services

    Liberty Northwest
    Julie Burnett, President & CEO

    NIKE, Inc
    Roland Paanakker, CIO/VP of Nike Inc.


    Kaiser Foundation
    David Lake, VP, Health Plan Services


    The Standard
    James Hindes, Director, Enterprise CRM

  • October 23, 2012 3:58 PM | Anonymous
    The Chapter's Innovation Initiative got off to a great start in this our inaugural year, 2012. Let's build on these successes by developing a plan to make even greater strides in the coming year toward our goal of making the Puget Sound the world's most innovative region on the globe. Join us for ...

    Innovation Initiative 2013 Planning Meeting
    Thursday, November 8th
    8 to 9:30 AM
    Jitters Coffee House
    2200 148th Ave NE
    Redmond, WA 98052

    Please RSVP me governmentaffairs@astdps.org if you want to attend.
  • October 16, 2012 8:00 AM | Anonymous
    The next presentation in the ASTDps Innovation Initiative series features mobile technology expert Jeff Tillett leading a workshop on what you need to know about the emerging learning technologies and how they are bringing about significant organization change, not only to the learning function but to entire organizations. the workshop will be held on Tuesday October 16 at 8 AM at the training facilities of the Versatile Company, 12304 32nd Avenue NE in Seattle.

    The Chapter's Innovation Initiative has the goal to "Establish the learning foundations to make the Puget Sound the World's innovation leader.”  The series presents programs on both how to make organizations more innovative through learning, and how to make the learning function itself more innovative.

    The Initiative draws its inspiration from several sources.  First and primarily, from National ASTD’s 2011 white paper that states "The learning function can and SHOULD play a critical role in developing and sustaining the innovative culture that is the hallmark of successful organizations.”  Second, from the State of Washington’s official economic development policy to “Make Washington the most attractive, creative and fertile environment for innovation in the world as a means of achieving long-term global competitiveness, prosperity and economic opportunity for all the state citizens.” Third, from the increasing recognition and calls by business executives, government officials, and learning thought leaders to promote innovation as the best means to grow the economy and solve pressing social and environmental problems.

    You can register for the workshop here.  The program is priced at only $10 for members and $15 for non-members.
  • October 02, 2012 2:43 PM | Anonymous

    You may have seen the front-page, above-the-fold story last week in the Seattle Times about Microsoft's proposal for large American employers to pay a hefty increase in the fees charged for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)-related work visas, known as H-!B visas, in exchange for lifting the limit on such visas. Here is the link.

    H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to bring in highly skilled foreign workers, such as computer scientists and engineers, to work in the U.S. for an extended period of time. Many U.S. firms, in particular high-tech companies like Microsoft, contend the Hi-B program is necessary, because there are not enough U.S. workers who possess the requisite skills. However, the H1-B visa program has bcome increasingly controversial over the years, because many Americans see the program as a means for U.S. companies to displace high wage American workers with foreign workers willing to work for less. Persistent high unemployment in this country has only added fuel to the fire.

    Microsoft is proposing to increase the current $1,500 fee per H1-B visa to $10,000. The proposed increase will bring in an estimated $500 million a year. Microsoft wants the money to pay for more teacher training in STEM subjects and to subsidize more computer science courses to train young American college students for STEM jobs. In effect, Microsoft is proposing an exchange granting many more visas immediately so companies can bring in more foreign workers to address skill shortages, coupled with a long-term plan to fill the high-tech jobs pipeline with trained American workers.

    From the WLP public policy perspective, the good news is that Microsoft is taking a very public position acknowledging the skills-gap issue and is proposing that American companies pay some serious money to the government to address the problem. The less appealing aspect is that Microsoft is not proposing to use any of the money on retraining adult workers, in effect ignoring the huge social issue of long-term unemployment.

    I have brought this issue to the attention of National ASTD staff and the Public Policy Council. They have expressed interest in studying the issue and exploring ways to engage Microsoft in a dialog to improve the proposal.

    What are your views on this issue? Public policy will play an increasing role in -- and impact on -- our profession. The only question is whether we will work to influence workforce development to benefit society and the work we do.

    William "Bud" Wurtz, PhD
    Public Resource Information and Strategies
  • September 26, 2012 11:00 AM | Anonymous
    Intrepid Learning, ASTDps’s partner on the Innovation Initiative, is presenting a free webinar on “The Innovation Worker: A Commitment to Organizational Creativity” on Wednesday, September 26th at 11 AM.
    The session’s description captures perfectly what the Innovation Initiative is about:
    “Innovation is no longer in the hands of the few; it should be cultivated, supported and sought after to empower all employees to be active participants in every department in your organization. The new “innovation workers” should be partnered with, relied upon, and admired for their daily influence on every part of your business, large or small.
    “It’s the responsibility of the organization to partner with their innovation workers to empower them to be innovative and creative. Join JD Dillon, Director of Learning Development for Kaplan University with Judy Albers, Director of Client Management to explore how to build an overall organizational philosophy that invests in innovative talent in the same way they might invest in monetary assets.”

    The webinar will explore how to build an overall organizational philosophy that invests in innovative talent in the same way they might invest in monetary assets. So participate in this session and open the door to creativity by:
    • Understanding how an organization needs to integrate innovation into every facet of their business
    • Evaluate the role of innovation worker and their significant influence over the way today’s business operates
    • How empowered employees can foster change in a creative organization
    • The value of an organizational mission statement for today’s employee

    Here is the link to the registration page for this great learning opportunity.

  • September 20, 2012 8:30 AM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    Elevate your training to a virtual level with asynchronous e-learning programs.

    The two-day program helps you develop individualized, asynchronous e-learning experiences that motivate learners to change their behavior. Invigorate your traditional instructional design with fresh e-learning techniques based on examples from organizations who have implemented successful asynchronous virtual training programs. Particular attention is paid to how to create instructional design solutions from scratch. This is not a tools or webinar training class and does not address issues of designing and delivering live, virtual instructor-led webinars. The focus is on skillfully meeting instructional design challenges in any industry, and on applying principles of effective e-learning to individualized asynchronous tutorials, games, simulations and other e-learning models.

    The two-day program helps you develop e-learning experiences that motivate learners to change their behavior. Invigorate your traditional instructional design with fresh e-learning techniques based on examples from organizations who have implemented successful virtual training programs.

    The E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program starts Thursday, September 20, 2012 at New Horizons, 11808 Northup Way, Suite 270, Bellevue, WA 98005. The workshop begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. each day.

    Product Code: ELSE0912

    http://store.astd.org/Default.aspx?tabid=167&ProductId=22678