Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - October 11, 2012.#753 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology. 55,857 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.Host, Learning 2012 - Oct 21 to 24, Orlando - 1,489 Registered! 1. Taking a Train to Orlando - Learning on the Rails!2. The Reality of Last Minute Registration :) 3. Handling Huge Learning Options? 1. Taking a Train to Orlando - Learning on the Rails! I have a habit of taking an overnight train from the Northeast to Orlando for Learning 2012 every year. Train, Training, Learning - well they do sort of go together. For me, the 18 hour ride from Washington, DC to Orlando, FL involves a personal retreat, relaxation and reflection time. I just booked my mini-bedroom - with sofa and fold down bed - and great views of America on the way. I use the time to think, work on my keynote speech, re-read books by General Powell, Susan Cain and Charles Duhigg, format questions and ponder about learning. Slowing down is just as important as speeding up as a learner. And, if you are located on the Amtrak tracks from DC to Orlando, send me a note and I’d be glad to call and chat - or maybe wave out the window to you. I’m leaving DC at 3 pm next Tuesday. And, a personal fantasy. Someday, I’d love to organize a Train for Training & Learning, which would have 100 colleagues and we would travel around America, visiting each other’s workplaces and use one of the cars as a Learning Lab. Wow. All Aboard! 2. The Reality of Last Minute Registration :) We are also in the midst of last minute registration time. In the "older days", most people finalized their conference plans 4 weeks out. But, every few minutes, we are taking another last minute registration for Learning 2012.  We are at 1,489 and it will grow every day for the next week and a half. We are agile about this shift in last minute planning. So, we shifted our Advance Registration Discounts to right before the event. And, today, I had to personally guarantee a block of Disney Rooms, since their system will not hold open rooms 10 days before an event. But, we don’t mind holding those rooms to deal with last minute decision making processes in so many of our companies. But, if you are planning on coming, please act quickly. Almost all of the rooms on Disney Property are sold out other than our Learning 2012 block and we have special details on how to get these rooms.  For information go to:http://www.learning2012.com/item/last-minute-reservation-key-info.html 3. Handling Huge Learning Options? One issue that is rolling through my brain is the need for our learners to have ever more maturity and sophistication in weaving through and choosing the most appropriate learning options offered at work. We have gone from a set curriculum in many companies to a much wider set of formal and user-driven learning resources. On one level this is great. But, what are the skills and models for learners to process and weave their way through an exponentially larger set of learning choices? And, what can organizations do to build this capacity? We will be exploring the implications of great learning choices in massive learning "option-land" at Learning 2012 and other MASIE Center programs. Yours in Learning, Elliott Masieemail: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning 2012 - Oct 21 - 24, 2012 - Orlando, Florida.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - October 15, 2012.#754 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,861 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.Host, Learning 2012 - Oct 21 to 24, Orlando - 1,517 Registered! 1. Intensity? Low or High Intensity in Learning!2. Questions about Introverts, Please.3. One Last Mobile Learning Survey Pulse. 1. Intensity? Low or High Intensity in Learning! One of the interesting design challenges for the learning world is all about "Intensity". Sometimes we design very intensive high energy leadership retreats.  Other times we want to give learners casual on-demand access to a PDF with information. So, what is our design model for determining or designing learning intensity? And, what is the role of learners in that process? I recently wrote an article for my column in CLO Magazine on "Learning Intensity". Here is a copy: http://www.learning2012.com/item/intensity-learning.html 2. Questions about Introverts, Please. I had a wonderful telephone session with Susan Cain, a great resource on Introverts, about how we deal with the Introvert/Extrovert mix in our workplaces. I would love to get a few questions that I might ask Susan during her keynote interview at Learning 2012. Send me a quick note to emasie@masie.com 3. One Last Mobile Learning Survey Pulse: We have had over 700 organizations respond to our Mobile Learning Pulse Survey and would like to get one more wave of Learning TRENDS responses. The data is quite revealing and we will publish the full details in about 10 days. But, could you take a few minutes and add your current plans and realities about Mobile Learning at http://www.masie.com/mobilepulse PLUS: Last minute registration for Learning 2012 is still available (rooms and discounts) at http://www.learning2012.com Yours in Learning, Elliott Masieemail: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning 2012 - Oct 21 - 24, 2012 - Orlando, Florida.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - October 29, 2012.#756 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,869 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center. Stay Safe, Please! Observe and Share Content Mode Shifts Many of our Learning TRENDS readers are in the pathway of the huge hurricane/storm Sandy that is about to hit the Eastern part of the United States. As our team from the MASIE Center is heading back to New York after Learning 2012, we hope that all of our colleagues, friends, families and neighbors will be safe in this challenging week. A personal request! Keep an eye on how our society is using new modes of technologies to enhance learning and support during this storm. For example: * The American Red Cross has released a Mobile App that includes a request for help, a flashlight app and weather updates.* Weather and News feeds are being enhanced on the web for those situations where citizens might lose cable but continue to have some access to internet - even through mobile devices.* I have received over 10 emergency update email messages from utility companies, police and landlords as a means of up-to-the-minute contact.* Social Media is being leveraged to keep neighbors in touch and updated. As a learning colleague, would you note the shifts in media, content and community modes and send us a quick email to emasie@masie.com Most of all, stay safe. Yours in learning, Elliott Masieemail: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

TO: Learning, Training and Performance ColleaguesFROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center RE: Invitation to Video for Learning LAB & Seminar Every aspect of workplace learning is adding video elements. * Video in Webinars.* Video in eLearning Content Modules.* Video in Classroom Content.* Video Chat & Video Conferencing.* Video Stories (YouTube Corporate Content).* Video Expertise & Coaching. You and your colleagues are invited to participate in The MASIE Center’s most popular professional development program for learning colleagues: Video for Learning LAB & Seminar.January 14 to 16, 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY. Complete details and on-line registration at http://www.masie.com Looking forward to working and learning with you! Yours in learning, Elliott Masieemail: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Video for Learning LAB & Seminar - January 2013.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 19, 2013.#762 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,894 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.Host: Learning Directions Blended Seminars 1. Personalization of Learning: A Key Learning Direction!2. Simple App: Less is More :)3. TeleWork Legal Issues: 1. Personalization of Learning - A Key Learning Direction! The learner is growing in his/her assumptions of Personalization choices and actions as they approach workplace learning. Personalization is one of the major Learning Directions that The MASIE Center is tracking in 2013. Personalization of Learning has several key dimensions that are altering both learner behaviors and organizational approaches to design: * Scope and Sequence Choices! Traditional instructional design placed scope (the range of content delivered) and sequence (the order of content) to the designer. The 2013 Learner has a growing desire to make minor or major changes in the scope or sequence of their learning content. Some want to go directly to the Step by Step details while other learners want to start with a framework or conceptual blast. Likewise, some learners stay focused on the detailed curriculum while others will find and consume non-designed content from internal or external sources. Design must increasingly add a Personalization component to the articulation of a course.* Leverage and Index Previous Knowledge: Our learners want the learning function to acknowledge and leverage their already existing knowledge on the targeted content. Personalizing the content for these learners would increase their ability to either "test out" of a module they already know or link the language of a new procedure to a process they learned in a previous situation. Malcolm Knowles always referred to the adult learner as a student that wants their previous knowledge continually acknowledged.* Learning Systems & Personalization: Learning Officers are asking deeper questions of their LMS and LCMS to add Personalization to their approaches to learning delivery and tracking. How do we shift the LMS to add personalized content choices and sequences to the students in a program? Personalization of Learning is one of the top themes that we will be exploring in depth at our Learning Directions sessions to be offered in March and April across the US and in the UK. Details at www.masie.com 2. Simple App: Less is More :) We have been studying simplicity in the design of mobile apps at The MASIE Center. One that I started to use recently is a weather alert app for my iPhone called Dark Sky.  This app uses GPS to determine my location and, when pressed, shows me in large type what the weather is RIGHT NOW and in ONE HOUR. In other words, before heading out, I can check and in a glance see if is raining, snowing or storming in real time. Another click shows me the predicted weather for each segment of the next 12 hours or allows me to see real time and predicted radar screen pictures for this area.  The simplicity of Dark Sky shows a usability approach to the presentation of data to the user. Getting to a one glance visual is often key. Other weather apps are loaded with more data and content, but is more really less? And, is less really more? We need more simplicity in performance based learning. 3. TeleWork Legal Issues: As we roll out our TeleWork 2013 event, the legal issues that increased teleworking raises is fascinating. For example: * How does the employment contract for a teleworking employee differ from an office-present employee? Do we specify total hours worked and with what flexibly?* What are the legal dimensions of evolving the teleworking choices for an employee on maternity leave? How do these conform or conflict with disability regulations?* Seating and safety for teleworkers is also a "hot" issue. What are employer liabilities for any injuries resulting from bad furniture purchased and used by employees?* Selection for learning, collaboration or promotion will be analyzed for home based vs. office based employees! Are there differences in your practices? Take advantage of our early registration discount rate for TeleWork 2013, June 23 to 25 in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Details and registration at http://www.telework2013.com Yours in learning, Elliott Masieemail: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning Directions Seminar: Blended and in 6 Cities Globally.* TeleWork 2013 - June 23 to 25 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

TO: Learning, Training & Performance ColleaguesFROM: Elliott Masie, The Learning CONSORTIUM RE: 7 Minute Survey on Learning Directions & Shifts! Can you please take 7 minutes to respond to our 2013 Learning Directions "Pulse" Survey, gathering global data on how organizations are shifting (or not shifting) their Learning Directions or approaches?  Are we doing more/less/same levels of classroom, eLearning, mobile, social learning and even supporting learning for teleworkers? Go to: http://www.masie.com/pulse2013 We will publish these results shortly at this site - hosted by our Learning CONSORTIUM. Thanks for your participation! Yours in learning, Elliott Masiehttp://www.masie.com

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 27, 2013.#763 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,904 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.Host: TeleWork 2013 - June 23-24 - www.telework2013.com Special Note: "Not Yahoo! about Yahoo’s Telework Policy" Response to Yahoo’s No Teleworking Decision: Most of our readers have heard reports about Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer decision to have teleworking colleagues shift to working at the office.  The comments from HR director Jackie Reses included the statement "speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home".  I have been contacted by many learning colleagues and members of the media for a reaction to Yahoo’s decision and what it said about the future of Teleworking.  Here is summary of our thoughts: "Not Yahoo! About Yahoo’s Telework Policy"By Elliott Masie, Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM and Host of TeleWork 2013 Teleworking got a major news infusion when an employee leaked a policy shift from Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer to eliminate teleworking or working from home options.  I am not thrilled or yelling at Yahoo! about the news stories — but not because it might be a threat to teleworking; rather, it is not fully clear how Yahoo’s decision maps back to changes that CEO Mayer wants to make in the culture of her organization. Teleworking is an evolving process.  Many organizations now have 17% to 60% of white collar employees working from home.  Many organizations have shifted customer service, sales and other jobs to a 100% teleworking level.  And, we are tracking a 3% annual growth in teleworking. So, what is the impact of teleworking on culture and employee performance? That is a complex question and is based primarily on the skills of the organization, the teleworkers themselves and managers/leaders in the organization. If handled well, teleworking can be a major plus for both employees and organizations. It can expand the pool of talent that can be hired, lower the transportation or office costs and in some instances provide a more lifestyle and workstyle positive environment for workers. But, if handled poorly, teleworkers can be and feel isolated, left out of key conversations and less bonded to the organization. Telework, like other organizational configurations, needs to be DESIGNED well and have evidence-based measures of impact. I wish that Yahoo’s statement was not just a loud boom about the end of teleworking but rather laid out a continuum of when and how office-based, telework-based or blended location made sense. I wish that the conversation was really about culture and collaboration - not about location or commuting.  And, I wish that it was not leaked from an employee, but rather posed as a collaborative process to maximize Yahoo and the employees. Why are we shifting to teleworking? The reasons range from a desire to hire the best employees (regardless of location) to a desire to reduce office and commuting expenses to lifestyle benefits for employees who can work effectively from a private space at home and still have "presence" for an older parent who is living with them. Many of our Learning CONSORTIUM members have made teleworking the default - hiring people who will work either from their home or from a remote satellite office.  And, the technology of collaboration - from easy access to video conferencing to digital collaboration - can bring together a dispersed team if done well. Teleworking also comes in many sizes and flavors. For example: - Organization Continuity Telework: The U.S. Federal Government has asked agencies to prepare most employees to be able to telework with remote and secure computer access in case of a storm or other emergency. In other words, if the organization has to shut down the office, work can continue.- Personal Contingency Telework: An employee is not feeling well or for some reason can’t come to work on Tuesday. Telework options allow the organization to have them continue to work from home without contaminating their fellow team members or missing a key meeting.- Blended Telework: Many workers are blending time in the office with time at home for work. They may select those times that team face-to-face meetings are scheduled or shift to a less distracting home-based setting for writing or quieter work tasks.- Distributed/Remote Telework: Hire the best employee for a job, regardless of their location. Shift the hiring conversation from "when can we relocate you" to "how can we set you up for successful telework and schedule occasional time at the office."- Telework Choice: Some organizations have given employees the choice of telework, blended or office-based location and many workers in every generation are choosing telework, assuming they can hit performance goals and be an active part of the team culture.- Telework Mandated: Many organizations have shifted entire functions (e.g. field sales, customer support, development roles) to a 100% telework basis. The reality is that organizations and employees will make choices amongst these options and will increasingly learn how to shift, adjust and develop new competencies or leverage new technologies to support all types of telework. I am not "Yahoo!" about Yahoo’s teleworking decision because it overly simplifies the issue of how we work in a distributed, connected and agile world with a changing labor market and work/life balances. I respect Yahoo’s CEO Mayer for her leadership of the company and would hope that she shifts the conversation to the CULTURE rather than a locational issue. And, there are clearly times when telework will not work for a team, employee or total organization. But, I doubt that Yahoo will ban teleworkers in the long term. I am both a teleworker and the CEO of a company that employs teleworkers.  It is critical for me to blend my own and other team members’ presences. I have a 72 inch screen in my office to Skype with team members in Virginia, Shanghai and India. And, there are certain key roles that would not be optimized as telework based at The MASIE Center. However, we could not operate a global company with a slim staff and over 230 Learning CONSORTIUM members if we did not leverage teleworking, video conferencing, digital collaboration and ongoing adjustment of our culture to make it work. Recently, a seven year employee gave birth to her first child. As we were negotiating her maternity leave benefits - and more importantly the culture adjustments for her as she left and will return to the office - we both saw telework as a key mutual benefit. We will provide an opportunity for her to spend more time at home but start to engage at the level that works for her via a flexible telework culture. Telework is going to be a major component of our work lives going forward, whether or not we or our CEO’s like it. The issue is not "To Telework or Not to Telework"; rather it is "How do we create the best culture for all employees, regardless of location and teleworking options?  We will use data to watch how we succeed or fail in our hiring, our retention, our customer satisfaction, our agility and our work/life culture." I invite organizations to leverage Yahoo’s discussion to have a serious conversation about the options, skills, competencies and culture shifts we want in our organizations that are leveraging telework. Let’s have the audacity to experiment, evaluate and even openly talk about failures as we continue the evolution of our workplaces and work lives. I’d love to hear from you on this topic. Send me a note to emasie@masie.com Yours in learning (and telework), Elliott MasieHost, TeleWork 2013 and Learning 2013 email: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning Directions Seminar: Blended and in 6 Cities Globally.* TeleWork 2013 - June 23 to 25 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - March 14, 2013.#764 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,935 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.Host: TeleWork 2013 - June 23-24 - www.telework2013.com 1. Curation Learning Experiment - Sample It!2. Learning Directions - London, Seattle and Cities Beyond.3. Learning Marketplace Outreach Wanted! 1. Curation Learning Experiment - Sample It! The MASIE Center Learning LAB has been experimenting with "Curation" - using colleagues to locate, sort and collect emerging digital content. We have asked 8 members of our Learning CONSORTIUM, including learning leaders from Intel, Fidelity, White Lodging, Pioneer Natural Resources, Philips, Oracle, Allstate and Ken Blanchard Company, to act as "curators" of daily new learning content from popular and unknown digital sources. Each day, four of our "curators" will select and prioritize learning-focused articles, research papers, blogs and content. Anyone can access their curation (free of charge) at the Learning CONSORTIUM Content Curation Site:http://curate.masie.com We invite you to participate in this experiment as we explore ways in which learning designs can leverage open or structured curation of content. Send comments and thoughts to our CLO Bob Baker at bob@masie.com 2. Learning Directions - London, Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington and Chicago!  We have just completed our first city on the Learning Directions event tour and I am excited to be heading to London, Seattle and several other cities in the weeks ahead. During our first Learning Directions event, the conversations drilled deeply down into Learning Personalization, BYOD Learning - Beyond Mobile Learning Buzz, Social and Collaborative Design, Leadership Development and more. If you have any colleagues interested in attending, please send them to http://www.masie.com. We are honored to be presenting the London Learning Directions event on April 16th, in partnership with the Learning and Performance Institute. 3. Learning Marketplace Outreach Wanted!: As you may know, I have never been a big fan of "traditional" trade shows for the learning or training space. We are excited about building a set of very different models for Learning 2013 that will involve a Virtual Learning Marketplace, Colleague Hubs, Digital Learning News Releases and other activities. We are looking for a colleague with experience in the learning marketplace or sales area, who is interesting in a part time contract position, working with us on the Learning 2013 event. Please send a note with your background to emasie@masie.com. This role can be done remotely by a colleague with a sense of the world of change in the learning marketplace. It will be exciting to help create the future of our learning market. Yours in learning, Elliott MasieHost, TeleWork 2013 and Learning 2013 email: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning Directions Seminar: Blended and in 6 Cities Globally.* TeleWork 2013 - June 23 to 25 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Performance Support Seminar - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning Leadership Academy - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 1, 2013.#765 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,939 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center. 1. Bring Your Parents to Work Day!2. Big Data Expands: Maps of What Learners Aren’t Doing.3. Right Handed Designer Bias in Usability.4. Mobile Apps Monitor and Feedback on Word Usage. 1. Bring Your Parents to Work Day! After the success of "Bring Your Daughters to Work Day", there is now a growing interest in "Bring Your Parents to Work Day", pushed by both helicopter style parents and underutilized retired parents of workers. "Bring Your Parents to Work Day" would allow highly involved and concerned parents to meet the colleagues and bosses of their kids.  Just as they did in K to 12 school settings, parents are often able to advocate for higher performance ratings once they meet their children’s evaluators.  Some parents might even help their children redecorate their work spaces or cubicles. It will also be valuable for the older retired parents of some employees.  These parents can come in and be deployed as meaningful one-day assistants, leveraging their skills and experiences of decades of work.  In some instances, the retired parents can even be deployed while their children are on vacation, filling in for them on key assignments and committees. Clearly, many organizations will find the "Bring Your Parents to Work Day" program challenging!  But, in an attempt to bridge generational differences and reach for new levels of Work/Life balance, it is being embraced by some companies with a passion.  Several underfunded Venture Startups have gone so far as experimenting with "Bring Your Parents to Work Week or Work Month", in order to save compensation levels.  While State Labor Departments are concerned about the legality of these practices, few want to take on the ire of the newly engaged parents on this issue. 2. Big Data Expands: Maps of What Learners Aren’t Doing: Increased interest in "Big Data" has pushed several LMS companies to expand reporting capabilities to display patterns of Learner Non-Activity.  While traditional reports indicate which learners have met competency levels or participated in certain learning programs, the LMS was never pointed at massive and complex patterns of non-participation.  Now, managers can see 3D displays indicating: * What Books or Articles Are Not Read by Workers?* For Each Learner, What Activities Do They Never Do?* Which Video Titles Draw the Fewest Workers?* Which Presenter Send the Most Webinar Participants to Early Departure?* Whose Emails Are Most Often Not Read? Many learning analysts believe that tracking what learners Don’t Do is even more important than tracking their active participation.  One LMS company is experimenting with a gamification offering that would provide "points" to learners who most effectively skip the most content, while still meeting legal certification. These points can be traded in for a vacation day or lunchroom vouchers. Big Data can focus on what learners aren’t doing as great predictors of workforce participation patterns.  We might even issue a "Didn’t Do Transcript" for each learner in the future. 3. Right Handed Designer Bias in Usability: University of Brazio recently published a study focusing on the difference in eLearning designs created by left vs. right handed designers.  It seems that visual placement of content and buttons shifts dramatically based on the hand bias of the designer.  They looked at "directionality distinctions" in screen design and the impact on learning effectiveness.  Not surprisingly, they found that eLearning modules developed by left handed designers worked best with left handed learners.  Eye movement, mouse movement and logical flow of content was optimized better for left handed learners when design was done by designers of the same hand dominance. But, the least effective designs for both left and right handed learners resulted in design teams that had 1 left handed and 1 right handed designer.  "Collaboration in design often results in a mushy and fuzzy approach that underwhelms both types of users." said Dr. Framer, head of their Hand Design Bias Lab.  The next study will look at allowing the learner to indicate their left or right hand preference - yielding a distinctly different design.  Even Google is considering moving their ads to the left side for users that more often place their mouse nearer to the Q, A or Z keys on their keyboards. 4. Mobile Apps Monitor and Provide Feedback on Word Usage: "How do I stop saying the word NO in my responses to employee questions?" or "I must remember to say ‘Service Contract’ to customers during sales conversations in the store!" These requests are not easy to implement as they both require a worker to alter their daily conversational habits.  But, now there is an App that links voice recognition with Performance Support to provide immediate feedback when you utter something on your NO or YES list.  For example, the App can monitor your use of the words: "NO", "NO WAY" and "Never Happens" and provide you with a gentle buzz on your smartphone each time they are spoken.  If the frequency rises above a certain level, the buzz can be longer and you can even set it up to send you or your coach a direct reminder.  Or, it can be upgraded to provide a quiet whisper in the earpiece of an employee, via Bluetooth connection, when they forget to offer the highly profitable service agreement. ——- Each year on April 1st in the United States, we celebrate April Fool’s Day with several TRENDS that may not be totally real, yet!  Hope you enjoyed and have a great April 1st. Feel free to send me a note to emasie@masie.com Yours in learning, Elliott MasieHost, Learning 2013 email: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasie MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning Directions Seminar: Blended and in 6 Cities Globally.* TeleWork 2013 - June 23 to 25 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Performance Support Seminar - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning Leadership Academy - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 4, 2013.#766 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.55,944 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.1. "Fancy Hands" Human Based App for Support and Assistance.2. Kinky Boots Opens Tonight: Reviews 6 Hours Later!3. Learning Leadership Academy and Performance Support Lab.1. "Fancy Hands" Human Based App for Support and Assistance: Imagine having an app on your smartphone that would give you instant human based personal assistance - 24 by 7. I have been experimenting with a new app and service called "Fancy Hands". For approximately $1 a day, I can send a request for research, scheduling or personal assistance. Here are a few examples:* Find me a restaurant on Easter Sunday morning that has New York style bagels for sale, on the West Side of Manhattan, that is open now at 8 am.  In less than 30 minutes, an assistant investigated, called and located my answer.* Schedule a good time for a conference call with these 3 people at work. The assistant emailed, called and then added the meeting to my schedule.* Please proofread this article and send me any edits. Back the article came in about an hour.* Can you change the mailing addresses for these 6 magazine subscriptions? Done!The service combines a "crowd-sourced" set of workers, armed with internet search capabilities and the ability to telephone key contacts. It provides me with an additional level of personal assistance and also a performance support model. We may see several of these mobile based personal assistance services pop up - including a fully in-house version for a corporation’s workforce. Check it out at http://www.fancyhands.com2. Kinky Boots Opens Tonight: Reviews 6 Hours Later! Imagine if you led a leadership program on Thursday afternoon and the nation’s newspapers had critical reviews of it 6 hours later? Well, that will happen to us tonight. MASIE Productions is one of the investors/producers for a new Broadway show that will open tonight: Kinky Boots. The music is written by Cyndi Lauper and, from several weeks of preview performances, we are very excited and optimistic that the reviewers from New York newspapers and magazines will give it a great review. But, we don’t know. So, starting at 5 pm with a Producers party, followed by the Opening Performance and then the Opening Party afterwards, one unknown will be "what will the reviews say"?You can follow along online and in the newspapers as the cast, crew and producers all keep fingers crossed and await the reviews. On some levels, the reviews can be a make or break moment for a Broadway show (though Wicked did not get great reviews and is the highest grossing show 10 years later!). You can even follow the real time reviews, published on a website "Did He Like It?" managed by my friend and co-producer Ken Davenport: http://www.didhelikeit.comWhat if your learning and training programs were this publicly reviewed? It would be stressful and maybe not so helpful, but wow! Some have asked why I have become a producer of Broadway shows. The answer is that the core of Kinky Boots is a powerful story about acceptance, with music and a script that uses storytelling to make key points and perhaps influence attitudes. Kinky Boots gets audiences thinking and dancing in their seats. Learning production does much the same. Both theater and learning are dedicated to storytelling, engagement and involvement. And, I love the immediate and measurable feedback from participants.So, wish us luck on tonight’s Kinky Boots reviews and come see it when you come to New York next time (or on the National Tour that we hope to mount in the coming years)!3. Learning Leadership Academy and Performance Support Lab: We are proud to announce 2 highly engaging learning programs at The MASIE Center Lab in Saratoga Springs in May 2013:- Learning Leadership Academy - Led by Nigel Paine (May 14-16) - focused on the skills and approaches of leading learning in an organization.- Performance Support LAB & Seminar - Led by Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher (May 8 to 10) - focused on learning at the moment of need.Complete details and online registration at http://www.masie.comYours in learning,Elliott MasieHost, Learning 2013email: emasie@masie.comtwitter: @emasieMASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:* Learning Directions Seminar: Blended and in 6 Cities Globally.* TeleWork 2013 - June 23 to 25 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning 2013 - November 2013 - Orlando, Florida.* Performance Support Seminar - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Learning Leadership Academy - May 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY.* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUMInfo and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie