CityU hosts this year’s Learn-a-Palooza event

By Dr. Pressley Rankin

On May 19^th CityU was proud to host the Association for Talent Development’s annual Learn-a-Palooza event.  About 100 local area talent development professionals came to our Seattle campus to learn from each other and share best practices from many different professions.  The event focused on the question: How do you stay in tune with the continued globalization of organizations?

The day started with an inspirational keynote from Myra Travin, an educational post-futurist and authority in talent management, technology, and new learning design. Her address touched on key issues with our future relationships with technology.  Myra believes the key element is how humans develop a relationship with the tools we are using, and how we can co-create a future state of resourcefulness together.

After this energizing opening session, the group broke into speed learning sessions with 10 tables, each representing a different topic in talent development.  Topics included sessions on onboarding, instructional design inspiration, gamifying new hire orientations, storytelling in learning, and the neuroscience of making eye contact.  Each session focused on how we can bridge the learning gaps across time zones and across different cultures.

Finally, the day ended with a Hackathon, an event which brings together innovative strangers. The goal is to solve problems and improve our world by brainstorming creative ways to enhance, or change any system that needs to be addressed.

The focus of our final Hackathon was an examination of the ways we will approach learning in the future. In order to keep our practices current, we must stay ahead of this technological evolution, and this begins with getting the most out of today’s technology.  The Hackathons addressed the following questions:

• What is the biggest impediment to creating learning at a global scale?
• Thinking about the next 5-10 years, how will our jobs in learning and development change?
• Considering cultural agility, where should professionals and organizations focus?

Interested in learning more? Call the Association for Talent Development’s Puget Sound Chapter.

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