• Tuesday
• Wednesday

Breakout Sessions - Tuesday

Learning Sessions: Round 1

Reinvigorating Your Online Learning Initiatives
California State Auto Association
Online training has become the primary method for career development, technical, and regulatory compliance training for many organizations. But in some organizations utilization is low. The same is true of the leadership training. Find out how to reinvigorate your online offerings in a fast, friendly, and fun way for your teams and target your leadership training to enhance diversity efforts in your organization. During this session your will learn how to:

• Re-energize the online learning component of corporate learning.
• Ensure all employees in all Business Units are aware of the available online resource.
• Introduce new online products to increase interest.
• Extend the utilization leadership training to enhance diversity efforts, and
• Extend the user population to include all levels within the organization--including executives

Star Certification: How Hearst Trains Sales Executives to Sell in the Internet Age
Hearst Newspapers
The Hearst Newspaper Group has adopted STAR, a sales certification program that aligns sales skills and soft skills into a learning contract between the manager and the salesperson. Tina Breslin will review how to turn the learning contract into a talent recruitment and retention tool using the blended learning, sales certification program.
Learn:

• How to design the sales certification program
• How to engage the management
• How to engage the staff in learning
• How to reward and recognize

Driving ROI by Connecting to Learners Using SkillPort
Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina
Learn how BCBSNC has its eLearning program doing a 180... Over the past couple of years SkillSoft eLearning usage rates and learner satisfaction at BCBSNC have decreased, while administrative tasks and overall program management requirements have increased. By focusing on critical business needs, key employee demographics, using targeted marketing strategies, and SkillPort driven learning solutions, BCBSNC has been able to reverse the downward trend and is on its way to realizing a solid return on investment for 2008.

SkillSoft Dialogue: Design for Impact and Results (Lab)
The Economical Insurance Group
The Economical Insurance Group (TEIG) is meeting the needs of their business units by using custom content development via SkillSoft Dialogue. Join Mary Beth Alexander, TEIG's learning & development manager, for an informative lab on how Dialogue is meeting their enterprise-wide requirements with rapid development and deployment through Dialogue Design and Dialogue Live. Mary Beth will explain The Economical Insurance Group's "learning anytime, anywhere, just in time and just enough" philosophy and share with you the impact that TEIG's Learning & Development has had with the numerous custom courses they’ve created using the Dialogue platform. In order to view the tools in action in this interactive session, Mary Beth will preview two Dialogue Design courses developed by her internal team of two course developers: "Blended Learning: Meeting the Needs of the Business" and "The Economical Insurance Group's Virtual New Employee Welcome Session"

Books24x7 Dynamic Features Roadmap
Books24x7 has released a number of new dynamic "Web 2.0" style product features on the Books24x7 platform designed to get users to content faster and to make navigation more efficient. Examples of dynamic features released in recent months including the recommendations feature, explanatory popovers, the search hit runner, and more. Join us at this roundtable discussion for a review of the dynamic features currently available on Books24x7, new features currently on the roadmap, as well as a chance to brainstorm other useful features for future consideration.

E and Blended Learning as a Key Enabler for Leadership and Talent Development in Healthcare
Like many organizations, Christiana Care Health System, as part of its Talent Management Strategy, continue to explore effective ways to enhance its existing leadership education programs. It is challenging to get leaders to continue their learning and development beyond the formal programs. It has begun improving its existing leadership development program offerings (previously 100% classroom based learning) into a blended program that uses a combination of e-learning pre-work, other support materials and classroom based learning. Using various tools from SkillSoft including learning programs, Blended Learning Toolkits and KnowledgeCenters, Christiana Care Health Systems is evolving into a new mindset of learning for its new leaders and existing leaders. This session will review its leadership development and education strategy, its tactics to engage leaders at all levels, including senior management in the design of the learning portal, and also in sponsoring and owning the learning process. We will also review our implementation strategy and lessons learned to date.

Developing Front Line Managers in a High Turnover Retail Environment
Rent-A-Center
Developing front line leaders in over 3,000 locations can present many challenges. Learn how Rent-A-Center addressed common business issues in the retail industry and continues to make improvements in the area of front line management development.

This session will focus on the partnership created between operations, human resources and the training department to modify and development new programs to address the issues around turnover at the store manager position and will conclude with a Q&A discussion around best practices.

Partner Track

Providing Targeted Learning Solutions with SkillSoft KnowledgeCenters
SkillSoft KnowledgeCenters are user-friendly learning portals that allow instant access to trusted, targeted content. Each KnowledgeCenter includes materials specifically chosen to help learners build knowledge around a topic as effectively and efficiently as possible. Including SkillSoft courses, Books24x7, Simulations, Mentoring, and regularly updated Featured Topics, SkillSoft KnowledgeCenters make it fast and easy for learners to locate and take advantage of essential topic-oriented content.

Learning Sessions: Round 2

How The Stanley Works Aligned Learning Objectives with Strategic Initiatives
The Stanley Works
This 50-minute breakout session will help you understand how the organization positioned and implemented its global learning and development strategy. During this session, we will review and discuss the following topics:

• Crucial stakeholders alignment
• Organizational priorities & challenges
• Key requirements to meet SWK growth objectives
• Corporate branded platform for delivery
• Major challenges and roadblocks along the way
• Expanded the corporate relationship with SkillSoft

SkillSoft Learning Design Models, Principles and Examples
SkillSoft
A little bit of 'ID talk,' a lot of demonstration – especially of the newer learning assets!

Instructional design has always been and remains a core value of our content offerings. Content has changed in multiple ways the last few years. For instance, SkillSoft has transitioned to the Common Course Architecture for all course development, introduced new instructional strategies in all content and made significant changes to the navigation interface. This session briefly reviews SkillSoft’s Instructional Design Model for courseware and illustrates its key components via live courseware demonstrations – including a demonstration of the new Narrated Animation presentation method in business content. The session also introduces SkillSoft’s Workplace Performance Learning Model and its accompanying set of learning principles. This model represents the broader range of learning environments, strategies and needs of today’s workplace, and provides the context for discussing and viewing some of our newer learning innovations, like the Business Impact and Challenge Series assets.

Practical Steps for Globally Aligning SkillSoft with the Business
SAP
"Build it and they will come." That happens in movies, like "Field of Dreams," but not in business. Getting user acceptance, high utilization and alignment with the business requires a lot more than just vision and investment.

This session will provide you with practical ways to integrate SkillSoft into your business, tips for marketing SkillSoft to drive utilization and your desired outcomes, and ideas for monitoring and measuring the success of your SkillSoft initiative.

Meeting Compliance Training Requirements with Customization
Hospital Billing and Collection Services
The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates the activities of organizations charged with the administration and delivery of healthcare related services to abide by certain rules and regulations that ensure the privacy and protection of individuals health related information. As a “covered entity” under this law, Hospital Billing & Collection Services (HBCS) is required to provide ongoing training to new and existing employees to guarantee its compliance to the law, and to provide staff with the necessary process and procedural training that best ensures the protection and confidentiality of protected health information.

Since the adoption of this law in 2003, HBCS has been challenged to provide traditional classroom-led instruction to its 500+ employees in four office locations and over 50 hospital client sites throughout the US in a timely and cost effective manner. This session presents how HBCS was able to construct and deliver a customized e-learning training module combining healthcare industry content from SkillSoft with HBCS specific training materials that reduced the overall training timeframe from six to two months while producing significant reductions in administration, travel, trainer and material costs.

Leadership and the Blended Approach
National Australia Bank
In this session, Jodie Cole, manager of leadership and management development at the National Australia Bank, will profile the design of Dive In, a customized leadership development initiative for the senior leadership group within Finance Australia.

The Dive In program was designed to address the leadership development needs of a specialist group with National Australia Bank in response to the organizations’ bi-yearly employee opinion survey. Dive In offers leaders a variety of interventions to choose from including formal learning programs combined with a platform of ancillary learning supports, featuring Books 24x7 as a core component.

Dive In has been a highly successful program due to the combination of formal and supporting learning interventions, its customized design approach, and the opportunity for learner autonomy and choice regarding his/her learning pathway. The program is currently being rolled out to the next leadership population with great success.

Extending Off-the-shelf Courses Through Customization: Lab
Tailoring off-the-shelf content to your specific departmental or organizational strategies is a simple yet powerful way to increase the impact of content and maximize your investment in learning resources. For customers that wish to customize SkillSoft courses, as well as those that want to create custom courses using SkillSoft templates, instructional design models and course player, we present SkillStudio, our next generation course customization and authoring toolkit. Join SkillSoft personnel for a hands-on introduction to the capabilities of this new tool.

Building Leadership Competence: How CSC Successfully Leveraged the Leadership Development Channel
CSC
In this dynamic session, participants will learn how Computer Sciences Corporation leveraged the Leadership Development Channel as a part of its global Leadership Academy, supporting 80,000 employees, 15,000 managers and 3,000 senior leaders. In addition, participants will learn how CSC leveraged video with executives to drive learning and strategic change.

This session will:

• Highlight how CSC is using the Leadership Develop Channel within its Leadership Academy
• Walk you through specific learning applications – from classroom to individual learning at the desktop
• Provide you with implementation tips and success stories

Partner Track

• Provide an introduction to the Accenture SCA and Microsoft’s e-Reference offering
• Discuss how Books24x7 adds value to their solution and success for their customers
• Learn about sales & marketing strategies to reach various markets
• Leave with key takeaways on how you may leverage this for your customers and markets you serve

Breakout Sessions - Wednesday

Learning Sessions: Round 1

Aligning resources to the Business Goals of Company Executives
Administaff
As learning and performance professionals, we have to ensure that our resources are used appropriately, and any resulting interventions have their intended business impact.
As a demonstration of this outcome, we will share our experiences as Administaff transitioned from curriculum-based learning to strategic performance improvement aligned with key business objectives.

This interactive session is designed for you to experience a straightforward process for aligning resources to the goals of your company executives.

How Embarq Saved Millions by Switching to Live Learning
Embarq
Join Rich Hake, technical training manager for Embarq Corporation, as he shares his success from leveraging SkillSoft’s live, instructor lead training to replace costly classroom training, without compromising the learner experience, for Cisco, Microsoft Network Security and project management training and certifications. This eye-opening session will cover the challenges of the business climate, why Embarq found Live Learning an appropriate and effective solution in meeting the day-to-day and strategic training initiatives, and the results of his program to date, including hard savings of millions of dollars.

Implementing Globally While Ensuring Local Impact
FM Global
At FM Global, we partner with our Fortune 500 clients to protect their businesses. Our corporate training department does the same, partnering not only with our clients but also with corporate and operations senior management aligning our training efforts with their objectives. Our custom client online training courses (developed by Skillsoft and hosted on a SkillPort site) play an important role in making the connection, providing global and local impact. It is a challenging yet rewarding experience. Come hear how we've been able to have a more local impact by developing and delivering our training in 5 languages (and counting.) This session will provide valuable insight to our translation/localization process and lessons learned. Additional information covered will include writing guidelines, marketing materials, and translation template ideas.

A Custom Approach to Learning Using Dialogue
Dollar Thrifty Auto Group
How do you deliver just in time content, in just the right amount, to a geographically dispersed work force? Find out how one organization creates custom training to meet a variety of organizational needs—from on-boarding newly hired operations employees to helping managers handle dramatic organizational change. Learn how the instructional design team at Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group uses the Dialogue tool to develop e-learning deliverables that sometimes stand alone, but more frequently play a significant role in the company’s blended learning approach.

One Corporation's Success with Centralizing Compliance Training
Hercules
Hercules critical training need was to deliver ES&H training to our remote employees, often located in numerous customers’ sites throughout the world, as well as the ability to track and manage our compliance training for a global work force in one place. Through the use of SkillSoft’s training academy, we have an increased ability to manage our EH&S, legal, and HR training – online or in the classroom – from one centralized location.

Maximizing Your Books24x7 Subscription (Lab)
Get hands-on experience as we walk you through the Books24x7 On Demand web site. Learn how employees can personalize their experiences to suite individual needs and how you can customize the site to align with corporate goals. In this lab, we will cover features that enable your users to find and organize content based on their personal needs as well as options that provide users with access to content when away from their computers, including mobile access from PDAs and chapter downloads.

You will also learn about administrative features that enable you to customize your Books24x7 subscription to align it with corporate initiatives, goals and competencies. We will show you how to create your own topic hierarchies and how to assign titles to them that are most important to your organizational drivers. We will walk through creating customized corporate folders that allow you to highlight content for your user population. And we will discuss how corporate folders can complement corporate topic trees. You will also learn how to draw attention to specific titles and chapters with bookmarks and notes. We will demonstrate how to access usage reports and how this information can help influence and direct your custom topics and folders. This session will provide detailed instructions and the opportunity to practice using these features.

Target Audience: This session is ideal for all corporate subscription administrators and managers who want to ensure that they are getting the most from their Books24x7 subscription.

Getting Learners to Raise Their Hands
SUBWAY
SUBWAY currently deploys SkillSoft-developed custom content to its global audience of 300,000 via a customized SkillPort platform. Facing the extreme challenge of driving usage and growth in a non-mandated program, their implementation plan and supporting tools encourage territory Development Agents and Franchisees to take ‘ownership’ of the available e-learning resources delivering results that benefit them as individual business owners and support the DAI strategic goals.

Partner Track

Marketing and Selling the SkillSoft' Product Lines - Best Practice Approaches
Presentations and Panel discussions on the best practices used by different organizations to effectively position, sell, and support the SkillSoft solutions.

Learning Sessions: Round 2

e-Learning Program Underpins Learning Framework and Employee Engagement Philosophy
Data#3
If the Clinton campaign of 92 rode to victory on the truism - “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” then Australian businesswoman Lindy MacPherson will win votes with another truism, about e-learning: “It’s About Engagement Stupid!” Lindy has designed and overseen an e-learning framework for Australia’s Data#3 that is widely recognized as industry leading and as a key driver of Data#3’s success…. and engagement strategies are critical.
Don’t miss Lindy talk about:

• Engaging executives
• How to win support from the executive team
• Why executive support is essential for success
• How Data#3 uses e-learning to underpin all their learning programs
• How to align e-learning with individual competencies, business plans and company-wide key result areas
• Engaging the work force
• Creating innovative blended learning programs
• Creative marketing campaigns
• Learning’s from Data #3’s unique employee feedback program

Implementing Enterprise Learning in a Large Distributed Organization:
DHS' Establishment of an Enterprise-wide Application
US Department of Homeland Security
In support of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary’s objective to “Strengthen and Unify DHS Operations and Management,” the DHS Chief Learning Officer (CLO) is undertaking the challenging task of migrating all DHS Federal employees to a single learning management system (LMS). Titled “DHScovery,” the LMS is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product designed to deliver, record and report all training activity undertaken by each employee.

In order to succeed, the establishment of an Advanced Distributed Learning Program under the CLO was crafted to manage the myriad of programmatic and political agendas which would need to be addressed and through which consensus reached. This presentation will share an insider’s view on the progress to date, the future direction and invite comment from the audience.

Demystifying Talent Management & Succession Planning to Gain C-Level Involvement
Owens & Minor
Driven by challenges associated with aging work force, retention and knowledge management, talent management and succession planning rank among the top priorities for many C-Level executives. These challenges offer a unique opportunity for learning organizations to demonstrate their ability to contribute to the success of their companies. Learn how Owens & Minor University (OMU) has partnered with SkillSoft to minimize the complexity of talent management and succession planning, increased value perception among their C-Level executives, and deliver learning solutions aligned to business objectives that yield positive business results.

Increasing the Impact of KnowledgeCenters Through Customization: Lab
SkillSoft KnowledgeCenters are user-friendly learning portals that allow instant access to trusted, targeted content. Each KnowledgeCenter includes material specifically chosen to help learners build knowledge around a topic as effectively and efficiently as possible. Just like individual learning assets, KnowledgeCenters can be made even more powerful through customization. Join SkillSoft product managers for this hands-on session where we will explore the content, functionality and customization options for KnowledgeCenters.

Focus Group: Integrating Learning into the Enterprise
Increasingly, companies are looking for ways to make learning assets available to employees at the moment of need, ideally leveraging learning without having to remove the learner from their task at hand. This facilitated discussion will be an opportunity to talk about what companies are doing to make learning more accessible. During the session, we will explore how companies are approaching the concept of embedded learning and what technologies are being used to support this goal. Join us for the opportunity to interact with others on similar paths and shape SkillSoft’s product development for the future.

Rule Number 1: Remove all barriers to your online content
BP
Removing the barriers of accessing learning content is critical in ensuring the learners in your organization use the resources. If learners have to log into multiple systems using different log in criteria, spend time finding information your online learning offer will never succeed. BP is presently a decentralized global organization with multiple HR systems and a work force in excess of 100,000 employees and contractors.

How do you get unique user data into your LMS from over 200 HR systems in a decentralized global organization ensuring a good end user experience? Come and hear how BP and SkillSoft developed a global learning infrastructure that allows learners to automatically enroll into SkillPort and access online content while allowing for consistent and accurate reporting of online learning activities across the whole group.

Partner Track

Selling the Value of Live Learning
Live Learning blends the advantages of instructor-led training with the efficiencies of the Internet into the ultimate classroom environment. It is the ideal way to learn, removing the barriers to brick-and-mortar classroom training without comprising the experience or collaborative benefits. Topics addressed in this interactive session will include an overview of the product line, understanding the product fit and positioning, and best-practice selling strategies.

Tom Peter's Live Leadership Development Channel Event

Excellence, Execution and Change: Continuing the Search
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of one of the most influential business books ever written: Tom Peters and Bob Waterman's In Search of Excellence. In this compelling new presentation, Peters revisits and boldly extends "obvious ideas:" the paramount importance of an abiding orientation toward action over talk, matchless customer intimacy, a wholehearted devotion to acquiring and developing the best talent, entrepreneurship spurred internally, the ever-difficult task of "keeping it simple," and leadership as "a product of passion, passion, passion." Peters will argue that the same ideas "that led us to take a gamble on Wal-Mart in 1982 animate the likes of Google and Starbucks today. In fact, the 100% implementation of these ideas is far more important—for survival's sake—than it was 25 years ago."
You will learn:

• How the timeless principles in Search of Excellence apply to the realities of today
• How to have "a bias to action" and what "people first" really means
• The importance of managing ambiguity in times of great change

Learning Sessions: Round 3

Focus group: Search
SkillSoft revolutionized the idea of cross-resource searching with the introduction of Search-and-Learn. But over time ideas about searching and finding resources are quickly changing based on today’s new technologies. In this focus group, we will discuss various ideas about search in today’s environment. How do users find learning resources? How do you categorize and think about the resources available? What would make easier to find to the right resource at the time of need? What expectations do users have when they use a search to look for resources? Are you using federated searching or GoogleOneBox type appliances in your environment? Join us for a lively discussion about search in the context of learning.

Cameron Uses Blended Learning for International Six Sigma Certification Program
Cameron
Description: It is important to understand the different ways employees learn, in order to have a successful training program. When developing the Six Sigma Certification Program, Cameron chose a blended learning approach to make sure all employee learning styles were addressed. From SkillSoft classes to Case Studies to In-Class discussions Cameron employees receive a well rounded start to prepare them for Six Sigma Certification.

Connecting e-learning to Best Practices: How e-learning Contributed to LLNL’s 2007 ASTD BEST Award
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Each year ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) recognizes organizations for enterprise-wide employee learning and development practices. In this session, learn how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a recipient of the 2007 award, highlighted e-Learning in its application for the award.

This presentation will focus on how LLNL tied e-learning to specific performance measures. The presentation will focus on how:

• LLNL developed online learning centers to help attract, retain, and develop employees
• e-learning is embedded into the learning culture of LLNL and is supported by all levels of management through a strong marketing effort
• the success and growth in participation is measured in terms of ROI
• usage is tracked by demographic groups and is continually monitored through an administrator dashboard
• feedback surveys from participants are conducted annually to understand customer perceptions and usefulness
• LLNL developed a Learning Resource Launcher to broaden the impact of learning, that allows content to be embedded outside the learning center

The Evolution of Learning and Talent in the 21st Century
Deloitte
People issues are at the top of the strategic agenda for global companies, driven by changing work force demographics, increased globalization and relentless focus on innovation, productivity, growth and customer service. At the same time, the people agenda is changing. In the past, discussion of people issues tended to focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of HR operations. Now, the spotlight is increasingly on leadership development, talent management, performance, culture and how organizations can create more value with the people they already have. These issue center on increasing commitment, retention and productivity through improvements that are mutually beneficial for employers and employees alike. Hear how Deloitte is applying the "Standard of Excellence," not only to its people commitment, but also to its solutions and strategies for deployment.

Blended Model Links Administrative Professionals to Learning
City of Denver
The City and County of Denver’s Administrative Professional training program (APEX) is a modular training program that utilizes a blended learning approach of instructor-led classes (both soft skills and computer end user training) and Web-based training in a project team approach. Launched in January 2005, the APEX program was designed to serve the City and County of Denver’s over 3,000 administrative professionals who comprise the largest occupational group in the City including individuals in clerical, secretarial, administrative and executive assistant positions.

The 12-month structured training program’s curriculum is based on identified and validated competencies required for successful performance in this career path. APEX delivers instruction and application through a variety of adult learning methods such as online training, classroom instruction and activities, project team work, self study, coaching and networking. Candidates are selected for the program through the application process which includes two letters of recommendation. The program year begins and ends with the completion of various assessments to identify each participant’s skill levels, personality differences, interests, strengths, and development opportunities.

This presentation will discuss the formation and evolution of the program using a competency model and a blended learning approach.

Stealth implementation: Changing Everything By Not Changing Much of Anything
Commerce Insurance
Programmatic change designed to turn classroom based instruction into e-learning and trainers into “change agents,” historically meets with resistance and rarely succeeds. However, transformative change in a company’s learning and development strategy can be successful when it begins at the periphery of the organization, and seeks out informal ways to solve real business problems (Beer, Eisenstat, & Spector, 1990).

By choosing an ad hoc approach and leveraging SkillSoft assets to meet business stakeholder needs, Commerce Group’s Corporate Learning and Development team accelerated the its Learning Growth Strategy and changed the way Commerce Group stakeholders experience the power of technology powered learning solutions.

Using OLSA with third party LMS: Lab and Discussion
This workshop is ideal for customers using OLSA with a third-party LMS. The workshop will focus on the Open Learning Services Architecture (OLSA) Administrator interface as well as how to engage with your LMS vendor on OLSA integrations. The OLSA Administrator interface allows a learning administrator to quickly take advantage of a limited set of our Web services without requiring in-depth IT skills or resources. The workshop will also provide a review of using the OLSA Administrator interface, covering administrative features such as configuration options, downloading course Meta data or the catalog hierarchy, and running reports. Discussion will center on using the OLSA Administrator to facilitate integration of SkillSoft assets in a third-party LMS. It is ideal for customers using an LMS that has not yet been fully integrated with OLSA but will also provide an overview of features for customers with an integrated LMS. Additionally, the workshop will discuss ways to engage your LMS vendor in discussions about OLSA integration.

Partner Track

Understanding the Value Proposition of Books24x7 & the Leadership Development Channel
Books24x7 and the Leadership Development Channel are exciting components of the SkillSoft product line. Books24x7 offers a revolutionary approach to problem solving and learning by providing topically-oriented collections containing searchable, online access to the full, unabridged content of thousands of business and technical books, reports, whitepapers and summaries. The Leadership Development Channel (LDC) is a unique collection of on demand videos programs featuring best-selling business authors, experts and CEOs, designed to help managers and leaders to be more effective at managing people and driving results. The objectives of this session are to:

• Provide a review of the overall Books24x7 and LDC value proposition
• Present key indicators that will help you assess a client's applicability for the various Books24x7 and LDC solutions
• Discuss the international appeal of both solutions, and future plans for localization.