Are attending conferences and tradeshows a large part of your business/job? If so, learning the nuances to get the most out of conferences can be difficult. Whether you are new to the conference scene or are an experienced participant and attendee, understanding how to effectively use your time can save you valuable resources.   Here are a few quick tips to get the most out of a conference: 1. Do Your Homework Many conferences will provide a map and layout of the conference beforehand in some sort of program. Some conferences are notorious for hosting thousands of attendees with hundreds of vendors and participants. Looking at a map ahead of time can save you precious minutes that would have otherwise been spent getting lost in the masses. If you are able to look up the companies and organizations that will be there ahead of time, you can better prepare--especially if you are looking to do business. There’s nothing worse than people asking , "So what do you do?" when you are looking for leads. Completing your homework prior to the conference frees up valuable time so that you can go conquer your conference objectives. 2. Make Yourself Memorable In a convention style conference, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the crowd. Make sure to differentiate yourself somehow. Whether it’s through unique signage, samples and swag, or even interesting activities, your company is only of value so long as people remember who you are. Also, some conferences offer special networking opportunities and luncheons outside of a booth-style arena. Make sure to take advantage of these features to better connect with other professionals.   3. Save Time to Explore After creating a game plan, penciling time to explore can be extremely beneficial. This can give you time to look at what businesses in a similar industry are doing and can also give you time to interact with prospective clients or business partners. Additionally, it’s good to take notes about what successful companies are doing at conferences. Are there characteristics you can model your business after? Saving time to explore can also give your business the opportunity to interact with other conference attendees in a lower stress situation. Plus, you never know what sorts of helpful surprises you might run into. Sometimes the best opportunities come about when they are unplanned. 4. Sponsor an Event A great way to differentiate yourself in a massive industry conference is to sponsor an activity or event. Not only does this raise awareness of your company, but it also gives you the opportunity to have your employees have more valuable face time with conference attendees outside of the conference booth setting. Whether you are an experienced conference veteran or a new attendee, making sure that you use your conference time effectively can make the experience much more enjoyable. With these tips, you can be on your way to conquering your next conference! LefttipsView the discussion thread.

We’re excited to share our brand new infographic on how most organizations invest in the wrong kind of training - it doesn’t cater to how people learn. Click on the image below to open a larger version of the infographic … The post The Social Learning Circus (Infographic) appeared first on Bloomfire.

Establishment goes alternative — from insidehighered.com by Paul Fain Excerpt: Traditional colleges have been mostly on the sidelines for the early development of online microcredentials or badges — the kind that aren’t linked to conventional courses and the credit hour. Educational technology companies and other alternative providers have taken the lead in working with employers […]

Custom eLearning development offers a wide range of advantages in the private sector, but is custom eLearning really the way to go for distributed workforces? When your employees are scattered around the globe, designing and developing an online training program can be a challenging task. In this article, I’ll share 12 of the most convincing reasons why custom eLearning is a worthwhile investment for global organizations, so that you can enrich the overall experience for your staff that is located in different parts of the world. This post was first published on eLearning Industry.

Can Abraham Maslow have made a mistake?  His theory of psychological health premised on fulfilling innate human needs in order of priority culminating in self-actualization, is a known fact. But given the speed of change that is currently taking place everywhere, the 3rd level of human needs based on relations will perhaps need to be […]

The 1980s was the golden age of training videos. I remember it well. It was a decade of big hair, loud colors, and shoulder-padded blazers, all of which showed up great in the low-resolution video that was fashionable at the time. Every month brought a new innovation in synthesizer technology, creating rhythms that were both The post Can 80s Training Videos Work As Microlearning? appeared first on Grovo Blog.

We have a real problem with intellectual humility in this country. Or should I say, lack thereof. It’s frowned upon to be uncertain, to lack expertise, to meet a question with another question. If we don’t know the answer to something right away, it’s viewed as a weakness rather than...The post The Power of "I Don’t Know" appeared first on InformED.

Renewable energy is generated from natural sources and sustainable replenished constantly. Different technologies are used to create energy and help a lot in improving efficiency in homes and ensure that family health is given the best. The energy reduces reliance on fossil fuels common, slows global warming, which has become a very serious problem and ...

By Tara García Mathewson, Eductaion Dive Nanodegrees from Udacity, microdegrees from Coursera, and other programs like them resemble the trade certificates or extension programs of the past, but some see these new innovations as the latest "game-changers" in higher ed. The accelerated certificate programs create their curricula with employers to offer a course that directly readies [...]

By Devon Haynie, US News Women say online learning gives them more flexibility to tackle their work and family commitments. Women may be more highly represented in online education because of the kinds of jobs they pursue, experts say. In the world of online learning, female students predominate. At the undergraduate level, 70 percent of online [...]