This week we had the honor of meeting Paul Kedowsky, the Internet portal and community expert at Ventures West. Imagine how I felt when he told me that I needed to make these blogs more personal, more controversial and more frequent. You know how much I hated writing a monthly column, let alone a weekly blog and now this - YIKES! <br> <p>This week we had the honor of meeting Paul Kedowsky, the Internet portal and community expert at Ventures West. Imagine how I felt when he told me that I needed to make these blogs more personal, more controversial and more frequent. You know how much I hated writing a monthly column, let alone a weekly blog and now this - YIKES! (Although I never shied away from controversy or sharing personal experiences.)</p>
<p>So they will be shorter, more personal and most important - more frequent. Now here goes...</p>
<p>Kevin Oakes and the gang at ASTD did a great job of providing amazing content and sessions at this year´s ASTD. Although Jack Welch was a last-minute cancellation, you could not have asked for a better fill in than Marcus Buckingham, with new material from his book "One." (link to Amazon book) He is such a gifted speaker and has such an important message for us all to take back to our organizations. The Legend Series included such celebrities as Bill Byham (DDI <a href="http://www.ddiworld.com/">www.ddiworld.com</a>), Jack Zenger (<a href="http://www.zengerfolkman.com/">www.zengerfolkman.com</a>), Bev Kaye (<a href="http://www.careersystemsintl.com/">www.careersystemsintl.com</a>), Marshall Goldsmith (<a href="http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com/">www.marshallgoldsmith.com</a>), Ken Blanchard (<a href="http://www.kenblanchard.com/">www.KenBlanchard.com</a>) and Stephen Covey (<a href="http://www.stevencovey.com/">www.StevenCovey.com</a>), to name a few. Once again, these legends are truly the pioneers who built our industry, and the best news is that they are passing this on to their offspring. Also presenting at ASTD was Scott Blanchard and Steve Covey´s son. Of course, Tracy Byham, Bill´s daughter, is also one of the most talented up and coming executives in the leadership space and should not be ignored.</p>
<p>DDI had such an amazing presence at the event. Nancy Fox, Rich Wellins, and Kathy Nelson do such a professional job in organizing their presence that it includes a number of speaking spots, the best booth on the trade show floor (location as well as aura and welcoming) and conference bag sponsorship. The week before ASTD, I also had the privilege of attending the DDI user conference in Orlando. These people were also responsible for setting up this user conference with some of the best quality content and case studies I have seen presented at a user conference. And if that was not enough, they actually organized SCIOP and SAMA in between. I bet they are happy the spring tradeshow season is almost over.</p>
<p>ASTD is the perfect venue for the exhibiting vendors to network and gain international partners and distribution opportunities. The event is filled with independent trainers looking to add additional product lines to their arsenal of tools. Although the trade show floor was light in attendance, and the exhibit hours were much too long, there are always some interesting people looking for corporate training solutions or LMS providers to help them achieve their goals.</p>
<p>There also seems to be some traction in connecting Learning to Talent Management. Kevin Oakes´ keynote addressed the need for CLO´s to look at the entire workforce technology as an integrated platform and not stand alone silos. He is definitely onto something with his messaging and we need to listen to this guru, as he is an icon in our industry and is barely pushing 40!</p>
<p>So the personal thing.... Summer has finally arrived in Canada. Yes, our snow has gone! If anyone is interested in coming to visit us folks in Canada, it is the only time of the year (you have two months) if you want nice weather. We welcome your visit and I would be happy to introduce you to some fine Canadian gardens, some amazing Austrailan Shiraz´s and more importantly, our friendly staff.</p>
<p>Do you ever wonder what I do to relieve stress and get away from it all? One of the most relaxing passions for me is gardening. It´s usually where you can find me from 5 to 7 am on summer mornings or on weekends.</p>
<p>PS I call my home the POST - do you know why ?</p>
<p><img src="/portals/hrcom/story_images/Articles_2006/debs_garden_blog_may_19_06.jpg"></p>
