On August 26, we’ll hold the second event in our Leading Learning breakfast series. Clyde’s of Gallery Place will be the location once again, and we are also putting out feelers to see if there is any interest in a video stream from the event.

This time around, we’ll be joined by Tony Bingham, President of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and co-author of The New Social Learning. We’ll get Tony’s perspectives on how new approaches to “social” are re-shaping the way organizations approach learning and the critical role this shift may play for forward-thinking associations.

• Find out more and register: http://leadinglearning0811.eventbrite.com/
• Let us know if you are interested in a video stream: http://leadinglearningstream0811.eventbrite.com/

As an incentive to go ahead and register, we’re offering a complimentary copy of The New Social Learning to the first 25 people who sign up (for the in-person event only). If you aren’t familiar with The New Social Learning (or even if you are), I encourage you to visit the Web site for the book – www.thenewsociallearning.com – to find out more and explore the resources.

We’re grateful once again to CommPartners for sponsoring the event and making it possible for us to record it for those who can’t be there.

We had a great session the last time around (recording and materials available at: http://www.tagoras.com/leading-learning/materials/) and this one promises to be just as good.

I hope to see you on August 26.

Jeff

On June 3, I’ll be leading a panel on planning and strategy for virtual conferences at the IAEE Mid-Year Meeting. As I was putting together takeways from the session yesterday, I drew upon the “20 Tips for Successful Virtual Conferences” piece that Celisa put together for our Association Virtual Conferences report and which is also available for free download in our Virtual Conferences Resource Center. That got me thinking that we really need to highlight the free resources we have on the site from time to time, just to make sure that people are aware of them. So, to that end, here are a dozen of the tips from Celisa’s piece. (We also extracted these for inclusion in ASAE’s forthcoming 199 Ways to Enhance Learning Experiences.)

And if you will be at IAEE Mid-Year, drop me a line and let me know (jcobb [@] tagoras.com)

1. Be clear on the business issue you’re trying to address—and make sure a virtual conference can help

Are you looking to cut costs? Make money? Reach new audiences? Reduce wear and tear on the environment? Respond to member demand for more education? Whatever it is, clearly state the business issue, so you can determine whether a virtual conference is an appropriate solution—even if virtual conferences are usually cheaper than place-based conferences, they aren’t cheap, and you don’t want to undertake one lightly.

2. Take advantage of going virtual

Try to benefit from the unique opportunities offered by going virtual. Can you get that keynoter you couldn’t get before because she didn’t want to come to Chicago in January but who just might agree if she can deliver from her own desk? Can you target content to segments (young professionals, non-native English speakers, etc.) who can’t or don’t come to your live events? Can you provide more polished sessions and cut down on stress by simulating live delivery (i.e., pre-recording sessions but offering live Q&A)? Can you rebroadcast sessions for different geographies and time zones with live Q&A for each?

3. Devote adequate resources

It’s so easy to underestimate what’s involved. Don’t think only in terms of money, but also in terms of staff time. Expect to spend as much staff time on a virtual conference as you would on a similar place-based conference—in fact, if it’ll be your first virtual conference, expect to spend more time, as the staff will need to come up to speed on the technology themselves and educate other stakeholders. Minutely define roles and responsibilities to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Facilitation and customer service are arguably more for virtual conferences than place-based events.

4. Pick metrics and set targets

What will success look like for your virtual conference? Decide on your metrics (registration, revenue from sponsors, number of vendors, overall attendance, session attendance, etc.), and then set targets. You might use data from your place-based events to set your targets, or you might find out how other associations have faired with virtual events and benchmark against them. For example, according to some, you should expect that 50 to 70 percent of registrants will not show up for the virtual event (though participants in our survey reported an average of more than 60 percent showing up). Of course, whether the event is free or for fee should factor into your expectations.

5. Keep sessions short and build in sufficient breaks

A sage, if crass, adage applies here: The brain can only absorb what the butt can endure. Shorter is often better for sessions. And don’t forget to build in breaks—attendees will appreciate 15 minutes to check voicemail and e-mail and address other needs (even in the virtual world, people have to go to the bathroom), and you can also use breaks to push attendees to sponsors’ and vendors’ virtual displays.

6. Build a microsite

Drive prospective attendees to a microsite or landing page that makes the value of the virtual conference clear.  Be sure to use testimonials from previous attendees—or, if this is your first virtual conference, praise from members who have been given a tour of the virtual platform can help to win over doubtful prospects. Video can be particularly appealing both for testimonials and for showcasing content, so consider adding one here—it doesn’t have to be a high-end production. How to register should be obvious. Keep the registration as short and simple as possible—long registration forms can scare people off, and you’ll have chances later to gather more information.

7. Educate, educate, educate

Because so many stakeholders may be new to virtual conferences, plan to spend significant time explaining what one is and holding hands. Give staff, potential sponsors and vendors, presenters, even attendees access ahead of time, so they can see the platform and get comfortable with it. Folks will be more likely to pay—whether for a big-ticket sponsorship or a simple registration—if they can see for themselves what the virtual conference will be like. Provide training and create videos and demos to show attendees, speakers, and sponsors how to navigate and get the most out of the event. (Hint: There are plenty of relatively low-cost screen-casting tools like Jing (http://www.jingproject.com) that can be used for creating a simple video tour of your conference.) Spell out the benefits of going virtual to sponsors—for example, they can get information about even casual booth visitors who would likely remain anonymous at a “real” event.

8. Practice, practice, practice

Again, because virtual conferences may be new to so many stakeholders, plan to practice even more than you would for a place-based conference. You’ll need to provide technology training for speakers to make sure they’re ready. If speakers will be delivering live, do a rehearsal that mimics the live event as much as possible (same computers, same Internet connections, even the same time of day) about a week before the event. Make sure staff are fully briefed on how to deal with customer service issues, monitor Q&A, facilitate sessions, and so on.

9. Mine the data

Mining the data is always important, but odds are you’ll have much more data available about virtual conferences (time in sessions, most popular sessions, files downloaded, etc.) than you have for place-based conferences. So make good use of the data as you follow up with attendees and sponsors and debrief with staff and speakers.

10. Remind registrants to show up

Without the need to book flights and hotels or, at a minimum, arrange to be out of the office for a few hours, it’s easier for virtual attendees to forget about a conference—especially if it’s free. Send reminders, negotiating that difficult line between sufficient notice and nagging. At least three reminders are usually recommended: one a week before the start of the event, a second the day before, and a third the day of. Remember to include how to access the conference and who to go to for questions and issues. Even after the live portion of the virtual conference is over, continue to drive attendance for the on-demand offerings.

11. Start with a bang

Attendance at a virtual event is usually highest on the first day, so schedule your biggest, most important sessions accordingly. And plan to get right to things—time the opening of the conference with the keynote, so folks logging on initially know exactly where they should go. They’ll have time to explore later—this is your chance to engage them right away. Since you aren’t all in the same place, keep various time zones in mind when choosing a start time.

12. It’s not over when it’s over

Just because the live portion of a virtual conference is over, that doesn’t mean the virtual conferences is over. Keep the platform up and open, and keep marketing it. Depending on the nature of your content, you may even be able to still register new attendees only for the archived sessions. And don’t forget to keep updating the virtual conference site and materials. A landing page pointing to a defunct registration page months (or years!) later makes visitors think there’s nothing of use on the site. If there is ongoing value to be garnered from the site, make that clear by posting relevant revisions.

We had a great Webinar session on January 20 to highlight some of the key findings from our Association Virtual Conferences report. (Thanks to CommPartners for sponsoring and contributing some great thoughts on hybrid meetings to the Webinar.) We’ve now posted some additional Webinars on topics like selecting a learning management system and integrating social media into your education programs. Get the details on the Webinars page (including access to a recording of the virtual conferences Webinar)  – and please help us spread the word about these to others who may be interested.

Jeff

Ellen Behrens over at aLearning has recently released a terrific set of tutorials providing examples of how to create effective e-learning with common, low-cost tools. Her aLearning Fundamentals site offers a brief tutorial on e-learning basics as well as on the fundamentals of adult learning and facilitation. Best of all, though, Ellen created these tutorials using a variety of content development and delivery approaches – so you can see the differences – and then provides a “Behind the Scenes” break down for each tutorial to help visitors fully understand that low-cost, instructionally-effective e-learning is an achievable goal.

If you have the least bit of interest in how to develop good e-learning experiences without breaking the bank, I encourage read Ellen’s introduction to the free aLearning tutorials and then get over to the aLearning Fundamentals site today!

Jeff

P.S. – I also encourage you to check out the Association E-learning Conversation that Ellen and I had earlier this year.

I actually forgot to include this one in the link digest for the recent issue of the Association Learning/Technology Digest – an open source eBook from the Masie Center:

“Learning Perspectives: 2010”
Contributions by 40 Global Learning Leaders http://www.learning2010.com/ebook

The articles in this eBook cover the wide range of viewpoints and perspectives on the changing nature of Learning. It includes articles from our 30 Under 30 Learning Leaders. Contributors are from Google, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Accenture, Alliance Pipeline, Farmers Insurance, Veterans Administration, Cleveland Clinic, CNN, Liberty Mutual, CIA, Luxottica and many other organizations.

Download your copy of “Learning Perspectives: 2010” at http://www.learning2010.com/ebook

I noted this one in the new issue of the Association Learning/Technology Digest that we just released, but it is worth noting on the blog as well:

Jane Hart has released the final version her annual list of top 100 learning tools. Based on contributions from more than 500 learning professionals around the world, this list has really become a must-read for educators from all walks of life. The Slideshare presentation below gives the quick run down, but I also recommend you visit the site, where Jane offers links to a number of related lists she has developed.

I think it’s interesting – though not surprising – that Twitter has emerged as the top tool over the past two years – beating out second place YouTube by a pretty good margin in 2010. As I’ve suggested before, I think Twitter is in many ways THE bridge between offline and online, formal and informal learning – particularly in a sector as driven by conference learning as associations are.

One somewhat surprising item that jumped out at me is that the presentation tool Prezi nearly broke into the top 10 – and it beat out Power Point by quite a bit. I haven’t tried Prezi yet, but this may finally push me to do so.

Enjoy the list, and let me know any surprises – or not – you see on it.

Jeff

I recently published a new edition of the Association Learning / Technology Digest (formerly the Association E-learning Newsletter). You can receive the full edition automatically by subscribing, but I thought I’d also share the “Links of Value” section here on the blog:

50 Tutorials to Help You Achieve E-learning Awesomeness
http://www.articulate.com/blog/50-tutorials-to-help-you-achieve-e-learning-awesomeness/

Articulate continues to be a shining example of providing high value and engagement through customer education. This one also represents an excellent example of extending access to great education that they provided at a conference (ASTD). Well worth bookmarking.

***

School of the Future
http://schoolofthefuture.org/

School of the future will open in July as “as an inter-generational free school for the community around Sgt. Dougherty Park, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.” There is a lot of food for thought here.

***

Very Important Study on Learning & the Brain
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/05/26/very-important-study-on-learning-the-brain/

In this study, Larry Ferlazzo (an edublogger well worth reading) highlights a study that contrasts “model-free learning” with “model-based learning.” The former is based primarily on intrinsic rewards (for example, earning CE credit) while the latter is based on extrinisc motivators, which tend to be much more effective for anything requiring “higher-order thinking skills and creativity.”

***

Print This, Share This: Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/05/print-this-share-this-moodle-tool-guide.html

Via Stephen Downes (http://www.downes.ca/), “a chart of things that you can do with [the open source learning management system] Moodle and how those things can help you reach your pedagogical objectives.”

***

Some Cool Tools for a Hot Topic: Social Learning
http://c4lpt.co.uk/articles/cooltools.html

A Slideshare.net presentation on social learning tools from learning tech guru Jane Hart.

***

Reach: Building Communities and Networks for Professional Development
http://www.jeffutecht.com/reach/download-your-free-copy-of-reach-via-the-thinking-stick/

This eBook was initially free, but is no longer. Still, as the title alone suggests, it is well worth the $6.99 purchase price at Lulu.

***

LMS Template – Comparing Vendors Analysis – Apples to Apples
http://elearninfo.com/2010/05/21/lms-template/

A template for facilitating the comparison of LMS systems. This kind of thing can be useful, but the key is not to be superficial in how the various features and functionalities are described. You have to make sure that the descriptions jibe with your actual use cases (which, of course, requires having use cases in the first place!).

Enjoy, and share -

Jeff

Just a heads up that we are starting to revamp and beef up the resources section here on the site. We’ll be adding a lot more over time, but there are already some good free resources – ranging from articles, to research summaries, to eBooks, to videos – that cover topics like selling e-learning, learning management systems, social media, and more. Check it out, and if it looks useful, be sure to bookmark it.

Jeff

P.S. – If you’d like to receive regular updates from the Tagoras blog, be sure to subscribe by RSS or by e-mail.