Our next meeting is Tuesday, March 28, 2006, at Sage Creek Grill and Tap Room
Meadow Wood Courtyard 5851 South Virginia Street.
Time: 5:30p - 7:30p. (If you get lost, give Kurt a call at 742-6834.)

This month's topic is Creating New Marketing Venues through Local Resources,
delivered by Richelle O'Driscoll, MA,Management and Executive Development Programs, Extended Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, and Rich Whitney, MA, Assistant Director, Management & Leadership Programs in the management and professional development section of Extended Studies.

The mission of Extended Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno is to improve people's lives by providing innovative, high-quality education at any time or place.

This discussion will present information about how Extended Studies creates professional development programs and how the university can be a resource to organizations with their professional development needs.

Additionally, information will include research about the Reno/Sparks and surrounding community demographics, the various markets that Extended Studies serves, and implications for the training and development community. A big part of the equation is the program development and partnership process that involves working in collaboration with high-caliber trainers and educators in the community. This provides a great opportunity for ASTD members to work with and for the University to fulfill its outreach mission.

Details about submitting program proposals, class/course ideas and possible teaching opportunities will be provided.

Hello everyone!

First, a big ASTD thank you to Mr. Chuck Shields (and Mr. Chuck Sweeney) for presenting at our first 2006 event: The Proving Worth seminar. We hope those of you who were able to attend found the information, breakout sessions, and case studies useful. Thanks also to the event organizers Tory Atkins, Krissy Karatsonyi, and Lauren Breslin, with event-day assistance from Jeanne Underwood, Cathy Matrantuono, Karen Vetter, Chris Champagne, and Edna Dianda, (with Alan Chain and Donna Chase there in spirit). Great job, everyone!

And now for something completely different...

Springtime in Nevada never disappoints, does it? Wind, rain, snow, sunshine...you never know what you're going to get as March tries to hold onto winter with one hand, while reaching tentatively towards spring with the other. And in keeping with our March topic of "Proving Worth" and the blustery uncertainty of the season, it's only fitting that those of you who are on a fiscal calendar that ends in May, June, or July (or who work with clients that are) find yourselves embroiled in the tumultuous yearly custom known as the budgeting process.

March Madness is not reserved exclusively for college basketball, as managers everywhere crunch last year's numbers in an effort to quantify dollars spent, widgets shipped, team efficiency, product quality, customer satisfaction, gross sales, and net profit. Meanwhile, the sweet tantalizing aroma of the 2007 budget wafts through the office like a blueberry pie cooling on the windowsill, with everyone painfully aware that it won't be cut up equally... and sometimes there's not enough to go around.

What to do? You're all hungry, right? So how do you keep your department, pet project, or your individual position alive for yet another year?

• Lay out a communication strategy and delivery schedule for the upcoming year as soon as your budget is approved. Stick to the plan and communicate regularly on a schedule that makes sense for your department or project.
• Establish a departmental or project presence on your intranet. Keep the most important information clearly visible on the main page, with easy to find links to supporting information. Keep successes, progress, and status front and center!
• Establish a regular space or write a column in the company newsletter. If you don't have a company newsletter, create one for your department or project and distribute it via email to stakeholders and other management teams and employees affected by your work (Microsoft Publisher works great when you need to create an email-ready newsletter in a hurry).
• Celebrate success regularly (but concisely and quantifiably) at staff meetings, in status reports, on bulletin boards...anywhere you get consistent visibility. And give credit where it's due.
• If something goes wrong be honest about it, communicate the issue promptly, establish a mitigation plan, work the plan, and communicate loud and clear when the crisis has past. Be humble and pass lessons learned on to others.
• Communicate out and up. Make sure those in a position to fund, cut back, or eliminate your department, project, or head count consistently hear your messages on a regular basis. You may have the best run, most efficient team that the executive budgeting committee never heard of.
• If the scramble for recognition is starting now, it may be too late.

Kurt Frohlich

It seems every industry has a certification of some sort. Why do all these certifications exist? In a word: credibility. ASTD's Certification Institute embarked on building the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) credential to raise the bar and provide a means for workplace learning and performance professionals to prove their value and knowledge of the field.

If you have at least three years of industry related experience and/or education, plus the desire to prove your value and continue your professional development, then consider the CPLP credential! Check out the CPLP page!

Who you are today is a result of certain characteristics that have emerged from your life experiences, plus the genetics with which you were born. Geil Browning calls this interplay between nature and nurture Emergenetics. In Part I of EMERGENETICS® Browning discusses the science, background, and theory of Emergenetics, all carefully documented and based on the latest research. In Part II, she shows how to take the principles of Emergenetics and apply them to your work and personal life. In Part III, the Emergenetics Toolbox, she provides handy summaries of important information in an easy-to-read, visual format. Throughout the book are references to the studies that keep Emergenetics grounded in fact, and in the Appendix Browning delves more deeply into the research that supports it.

I have had the privilege of working with Geil and using her work in Training & OD as a certified Emergenetics associate. She is beyond extraordinary. This book encapsulates her life’s work in scientific study, corporate consulting, and human observation. I particularly thought the examples were exceptional, interesting and very helpful in understanding the four thinking attributes and three behavioral attributes.

Emergenetics is all about understanding yourself and other people, so this book will help you become not only a better trainer, consultant and/or leader, but also a better human being. It really does give you the keys you need to decipher others and better appreciate your own strengths. After reading this book, you will have a new understanding of how to value and work with others who have puzzled you in the past.

So what are your preferences? You can use this book to determine your thinking and behavioral preferences in a general way, or you can go to www.emergene tics.com and fill out a full questionnaire to get a complete, individualized Emergenetics Profile (for a fee). In Nevada, consulting and training on the use of Emergenetics is available through Amplitude, www.ampli tudetraining.com