Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the Greater Cincinnati ASTD. The subject, an adjusted and tweaked version of my Building Leadership Development from Scratch.

From what I was told it was the highest and best attended monthly meeting they had for the year… I think that is pretty cool. Without further adieu here are the slides from that session. If you would like to have a downloaded version please subscribe to the blog and then contact me and I would be happy to send you the notes!

Beginning Video from the DDI Study (Development Dimensions International)

Now how do you approach and build your own Leadership and Training efforts?

Being someone who has specialized in the field of Learning and Development much of my career I have always tried to be aware of various approaches, techniques, and technologies to help enhance and advance the learning experience. When “E-Learning” became the big trend to go towards in training and development I was leery. Over the years my suspicions have been proven when most people, practitioners and companies turned the big craze of E-Learning into an overblown PowerPoint or conference call.

But the advance in technologies and the idea of “Digital Natives” (being anyone born after 1990 and most of the life has been immersed in mobile technologies) there is true potential in the power of these technologies for actual learning. I tend to see that my colleagues, associations, and consultants are going to be in for a rude awakening when the audience that has traditionally attended ILTs (instructor lead training ‘s) begin to disappear and the demand for new and more dynamic ways of learning are… well… demanded!

I just hope that I can help others, as well as myself keep up! What do you think? I will be press at the ASTD International Conference in Orlando so feel free to connect on twitter: @BenjaminMcCall, Subscribe to this blog or talk while you are there!

So are you ready for the transition? Let’s

From Voxy.com

Via: Voxy Blog

I have been busy like anyone else. I have been up to a lot and also been asked to be a part of a lot of great projects. While I love being involved with more, I have to actually step back a little.  However, this does not stop me from getting involved with some great people and projects from time to time.

I was honored to be asked by William Tincup and Bryan Wempen once again to be a gust on the great DrivethruHR show. We discussed Leadership, Training and the fact that all companies need renegades and mavericks!

When Chris Ferdinandi at RenegadeHR did the original “Do Amazing Things” in 2010 I thought it was a great read and filled with agreeable and disagreeable content that helped people challenge their mindsets!

So when he asked me to write an article for the 2011 version of the e-book I was especially honored to contribute to “Do Amazing Things 2011.” The E book is packed full of insightful writers from the field of Human Resources. Download your free copy click here.

I will be a press person for the upcoming ASTD International Conference in May. It will be especially cool because I will be one of the few bloggers as press! Shout out to my friend Sharlyn Lauby! If you will be there then please feel free to connect and say hello. Maybe we can join in on some great sessions or even be hecklers in the bad ones!

I also plan to attend HREvolution and SHRM International as long as my working travel schedule will allow. All TBA!

I participated in Ignite Cincinnati #3 last year and I was lucky enough to be voted in on #4 as well. The following is my “always could get better at a 5 minute nerve racking” talk. Will do another as long it is not on a night I am training!

There you go. So what have you been up to?

Tomorrow I will be at the Greater Cincinnati American Society for Training and Development (GCASTD) Local conference. “Ignite Your Mojo” is the theme. I am excited to attend and present at this conference for the first time.

The thing I really like about it is the fact that a panel and discussion around Social Media will be happening for the first time this year. I think it is great that the local HR and Training community is starting to see some potential and uses for the tools within our field. But we have a long way to go. I am dissapointed in the lack of use and embracing of Social Media within the national ASTD for truly using social tools for learning. It is always funny to me how people give presentations, offer advice and tout their knowledge of social media all while barely using it themselves.

As part of the panel a few friends will join me in discussing opportunites that exist in Social Media, ways we can help people learn, and approaches we have taken to learn new ideas for ourselves. They know quite a bit about it and are, as I would say, “practitioners” since they use social media tools often! Friends and Colleagues Steve Browne, Erin Schreyer and Kendra Ramirez will share the stage. A funny thing I’ll probably mention to audience is that, we as panelists, were able to put together and plan this panel through social media. Actually this will be the first time Kendra and I have met in person, despite the fact that we have built a connection before we even met!

I look forward to the results and outcomes that will start out of this conference. I hope that I can be one of the little nudges for people to go ahead and take the leap!