Skip to Main Content

Smoky Mountain American Society for Training and Development

Monthly Membership Luncheons

Our monthly membership luncheons are a great way to meet and greet workforce learning and performance professionals just like yourself, and learn about some of the hottest topics in training and development today. Our luncheons occur every third Wednesday of the month, beginning at 11:30am and ending promptly at 1:00pm (except otherwise noted!).

Our Monthly Membership Luncheon Schedule is as follows:

 

 

 

Back to Top

February: Trends in Training and Workforce Development, Presented by Dr. Stacy Myers

Join us as we explore the latest trends in training and workforce development, as compiled by some of the most respected names in training analytics research. We'll cover the entire ground of workforce learning and development in terms of what, when, how, why and where. You may even find out what your income should be! Come prepared for some eye-opening research findings.

 

Back to Top

March: OJT (More Bang for Your Training Buck!), Presented by Kenneth Cox and Michael Caracoglia, MSgt, NG

The vast majority of employee training is on-the-job (OJT).  In his presentation “OJT (More Bang for Your Training Buck)”, Ken Cox will cover a structured OJT process that can produce better trained employees in less time for less money. Along with the process, there are pointers for more effective analysis, design and materials. Master Sergeant Michael Caracoglia will extend the topic discussion with application of OJT in the Air Force. He will cover the Air Force's main training areas for the enlisted member, formal training and OJT, and the extensive documentation that is required of the training—especially OJT—and its purpose.

 

Back to Top

April 16: Facilitating Problem-Solving & Problem Ownership, Presented by Rhonda Jones

In our professional and personal life we often need to solve problems. The true test of our effectiveness is when we are faced with a challenge or problem. Sometimes it’s our own problem, (which we may try to avoid). Sometimes it’s the problem of others around us, (which we probably try to dismiss). Sometimes we are the problem! (Or, at least, that seems to be the other person’s opinion, which we often try to ignore.) These are all normal initial reactions, when presented with a problem. But, if they persist, we will be less effective people in the long run. Learn an empowering, positive, healthy way to deal with problems, increase personal effectiveness, and reduce personal and organizational stress.

 

Back to Top

May 21: The Marriage of Technology and Certification Programming, Presented by John Erdmann, Travis Hudelson and Izetta Slade

In the last six months, have you or your organization considered using technology to deliver and administrate your certification or continuing education programs? John Erdmann, Information Technology Consultant with the Center for Industrial Services, University of Tennessee and Travis Hudelson, Director of State and Local Development for Saba, along with Izetta Slade, Training Administrator for the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee, will show us how they are implementing technology and changing the way they administrate and deliver training programs and certifications for Tennessee municipal employees state-wide. Certification is the name of the game for MTAS, having the responsibility to ensure thousands of state workers are properly certified to perform the important jobs they have for our state. This team of co-presenters will relate how their blood, sweat and tears are creating a certification administration and delivery system using the latest Learning Management System technology from Saba. So when you walk away from this membership luncheon, you will have a "heads up" view on what you to need to accomplish this task.

 

Back to Top

June 18: Innovative Workforce Training: Using Creative Media and Venue to Reach Workforce Learning Goals, Presented by John Tolsma, KnowledgeLaunch

John Tolsma once created an English garden inside a hotel ballroom to help a company teach its employees more about information technology strategies. The company’s IT director led employees on a tour of the garden and compared flower beds that needed regular pruning and weeding to the company’s five-year IT plan. “It was a fabulous way to turn on their brains to see what this strategy could look like,” Tolsma said. “It helped excite and incite their people into learning.” Tolsma founded Knowledge Launch in 2006, after realizing companies were overlooking the environments in which they were teaching their employees. Come and learn about how to integrate creative media and venue into your workforce learning goals from one of the most innovative pioneers in this arena.

Back to Top

July 16: Integrating Technology into Next Generation Learning, Presented by Jean Derco, Ed.D., Dr. Michael Burke, and Dr. Christina Goode, Innovative Technology Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Jean Derco, Michael Burke and Christina Goode know what it's like to help classroom instructors reach learning goals with the X and Y generations. After all, the Innovative Technology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is charged with the task of providing "UTK faculty, academic teaching staff, and graduate teaching assistants with leadership, support, and resources to enrich the educational experience of learners through effective and innovative uses of technology." These same technologies can be used in corporate and manufacturing training environments to be effective training tools for a new generation workforce. Come and learn about technologies that you can integrate into your training efforts as a faculty member or a corporate training director trying to reach a new generation of learners!

 

Back to Top

August 20: Credentialing – Why It Will Be IS Important in the World of Workforce Learning and Performance!, Presented by Geoff Woliner, ASTD National

It seems every profession has credentialing. What about the training industry? In a May 2006 article in T+D Magazine, ASTD spoke with Walter McFarland,vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton;Cindy Anderson, manager of operations learning and development, The Walt Disney Company; and Lutz Ziob, general manager for Microsoft Learning. The consensus: Credentialing demonstrates a commitment to your profession and career, provides an organization with a sustainable competitive advantage through its people, and increases an individual’s marketability. The ASTD Certification Institute built the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance™ (CPLP™) credential to provide a way for workplace learning and performance professionals to prove their value to employers and to be confident about their knowledge of the field. As training budgets tighten, today is the day to start learning how this will affect your future in the industry.

 

Back to Top

September 17: No Fear! Ask an Expert, Presented by The Smoky Mountain ASTD Leadership Team

With this membership luncheon, every non-traditional and traditional student in HRD or Instructional Technology has the opportunity to reach out and touch an expert in the field. Yes, we are inviting faculty and students to attend a once-in-a-lifetime (well, it could become an annual) event in which grizzled veterans in the workforce learning and performance field will explain what they look for in a new hire, how they broke into the industry, how to avoid common pitfalls your first year on the job, AND MUCH MORE! And if this doesn't meet your every need as a student with high aspirations, we will also have an open Q & A session where you can approach and ask these experts any question you need to ask.

 

Back to Top

October 15: Training Directors Forum (Aligning Training with Business Strategy: Methods and Best Practices), TBD

While this is listed as a membership luncheon, it's really our flagship special event for 2008. Plan to spend 2-2.5 hours at a very unique expert panel forum: training directors from the largest corporations in our region come together to discuss how training is aligned with business strategy to produce excellent returns on investment. Though organizations spend an average of 30 to 60 percent of their revenue on human capital, many still struggle with maximizing the return on their people assets. Executed properly, a strategic human capital management (HCM) system can lead to increases in profitability, employee morale, customer retention and satisfaction, and ultimately, a more positive market perception. How does training and development factor into this equation for the companies in our region with thousands in their workforce? Come and learn from those in the trenches!

 

Back to Top

November 19: Adult Learning and Research Trends, Presented by Dr. Ralph Brockett

Of course you know how to reach your learning and performance objectives with adults. After all, you are an adult! But do you really know how to optimally train the adult learner? Dr. Ralph Brockett, faculty member in Educational Pyschology at the University of Tennessee, presents some of the most current research on this issue and provides us with insights that you may not have considered your entire time in the profession!

 

Back to Top

December: Workforce Development / Employee Learning Week Banquet, Presented by Smoky Mountain ASTD and the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce

This is the one membership luncheon that is more of a evening social. Come join us in celebrating Employee Learning Week in the state of Tennessee and learn more about how we can partner with the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce in their own efforts to contribute to workforce development in our community. We may even have the opportunity to celebrate some of our chapter successes this year. More details will soon follow!