0900

Coffee and Welcome

0930

Mike Dowsey, CEdMA Europe

Introduction and “Hot Topics”
Please come prepared to share your current hot topics for a parallel hot topic session after the break.  (You will be asked in an online survey in advance for Hot Topics along with the other “Pulse” input.)  Also, be prepared to describe the key issues you face today, especially in view of the current economic climate, and initial thoughts on this conference’s theme. This session is intended to help introduce everyone, and help with networking during the event, as individuals explain what their key interests are.

Break

 Philip Bourne, Symantec

Norman Buckberry, Autodesk

Hot Topics/Issues
Based on input from the online survey, there are two parallel sessions you can join.


This is a discussion session so please come prepared to contribute your views. 

Lunch

1300   

Justin McCarthy, Sybase

Neil Gregory, SPSS
 

Strategic Planning Assumptions
Most Training Providers are facing a difficult business climate, whilst emerging skills issues present compelling opportunities for gaining increased market penetration. There has never been a more critical time to assess the impact of economy and skills trends on budgets, project plans and planning assumptions for 2010 and beyond. Delegates will be in two parallel sessions based on whether they are the BU owner or rather functional such as operational or delivery. 
 
These are discussion sessions so please come prepared to contribute your views. 

Break

Karen Moyse, Kinetic Future

Making Change Happen – ‘Managing The Tell’
This ‘hands on’ session is designed to help you maintain your confidence, gravitas and ability to stand firm ‘under fire’.  All of us will be engaged in ‘robust’ discussions with senior management, sales teams, and our own people as we push to secure support for our own plans and budgets, deal with corporate restructures and manage change.  The session uses techniques from theatre, television, consulting, selling and performance psychology to give you the tools to communicate as a strong leader in your field.

1800   

Close

1930

Reception

Dinner

Alan Bellinger, Institute of IT Training

The Business/Public Value of Training
For ages, we’ve seen the issue of the return-on-investment (“ROI”) on training as the holy grail; we’d love to be able to do it, and for the next project we’ll really try to do it! But the reality is that conducting a comprehensive ROI analysis is something of an elusive challenge! In this session we’ll discuss the background to these problems and propose a solution – well, actually, more of a “work-around”! In preparation, think about these three questions:
o  Why don’t current ROI methods ever work well?
o  How do successful L&D Managers address the problem?
o  Should we be thinking about value instead?

1030

Break

1115

Steve Rayson, Kineo

More for Less – the Credit Crunch Survival Manual
There has never been a greater focus on reducing costs than right now. All the surveys show greater pressure on learning and development costs. The latest Bersin research on the US market revealed that training spend per learner fell between 2007 to 2008 and is likely to fall further in 2009. In large organisations expenditure on online learning also fell for the first time ever and there will be continued pressure in 2009. ASTD’s recent survey showed that over 50% of respondents are being challenged to do more for less with their budgets. So, what can we do to help?

1230  

Lunch

1330

Simon Maskrey, Sun

What actions/activities DID you take after the last conference to counter the financial impact?
During the last conference, we documented actions which we took back to work, based on what customers want, economic pressures, opportunities and challenges. Here, we report back on what happened and with what results.

This is a discussion session so please come prepared to contribute your views.

Planning the events for rest of  2009 – Workshops & Conferences – Results
The online survey asked you to consider a wide range of possible future topics, but this is your chance to make the decisions.

1530

Coffee and close