About
At Tagoras (pronounced tah-GOR-us), we have more than 15 years of experience serving the global market for adult lifelong learning, continuing education, and professional development. We advise organizations in the learning business on how to maximize their reach, revenue, and impact, and we publish a range of educational content to support those who serve and are served by learning businesses.
Tagoras was launched in 2007 by Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, veteran edupreneurs with deep roots in learning, technology, and the market for adult education. Over the years, the company has grown into a team with expertise in all major aspects of the learning business landscape.
Our name, Tagoras (pronounced tah-GOR-us), is a neologism that draws meaning from three sources.
Tag
Tags (< >) add descriptive metadata to online text, images, video, and other resources and are essential to the syntax and structure of the Web. Tags are about making sense of things. We are too, and our sense-making goal is reflected visually in the two connected tags that form the basis of our logo.
Agora
In ancient Greece, the agora was the public marketplace and the center of civic interaction. It was where citizens connected, transacted business, and learned. Today’s lifelong learning market is just as vital as the agora was.
Protagoras
Plato credits this ancient Greek philosopher with founding the Sophist movement. Unjustly maligned in subsequent centuries (especially by Plato himself), the Sophists were the first professional teachers, seeking truth through dialogue. We want to reclaim the tradition of teaching excellence that Protagoras started.
The Learning Business Landscape
Our work spans what we characterize as the learning business landscape that includes learning business as well as the broader stakeholder groups they serve and rely upon.
Learning businesses are market-facing providers of learning. They create learning experiences and sell them to adult lifelong learners. They have to generate revenue, and most of them have to generate profit. So they are businesses, and they are learning providers, and the blend of those two makes them learning businesses.
Learning businesses include trade and professional associations, academic continuing education units, training firms, and edupreneurs. The reason we coined the term “learning business” is because there wasn’t a succinct term that encompassed all of these organizations, and yet we see commonalities, such as being market-facing and serving adult learners. In addition to be being useful for distinguishing these types of learning providers, the term also provides a sense of community and connection. Learning businesses are different from corporate learning and development and academic degree programs.
Learning businesses exist in a broader landscape made up of lifelong learners, who are trying to figure out what they need to know and how to keep their skills and knowledge up to date, looking at various options, and trying to find ones that match what they need and want.
That landscape also includes individual subject matter experts who have more options than ever to go out on their own to provide information, but they often also work with learning businesses. Many learning businesses rely on subject matter experts to deliver conference sessions, for example.
At Tagoras, our goal is to amplify each aspect of the learning business landscape, increase the impact of the work that learning businesses and experts do, and elevate the role of lifelong learning in society. We do this through our consulting services as well as through the channels through which we provide resources to the learning business landscape.
Peter J. O’Neil, FASAE, CAE
When we needed to know the feasibility of launching a new credential for our audience, we turned to Jeff Cobb and Tagoras for guidance. Jeff provided expert analysis of our market along with strategic recommendations for how we should proceed. I recommend him as a trusted advisor for any organization looking to capitalize on new opportunities in the market for lifelong education.
Wendy Carriegan
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) sought the expert guidance of Jeff Cobb with Tagoras at a time when industry changes demanded a new approach to the educational needs of its members. Jeff skillfully engaged the members of our Educational Strategy Task Force to help arrive at a balanced and strategic approach. A new “Guiding Policy” and recommended “Key Actions” were the result of successful collaboration and expert guidance. AHDI highly recommends Jeff and Tagoras to any organization that needs to reconsider its approach to education/lifelong learning and strategy for the future.
Henry Chamberlain, APR, FASAE, CAE
We engaged Jeff Cobb and Tagoras to help us develop a plan for strategic collaboration with a very different organization we are aligned with in the marketplace. Jeff worked closely with the staff and leadership of both organizations to surface critical issues, clarify potential opportunities, and bring structure to our vision. The result was a roadmap that the boards of both organizations enthusiastically approved to build the foundation for a successful business partnership and valuable new educational initiative for the industry.
Bruce Clarke
We engaged Tagoras to assess our current membership model at CAI holistically and help us answer critical questions about the strategic roles of each of our three core activities: Membership, Learning & Development, and HR Products/Services. Jeff Cobb led the effort and did a skillful job of facilitating executive team discussions, bringing in member and employee perspectives, and identifying the most critical issues and opportunities. Jeff’s recommendations were insightful and actionable. We’re now putting them to work as part of the strategy that will drive CAI’s future growth and success.
Thomas Reiser
We had heard of Tagoras from their thought-leadership, presentations at conferences, reports, and recommendations from other organization. Celisa Steele led our project, and she helped us to scope our needs and select a partner to take our e-learning efforts forward. Celisa’s expertise and guidance provided enormous support to us and allowed us to tap into expertise we did not have in house, ask the right questions, and qualify our actual needs. Engaging Tagoras and particularly Celisa has been one of the smartest investments we could have made.
Rick Grimm, CPPO, CPPB
Tagoras provided all the facts we needed when preparing to advance e-learning within our organization. His recommendations were research based, concise and clear. He facilitated a discussion with our 15 member Board of Directors who was able to clearly understand and act upon the strategic vision he proposed to them with confidence. His experience, passion for the subject and willingness to collaborate for our success made all the difference. He listened to our needs, assessed the situation and made us a part of the solution. It will be our pleasure to continue to work with him in the future.