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Greetings!
The June 2004 chapter meeting will be held from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at
Intuit, 6888 Sierra Center Parkway, Reno.
President's Message: The 2004 ASTD International Conference and
Exposition 
Imagine the electric energy happening when you bring together 9,000
extroverted learning and performance professionals from 78 countries, 342
training suppliers and vendor companies on the buzzing exposition floor,
and rub shoulders with legends of the industry such as Peter Senge, Ken
Blanchard, and Bob Pike! That's a snapshot of the 2004 ASTD "ICE", which
took place from May 23 - 27 in Washington, D.C., and which I was fortunate
to be able to attend!
An event which could easily have been overwhelming in scope, the
conference was extremely well organized with attention to detail from the
"Ask Me" volunteers wearing bright yellow vests and directing foot traffic
to the "Meet to Eat" events to the free lunches (and ice cream) in the
Expo Hall to the extensive and thorough (albeit heavy) Program Guidebook.
The only hard part was deciding which of the literally dozens of
sessions to attend each day. Of the 15 or so sessions I attended, fully
two-thirds of those were absolute winners. Educational sessions were
offered in nine different tracks, certificate courses were available in
five separate areas, and conferences-within-a- conference provided
intense, focused learning experiences in specialized areas. The ASTD Store
was offering hundreds of books at special prices, as well as Meet the
Speakers and Authors sessions and numerous book signings. There was a
conference daily newspaper, international forums, and even a Stretching
Room, where exhausted conference attendees could drag themselves to learn
and practice stretching exercises and re-centering techniques before
rushing off to the next session.
And then there were the evenings: on one evening I attended a Welcome
Reception, on another a Networking and Connections Reception, and on yet a
third a reception for award recipients and chapter leaders held in
Washington's renovated and upscale Union Station; the fourth and last
evening was spent joining a few thousand "new and old friends" at ASTD's
60th anniversary celebration, conducted in grand style at the Smithsonian
National Museum of American History. And then there were the salsa
lessons! I think you can see that the learning and networking
opportunities were huge. I am looking forward to sharing some of the
training techniques and information I learned at the conference with you
at our next monthly membership meeting on Wednesday, June 16th starting at
5:30 pm, hosted again by Intuit! Come to the meeting to learn some new
stuff, take part in a raffle, and to pick up some of the training freebies
handed out at the Expo! See you there!
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Where's My Newsletter? (The "Real" One) Beth Blackwood, VP
Membership - Recruitment |
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 This month we are attaching a
link to our 2004 Member Directory for your convenience (check the
very bottom of this newsletter). Like the newsletter, we're making
this available electronically. This format will be easier to update
when new members join and is more economical. If there are
corrections to your information please let me know.
We have received some feedback on the emailed version of the
newsletter and thought we'd give this quiz to find out how many of
you understand our reasons for going to this format.
Some people have wondered about the lack of a printed newsletter
and their comfort level with printed material in lieu of digital
information. There's an actual reason and logic behind your
newsletter format. So (like most good Training people), let's take
an informational test on the newsletter format and reasons behind
the digital decision.
Click
here to take the Quiz! »
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Door to Low Cost Online Learning Opens for
Nonprofits! |
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| A recent study by the U.S. Department of
Education found a doubling of students taking online courses between
1998 and 2001, and that number is expected to continue to increase.
"Online education is exploding and it's a terrific opportunity to
reach non-profits with budgets that don't allow for conference
travel or university-based continuing education," said Peter Manzo,
executive director of the Southern California Center for Nonprofit
Management (CNM), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides
information, training and consulting services to charitable groups.
CNM offers 150 traditional, class-room based courses aimed at
sharpening management skills for nonprofit leaders. But when CNM
went looking for a way to begin delivering some of its sessions over
the Internet, the costs were shocking. Mainstream commercial
software packages cost more than $65,000 for start-up, licensing and
maintenance. At the same time, CNM and its collaborative partners in
the California Management Assistance Partnership (C-MAP), a
statewide coalition of 14 nonprofit management support
organizations, were looking for tools to help them communicate and
collaborate at a distance. 
To keep costs down for its members, the Center searched for an
alternative. The result was a partnership with Urban Insight
(www.urbaninsight.com), a local Los Angeles-based Internet
consulting firm that works with "open source" software, created by
individuals around the world who collaborate to improve and adapt
software in an agreed-upon manner.
Read
the rest of the story! »
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Chris Champagne's Book Review - The Luck Factor, by Dr.
Richard Wiseman |
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 Dr. Richard Wiseman used to be a
professional stage magician, and in that occupation of illusion, he
became keenly interested in the study of human perception, luck
(good and bad) and human expectations. His interest became so keen
he eventually went on to get his doctorate and now works for the
Psychology Department of University of Herfordshire in England.
Dr. Wiseman has studied luck, even going so far as to follow
control groups in his studies on national television with the BBC.
What he has found is intriguing to say the least. If you are
remotely interested in increasing the good luck in your personal and
professional life, you need to read this book and apply its
principals.
I have worked in the casino gaming industry on and off for over
ten years. There have been several studies done by credible
universities over the years, focusing on the psychology of gambling.
These studies have proven that players who believe they will win,
win more often than players who do not. It is that simple, and I
have seen it in my own experience, and I personally believe it to be
true. (I'm not talking about one guy who thinks he'll win the
lottery, and buys a ticket getting a chance to win, compared to the
other guy who doesn't think he'll win, and never buys a ticket, thus
guaranteeing he'll never win the lottery. I'm talking two ticket
buyers with an equal chance to win.)
The core question Dr. Wiseman poses to the reader is: Can a
person improve their luck? His studies say yes, and he breaks down
the process and mind set people need to adopt to start making that
change. The four principles include:
Read
the rest of the story! »
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Employment Opportunity! Employee Development Manager
Wanted! |
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 Greetings! My name is Art
Torcello and I am a Training Officer with the Nevada State
Department of Personnel. I am located in the Las Vegas office.
We are currently recruiting for the position of Employee
Development Manager. The position is located in Las Vegas, but will
supervise the Training Officers in Carson City and Las Vegas. I have
attached the job specs for the position.
Please call me at 702.486.2910 or email me if you have questions
(atorcello@dop.nv.gov).
Click
HERE for the full job listing. »
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