Just having a great product is not enough. Many people forget that exceptional customer support is one of the most important parts of an organization’s ongoing success. Why? It’s most often the only contact a customer has with your company. Receiving the help they need (while interacting with awesome people) encourages customers to stick around. Further, it reinforces the lifetime value of your products and increases customer loyalty. Why does it matter? We’ve had continuous, award-winning growth over the past 10 years. That’s because we love to delight our customers with excellent products and exceptional support. We hold ourselves accountable with a running tab of how our customers rate our support for SCORM Cloud and SCORM Engine. All 2517 tickets that have been opened this year are followed up with a satisfaction survey that is posted around the office and on the website. That’s why we get really excited when the Delight-o-Meter has 100 smiling Jenas in a row: What qualifies as exceptional? We looked at the global benchmark analytics from Zendesk, the help desk tool we use. The average global satisfaction rate for all Zendesk users is 83 percent. But, average is not exceptional, so we try to shoot higher. Here’s a quick look at where we stack up next to the industries in which we operate:So how do we keep our numbers close to 100 percent? 1. Giving the right help: We shoot to give customers the best answer, not just the fastest one. And when we can’t help them, at the very least, we provide a path forward. 2. Being real: "We’re two dudes in an office. You can call us on the phone, you can see our photos on the website—you can find us. We’re accessible and we want to help. People often call us and are surprised: ‘Oh, there really is a Joe?’" -Ryan Donnelly, half of the Donnelly Support Team It’s okay to want people to like you A previous boss used to tell me "people don’t have to like you, as long as they respect you." Good advice. But wouldn’t you rather have customers who respect AND like your company? A delighted customer is a heck of a lot easier to work with than one who hates your guts. So why not shoot for both? Continue to celebrate in the delight of your customers—it pays off. This is a repost from the Rustici Software Blog. The post Measure your success by the delight of your customers appeared first on SCORM - .

A few months ago, we sent out a survey to ask customers to tell us more about how they use SCORM Cloud and what other features they’d like to see. One request we heard from the survey and other conversations with Cloud customers is the ability to set an expiration date for an Invitation or a Dispatch. Well, the wait is over! We just updated SCORM Cloud so now you can set up expiration dates for any invites or dispatches. Why is this so cool? Using invitations to connect users to your courses from a link or email? Now you can set up how long they can access that course, which helps you control your costs and enforce due dates. When you create your invitations, simply add an expiration date. And if you already have invitations created, you can now add expiration dates to those existing invites. If you’re using Dispatch, you care about controlling access to your content, which might mean how many people can take your course or how long they have access to that course. Now you can set that up on the front end when creating a Dispatch so access is automatically disabled on a specific date. You can even go back to Dispatches you’ve already created and set that expiration date. No more managing this manually! Click here to get step by step instructions to get started. Still have questions? Just drop us a line and we’ll help you out. The post SCORM Cloud Feature Update - Expiration Dates Now Available! appeared first on SCORM - .

  On August 13th, 2015, we launched a heavily revised version of tincanapi.com. Andrew Downes has been working away, as he does, creating new content. Rather than direct it all at the blog, though, he’s been rethinking and restructuring the core site and sharing his insights for first-timers, learning designers, learning product vendors, and organizations. There are countless other updates laid out below. Please spend some time with them. Many readers of the site, though, will likely notice a significant change to our handling of the name… tincanapi.com. Years ago, Mike shared our perspective on the name, that we were going to call it Tin Can API. For some, this has been a contentious issue. With the new site, we’ve made the site behave as we have been personally for a long time. We call it whatever you call it. On the site, you’ll notice a toggle in the upper left. If you prefer to call it Tin Can, do so. If you prefer xAPI, that’s great too. Whether you visit tincanapi.com or experienceapi.com, the site will present everything to you using your prefered name. It comes down to this: arguing about an API’s name simply isn’t productive. We have far more important things to accomplish together. So please, enjoy the new content. Go build a brilliant activity provider. Make some statements. Or ask us for help if you need it.     Here are the new sections of the site: Understand   The existing Tin Can Explained page gives a really helpful introduction to Tin Can if you’ve never heard of it.  We’ve brought this section up to date a little and added some pages around the different components of the new enterprise learning ecosystem that Tin Can enables. We’ve also added pages targeted specifically at organizations, learning product vendors and vendors of products outside L&D. Get Started   By now, if you haven’t heard of Tin Can and got a basic understanding, you’ve probably been living on mars. These days, the question we get asked most isn’t "what’s Tin Can?" but "how do I get started?" If that’s your question, then good news - we’ve created a new section just for you! The get startedsection includes pages targeted at product vendors, content authors and organizations. It includes guides to help you see Tin Can in action, get a Learning Record Store (LRS) and run a pilot project in your organization. There’s a collection of pages to help you think about moving on from SCORM, too. Design   We already had a bunch of resources for developers, but not much really aimed at learning designers. We’ve added a page outlining the impact of Tin Can on learning design, including reflections on a handful of learning models and theories in the light of Tin Can. If you’re thinking more at the strategy level, we’ve got a page on incorporating Tin Can into your learning strategy, too. At a practical level, there’s a guide on statement design, an introduction to recipes for learning designers, and an assignment for you to try out what you learn from the new pages we’ve written. Developers   The developers section was already crammed full of resources. We’ve tidied these up to make them easier to find and created an interactive statement explorer page to help you understand the structure of the statement. The statement generator we created a few years ago was due for an update and ADL recently published a new more comprehensive statement generator. We don’t believe in reinventing the wheel, so we’ve taken the ADL tool, made it orange and included it on the site. To help you put all these resources into practice, we’ve created a series of challenges for developers to try out writing code for Tin Can. Webinars   The previous webinar list contained embedded YouTube videos for all our webinars. We’ve got so many webinar recordings now that it was getting hard to find webinars on specific topics so we’ve created a new categorized webinar list. Each of the webinars is now on its own page, making it easier to share the recording with other people. The post We call it, "I call it" appeared first on SCORM - .

Update for 12.14.2015:  We are continuing to observe the situation, but there has been little change thus far - confusion still reigns.  The Court of Justice of the EU has given EU and US authorities until 31 January to reach a new agreement.  If an accord is not reached by that time, regulators will begin to enforce the ruling.  We await with interest the outcome of the negotiations, and are holding further action in abeyance until the legal situation is more clear.  In particular, we are looking for a signal from the large players in the cloud-storage marketplace, such as Dropbox and Box.net, as they are perhaps most affected by the ruling, and their actions will likely set the tone for the industry as a whole.   There has been much concern of late regarding the Court of Justice of the European Union’s declaration that the US-EU Safe Harbor framework is invalid.  The implications for data protection are significant, and Rustici Software is fully committed to ensuring that we are able to protect your privacy and security and to fully meet our commitments in this matter. The situation is still fluid, and we await further information from the European Commission and related authorities.  There are indications from the EC and US authorities that they wish to complete a new framework as soon as possible.  The US Department of Commerce has indicated that it will continue to administer the Safe Harbor program in the interim. Until the authorities reach a new agreement, two alternatives are available:  EU Model Contract Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs).  Because of the significant administrative burdens and lengthy approval process of BCRs, many companies have elected to implement Model Contract Clauses in the interim. Rustici Software currently uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for all data transfers between the EU and US that are affected by the recent ruling.  AWS released a Customer Update on October 9th where they announced that they have fully implemented Model Contract Clauses: Today, we’d like to confirm for customers and partners that they can continue to use AWS to transfer their customer content from the EEA to the US, without altering workloads, and in compliance with EU law. This is possible because AWS has already obtained approval from EU data protection authorities (known as the Article 29 Working Party) of the AWS Data Processing Addendum and Model Clauses to enable transfer of personal data outside Europe, including to the US with our EU-approved Data Processing Addendum and Model Clauses. AWS customers can continue to run their global operations using AWS in full compliance with the EU Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC). The AWS Data Processing Addendum is available to all AWS customers who are processing personal data whether they are established in Europe or a global company operating in the EEA. For additional information, please visit AWS EU Data Protection FAQ. The full text of the AWS advisory is available here. AWS’ Data Protection whitepaper further describes the effect of the Model Contract Clauses: On March 6, 2015, the AWS data processing addendum, including the Model Clauses, was approved by the group of EU data protection authorities known as the Article 29 Working Party. This approval means that any AWS customer who requires the Model Clauses can now rely on the AWS data processing addendum as providing sufficient contractual commitments to enable international data flows in accordance with the Directive. For more detail on the approval from the Article 29 Working Party, please visit the Luxembourg Data Protection Authority webpage here: http://www.cnpd.public.lu/en/actualites/international/2015/03/AWS/index.html. It appears that AWS’ implementation of Model Contract Clauses will allow our EU-based clients that utilize our Cloud Services to continue to comply with all relevant laws and regulations.  However, we are currently making a closer examination of these matters to ensure that we are correctly protecting our EU clients’ interests and fully complying with all applicable regulations. We will update this page and our privacy policy as developments warrant.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via your normal support channel, or send an email directly to our privacy team at safeharbor@scorm.com. Warm Regards, Your Friends at Rustici Software   The post Regarding The US-EU Safe Harbor Framework appeared first on SCORM - .

"When we were looking out for partners to validate content created with Adobe Captivate, Rustici Software was the automatic choice. With the SCORM Cloud now integrated within Adobe Captivate 9, our users can now validate their eLearning content easily" -Akshay Bharadwaj -Senior Product Manager - Adobe Captivate A lot goes into building an elearning course. From subject matter expertise to instructional design and more, creating quality content is hard. And it gets more complicated when you consider how your content will behave in the LMS that ultimately delivers it to your learners. Testing how content will behave in an LMS before you hand it off to your client can help identify unexpected behaviors and allows you to correct them before those issues are out in the wild. We see about 70,000 courses uploaded to SCORM Cloud each month so authors can make sure that what they created actually behaves as they expect in the SCORM player. That’s why we’re super excited about a recent collaboration with Adobe that integrates SCORM Cloud directly with Adobe Captivate 9 for testing. Now you can directly preview courses you build in Adobe Captivate 9 on SCORM Cloud to see how it behaves within an LMS player, without the hassle of uploading the content to your LMS for testing. With just one click, you can automagically see your content play in SCORM Cloud. No more downloading/ uploading/overwriting/versioning steps. One click handles all of that and gives you immediate insight into how your course will play in an LMS. "When Adobe first approached us about connecting Captivate 9 to SCORM Cloud for testing, we were really impressed. Helping their users streamline the testing portion of content development is so important, and building it into the authoring tool eliminates a lot of extra steps for their customers. We’ve had a long history of working together to help solve the complexities of implementing e-learning standards, and this collaboration is a great reflection of that partnership." -Tim Martin -President, Rustici Software To see how it works, check out this walk through. Pretty cool huh? The post Adobe Captivate 9 + Cloud - One click testing is here! appeared first on SCORM - .

Today, I want to share a piece of news that’s really exciting for us. As of this morning, Rustici Software has been acquired by Learning Technologies Group plc (LTG), a publicly listed learning technologies agency made up of specialist digital learning businesses. As a part of LTG, we’ll have the opportunity to work with the other Group companies in creating the next generation of technically-focused learning solutions. LTG has a great deal of learning expertise and serves organizations worldwide. LTG’s portfolio includes LEO, a pioneering learning technologies firm, the multi-device authoring tool gomo learning, games with purpose company Preloaded, and Eukleia, an e-learning provider to the financial services sector. As part of LTG, we’ll continue offering exactly the same services we do today to an ever larger group — not only will we provide our world-class e-learning standards support to LTG companies and their customers but as part of the Group, we’ll also have the platform to reach new global audiences. For our Rustici Software customers, the story is simple. The very same people will be providing to you the very same services in the same way. Our ability to serve our customers in the way we always have is something we feel really strongly about. We’re excited to have the opportunity to work with the fine folks at LTG, and to continue to serve the e-learning industry in an even bigger way than before. We’re also excited because we’re spinning off Watershed at the very same time. Watershed will continue to push forward with their exploration of learning analytics and LRSs, and has also received a significant investment from LTG as part of Watershed’s Series A funding round. Mike and I, as CEO of Watershed and CEO of Rustici Software respectively, are both excited about where the two companies are headed. If you have any questions or need more specific information regarding the acquisition, please let us know. Any inquiries or requests for additional documentation should be sent to info@scorm.com. Tim   The post Big news from Rustici Software appeared first on SCORM - .

Welcome to week one of the post-acquisition Rustici Software world. I just thought I’d take a moment here to discuss one of the reasons we agreed to sell Rustici Software to LTG, because it’s not all about the money. Mike and I were seeking investment funding for Watershed, but we really weren’t on the lookout for anything related to Rustici Software. It was a profitable business, I know very well how to run it, and we have several sets of work that give us cause for optimism. LTG, however, saw the value in both Watershed from an investment point of view and Rustici Software from a market and profitability point of view. After LTG’s first visit, Mike and I asked ourselves two questions. Did we believe that we would be able to maintain our strange and highly-valued culture through an acquisition? Having a place we want to come to work has always been a fundamental requirement for us. Did we believe that we would be able to serve our customers in the way we always had? Throughout the negotiations, due diligence, and these two long days as an LTG company we’ve consistently believed that we could do both of those things and still do. LTG is not an LMS provider like some of our prior suitors have been. We always used to worry that an acquisition of that sort might include aggressive interactions with our customers. With LTG, we’re going to continue to be agnostic, supportive of the standards, and generally the same company we always have been. We’re excited about it, and excited about continuing to support our customers and the industry in general in exactly the same way. The post More of the same appeared first on SCORM - .

Congratulations! You got that promotion you’ve been waiting for. You are a first-time manager! My guess is that you earned your promotion by being a high achiever—and that’s fabulous. Keep in mind, though, that the skills that helped you succeed as an individual contributor are not necessarily the same ones you will need to achieve success as a manager. That’s why I’m so excited about our First-time Manager program, a new training program I’m working on with Linda Miller and Scott Blanchard that will help new managers master the skills they need to make it through this major transition. In our research, we have found that first-time managers must deal with three new realities. The first new reality: First-time managers must shift from being responsible only for their own work to managing the work of others, as well. As a manager, they need to work with their staff to set performance goals and then manage that performance along the way. This can be challenging when dealing with someone who is underperforming. The second new reality: It can be emotionally challenging to manage a group of former peers who are now direct reports. Some new managers report suddenly being unfollowed on social media or not invited to lunches or other group activities. This can make a new manager feel as if they are alone in their new endeavor. The third new reality: Managers have a greater level of impact than non-managers. Not only are they responsible for helping their own team succeed, they now play a role in the overall success of the organization. They must manage new relationships, both with their people and with other leaders in the company. And they now serve two groups—their direct reports as well as their own leader. If this all sounds pretty daunting, it doesn’t have to be. Learning how to communicate effectively will set first-time managers up for success. I believe that leading is something you do with people, not to them. So knowing how to hold conversations that strengthen relationships and build trust will get your management career off to a great start. Our new program focuses on four critical conversations new managers need to master: Goal Setting, Praising, Redirecting, and Wrapping Up. In the next few weeks, I’ll go into detail about how and why to hold these conversations and I’ll also show you four skills that will further improve the quality of your communication with others. You’ll learn how to Listen to Learn, Inquire for Insight, Tell Your Truth, and Express Confidence in each interaction. These tips will improve your relationships with your team, your colleagues, and your leaders. In the meantime, celebrate your success in your new role—and be open to learning how you can make a positive and fulfilling transition to being a first-time manager!

Rarely have we gotten the responses from our audience than we did last month, in our January (New Years) newsletter, titled Re-New U: Bring Back Your Energy. Thanks to all for sharing our posts and spreading the word. The only person who can make your work and family life better is you. We challenged our readers to rank the 13 statements you'll see in the chart above. 13 is an unhappy number, and these are unhappy statements. The participants in the survey have confirmed that work is not a great place to be.I have had the privilege this month to develop a proposal for a new kind of leadership- real, in the trench, and action oriented- that honors human dignity. If you are a leader, the current workplace challenges how leadership is practiced. Here's an example: I love the Steven Covey Four Quadrants (see great interpretation by Chis Peterman) but most leaders think that they can't get the three hours it takes to do this simple prioritization with their teams. In the constant multi- tasking and chaos, going through the motions takes priority over reflection, strategy and growth.This month we're going to focus on how to practice powerful loving- to honor Valentine's Day- leadership in the real world. Let's get rid of the guilt of how we wish we could practice leadership to create lean and flexible approaches for in- the-moment leadership. Academic leadership knowledge is great, but how are you going to change the game by practicing leadership in a new way to mitigate the troubles listed? If it's to be, it's up to me... and you.I've grouped the statements with similar ratings, starting with the least true and ending with the most true. Your story may be different, we all know we are unique, and benefit from looking at average responses because there's a very good chance some of that is true for us.Help me with this list of real leadership in the real world. For our contest this month, please send your innovative ideas for growing leadership in the moment to me at info@russellmartin.com, and we'll share them next month. Together, we can bring back leadership to bring back our teams.

Piggybacking on last week’s discussion of digital literacy, I’m going to discuss digital natives…a topic somewhat inspired by the ‘free wifi’ at a resort my friends and I stayed at several years go. Digital Natives Marc Prensky originally coined the term Digital Natives when looking for a term for a new generation of students: the first generation of students to grow up with digital technology. My generation, Gen Y - commonly referred to as Millenials, grew up with the emergence of digital technology. We were there for enormous CRT monitors, 14.4k dial-up modems, shouting at our parents for picking up the telephone when we’re trying to use the Internet, and have experienced many of the technological hiccups that have helped shape digital technology today. Today, this group of digital natives seem to innately understand how to use technology. Which brings me back to my Mexican resort experience in 2013 - the resort claimed to have ‘free wifi’ in the main lobby, but neither myself nor three of my other millennial pals, who work with technology every single day, could figure out how to get connected to this elusive wifi. Meanwhile, children between the ages of 2 and 8 surrounded us, as if we had entered some digital playground, successfully connected to the Internet and doing more than the least of which we wanted to do…I just wanted to check my damn email! Why Do I Need to Know This?! Understanding Digital Natives is important! Why? Because as Learning and Development professionals, we need to better understand how to effectively develop training for our target audiences. This is a fact that is important for anyone working in Education. In my day-to-day, I come across individuals who are very out of touch with how their students are learning, and refuse to adapt their traditional methods of instruction (e.g. stand up lectures/chalk and talk) to address the needs of these individuals. I do see movement to adapting these teaching methods, but there’s still a great amount of resistance and frustration. Ultimately, it’s important to understand that digital natives seem to be more comfortable when working in the digital realm than they do in more traditional contexts. While this doesn’t mean that we need to trash traditional methods entirely, it certainly does mean that we need to make certain adaptations. When you consider digital natives in tandem with online learning, making these adaptations may also stand to increase overall accessibility to high-quality education, so while digital natives may view these educational means as an environment in which they can thrive and are eager to enrol in, we will inadvertently address accessibility issues for other generations! Resources: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky Born Digital Book Chapters from Harvard.edu Dawn of the Digital Natives by S. Johnson