Blog

  • NY Times: In Seattle fewer than 5% able to get federal training funds-- and now funding is running out

    April 14, 2012 12:18 PM | Anonymous
    Seattle is one of the featured cities in a recent New York Times article on federal retraining funding. The article points out that fewer than 5% of the people who sought retraining to help them qualify for new opportunities in a still very tough job market were able to qualify for funding.  This is similar to the situation all across the nation.  

    Here is the paradox that ASTDps members need to get their head around. On the one hand, federal training funds for Washington State amount to tens of millions of dollars, far more than just about any one major corporation spends on workforce development.

    On the other hand, it is only small amount of what is needed to help people upgrade their skills and help their organizations and our society move ahead in an increasingly technical world -- and this level of funding is threatened by continuing girdlock in Washington, DC.  

    If we want to fulfill the National ASTD vision of wanting to create a world that works better, then we need to understand that these seemingly arcane public policy issues have a huge impact on our field and on our society.

    Find out more here.  (A paid subscription may be required for full access.)

  • Case Studies in Creativity

    April 05, 2012 12:27 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    Case Studies in Creativity
    18 Apr 2012
    5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
    Location: Invista Performance Solutions
    4500 Steilacoom Blvd SW, Bldg 19,Lakewood WA 98499

    REGISTER NOW!!

    How can you create intentional creativity for improved learning outcomes? The Creativity and Innovation Panel will feature creativity and innovation success stories from around the Puget Sound with compelling businesses cases.We hope you can join us!

    In this exciting session, you’ll learn:

    1) Top five habits of creative and innovative organizations and how your company and learning practice can apply them.

    2) How workplace learning professionals play a vital role in using creative thinking to grow business and achieve results.

    3) The magic synthesis and conditions of corporate creativity and tools for the workplace learning professional to foster enhanced creativity and innovation.

    ASTDps is launching a new series through its Creativity and Innovation SIG (Special Interest Group) to help raise awareness and provide initial training related to increasing organizational innovation. Our intent is nothing less than to lay the crucial foundations of learning and knowledge that will help the Puget Sound region stand out as the innovation leader in the world. Be part of this exciting undertaking!

    National ASTD has called upon learning practitioners to play a leading role in helping the organizations we serve become more innovative -- because, as CEOs, government officials, and thought leaders all increasingly recognize, new technologies, new industries, new wealth, new jobs, and many other good economic things flow from innovation

  • Bob Pike's Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp - Seattle, WA

    April 03, 2012 2:36 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)
    Don't miss the Bob Pike's Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp - Seattle, WA from May 17, 2012 till May 18, 2012.

     

    Achieve 90% retention, cut presentation time by 50% and increase transfer by 75%. These easy-to-apply techniques will bring immediate results to your programs! More than 100,000 trainers who have attended the Creative Training Techniques / Boot Camp 2-day Train-the-Trainer seminar have learned alternatives to lecture which allow their participants to achieve higher levels of content retention in less classroom time.

    This comprehensive seminar also allows you to:

    • Create powerful new openings for your training.
    • Cut your preparation time by 50% with three powerful techniques.
    • Use the C.O.R.E. processes to increase retention and on-the-job application
    • Apply CPR to all your training

    All this and much more only at Bob Pike's Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp - Seattle, WA.

  • Nearby ASTD Programs

    March 29, 2012 3:53 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)
    ASTD Upcoming Programs Near You:
     
    Designing Learning Certificate
    April 16-18 in Los Angeles, CA

    In this program, you'll learn to apply a structured step-by-step process toward designing learning programs and help learners apply their skills back on the job.     Learn more...
     
    Training Certificate
    April 16-18 in Los Angeles, CA

    This program is a practical, how-to overview of the entire training function. It prepares new trainers with critical training skills and introduces seasoned practitioners to the latest techniques for delivering powerful training. Learn more...
     
    ASTD LearnNow Conference
    April 23-24 in San Francisco, CA

    Give your learning strategy a refresher with the latest trends and technologies, including informal, social, and mobile learning. Learn more...

  • May 23rd ~ SPECIAL EVENT: The Creative Trainer: Strategies to Make Your Learning Events Sizzle

    March 27, 2012 3:46 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    Plan ahead for this terrific SPECIAL EVENT coming in May!

    The human mind is capable of fantastic things. Once new material or skills are learned and the mind is changed, it never goes back to its original shape. The challenge for trainers is to create an environment and deliver information that taps into the full potential of a learner’s brain. This can be done through novelty, change, and many other concepts that brain-based researchers have found enhances the ability to acquire, retain and recall information.

    In this program, participants will explore many ideas, concepts and techniques that can be used to enhance virtually any training program or presentation topic. A modified “behavioral modeling” approach will be used to help accomplish this. In using this technique, the facilitator will introduce a concept or technique, demonstrate it, and then discuss the methodology behind it with participants.  Read more . . .

  • From Bryan Rutberg, today's chapter meeting presenter

    March 20, 2012 2:53 PM | Karen Thornton

    Hello ASTDps Members,

    Thank you so much for your kind attention and participation this morning – I have heard from some of you that you came away with a few good ideas or perspectives from the material, and I am so pleased!

    This morning’s presentation is online at this link - http://t.co/OwymW8ZF. Please review, download, share with your friends and colleagues, put in the closet to give as a holiday present, etc.

    If you would like to connect on LinkedIn or follow my communications thoughts on Twitter, see below, in my signature file, and click the right links. And if you need communications or audience engagement help, or know someone who does, please find me via email or give a call! Make sure you mention that you found me through ASTDps; from now through May I can arrange welcoming “introductory rates” for anyone who does. I hope to see you again at an ASTD event!

    All the best, Bryan

    Bryan M. Rutberg | Partner
    bryanr@agconsultingpartners.com

    (206) 251-6911

    "Like" the AG Consulting Facebook page

    Follow my communications-focused Twitter feed

    Connect with me on LinkedIn 

  • NEW OFFERING FOR CPLP EXAM PREP FOR 2012

    March 12, 2012 4:21 PM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    NEW OFFERING FOR CPLP EXAM PREP FOR 2012: Rita is planning a CPLP intensive face-to-face study session on Saturday, March 17, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Mercer Island Library! The primary goal is to collaborate on last minute preparation for individuals planning to sit for the CPLP Knowledge Exam, so this is purposefully planned for the CPLP Knowledge Exam window of March 17 – April 6. People interested in attending will shape the study session. Send email with interest before March 17.

  • Recommended Pre-Work for the Chapter's Innovation Initiative

    March 05, 2012 9:22 AM | Anonymous
    Remember, the Chapter's Innovation Initiative starts next month.  To help you start understanding what innovation is and why it is so important, here is the link to a recent, in-depth article from the New York Times on one of our country's lost jewels of innovation, Bell Labs. Knowing a bit about what Bell Labs contributed to this country and how it worked is a good start on thinking more clearly about how to reinvigorate the creative process for our own times and region. (A digital subscription may be required for full access.)

  • What Questions Should We Asking Public Officials?

    March 01, 2012 10:25 AM | Anonymous
    You may have noticed that the latest major election cycle, which will culminate in November, has begun in earnest.  This means that WLP professionals need to be finding out where the candidates stand on training-related issues.  

    You may have also noticed that "training" is a very popular subject these days. Public officials across the political spectrum see training as one of the great social needs of our time.  And while their ideologies and approaches to issues may vary widely, officials understand very well that our nation, as well as individual states and cities, must somehow provide more training and re-training to many more people if we are to tackle the festering problems of unemployment and for our country to be more competitive globally. What the officials don't have much awareness of is the professionals who provide the training and who have the first-hand knowledge of current needs and best practices.

    That's where I come in as the Chapter's Director of Public Resources Information and Strategies, responsible for the Chapter's government affiars activities.  I want to make sure the WLP profession takes advantage of this golden opportunity to exert more influence on shaping training-related legislation and policies.

    I am currently setting up informational interviews and with the Washington State Senate and House committee chairmen who oversee workforce development programs and policies.  Over the weeks and months to come I will be extending this information-gathering effort to the two major gubernatorial campaigns, the candidates for federal offices (the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives), and selected key races for state office.

    I want your input, whether general or specific, that we should be asking all candidates or even certain ones about their stands as it impacts training in Washington State?

    Here are three basic questions I have come up with so far:

    How can Washington State use training to help attract and retain the businesses and jobs of the future? 

    How should we be providing assistance to promote lifelong learning to help upgrade workers' skills and keep skills current? 

    How should we be providing training to help the unemployed (particularly the long-term unemployed) rejoin the workforce?

    I look forward to hearing from you.

  • Ends Wednesday: huge savings on 5 e-books PLUS 2 year membership

    February 29, 2012 10:26 AM | ATDps Admin (Administrator)

    2 years of professional development plus a 5-piece online library for just $370

    Click here to join ASTD for two years today AND build your electronic professional library for one low price. Includes:
    • 2 Years of ASTD Membership, including T+D magazine and archives, Watch & Learn webcasts, 24/7 access to the ASTD Online Library, and much more
    • Lead with Your Customer: Transform Culture and Brand into World-Class Excellence (ASTD Press e-book)
    • Developing Great Managers (ASTD Press e-book)
    • 10 Steps to Successful Business Writing (ASTD Press e-book)
    • Twitter for Trainers (digital Infoline)
    • The Power of Peer Coaching (digital Infoline)
    Hurry, this one-time only deal ends
    11:59 p.m. ET next Wednesday, March 7.

    JOIN NOW