Larry's Training

This month was the ASTD Leadership Conference (ALC) in Alexandria VA. I had the opportunity to present on the topic of Social Media Strategies for Chapters with Dr. Kella Price, SPHR, CPLP. During the event we asked several people to talk to us about how they use Social Media. Here are the links to those videos. I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to share with us your experiences with Social Media as well.

http://youtu.be/OCjwbr-DtMU

Rebecca and Anne talk about using Twitter at Smokey Mountain

http://youtu.be/e1CrXO4SjsM

Valerie Noll talks about Twitter as a constant conversation.

http://youtu.be/Lp9ZKyMEmY8

Lorraine talks about using the ASTD Toolkits.

http://youtu.be/P80iGBP65Lo

Paul Signorelli Talks about his acceptance of Twitter.

http://youtu.be/u3PhQTIs0zE

Trish Uhl talking about using TweetChat to promote the CPLP.

http://youtu.be/1lPVA4-S1Nw

Jann Iaco talking about why she likes Twitter.

http://youtu.be/QXIVIn4NUhU

Members of Ft Worth talk about Podcasting.

http://youtu.be/mjm9ztUyfRM

David Kelly talking about Networking with Twitter at ALC 2011.

http://youtu.be/OBfJV7ZIrx8

Anne Scott talks about using FB groups personally.

http://youtu.be/jiow9IE437c

Chris Coladonato talks about her experience with LinkedIn

http://youtu.be/57O9HvyNK3U

Walt Hansmann discussing Social Media at ALC 2011.

Every time a new social media tool comes out it is like opening a new box of crayons. Vivid colors and perfect tips make me think anything is possible.

However, like a box of crayons, how we use social media tools and what we create depends on our knowledge and maturity level with the given tool.

Assume that this palm tree is my social media strategy. It is excited because it is new and it has a lot of support as it is starting out.

I am new to social media and I decide I am going to start out with one tool. That tool may be Twitter; it may be Facebook; it may be a blog or even a YouTube video. But because I am not really sure what to do with it I apply that tool to all parts of my social media strategy and I get something that looks like this:

I am so proud of having a social media tool that I hang it on my company’s refrigerator and tell the world I have a strategy in place. But as I learn a little more I realize that the one tool I chose has a lot of blank spots and in some cases it’s not even within the borders of my strategy. I am losing support within my organization because my use of social media is not working the way I have heard it does for everyone else. So I change things up a bit and go the total opposite direction. I jump in full force with every tool out there, including tools in other countries just to say I have a presence everywhere. At this point my strategy will look something like this:

Now I am spread so thin that although I have every social media tool ever developed, I do not have time to focus on any one and use them properly in the right places. Again I am losing support as nothing I try seems to work as expected. As time goes on, I realize that I really like five or six tools. I am proficient with them; I can handle keeping up with them. I can even blend them together with other tools to be even more productive. My customers and I are engaging more effectively and I have a social media strategy that looks like this:

I have a blended social media strategy that connects me with the right people in the right places. Customers are able to engage with me, and my support in the organization is growing as our strategy is becoming more valuable to us.

What does your social media strategy picture look like?

Last week I presented “Learning Innovation with Today’s Tech Tools” at ASTD’s International Conference and Exposition in Orlando. As part of my session I promised to follow up with materials I used in the session. Click Here to download those materials .

I look forward to continued collaboration with each of you and watching your success stories. Continue using the hashtag #QRM309 to share with everyone!

With ASTD’s International Conference and Exposition just days away I am thinking of everything I need to do to get prepared. I am following #ASTD2011 on Twitter and watching the LinkedIn mentoring group and talking with other attendees. I am seeing some common questions being asked; Who should I see? What should I wear? What should I expect? I want to address these questions. The first two are the easiest.

You should see the sessions that will best fit your situation. If you are attending ICE because your company wants you to find out all you can about eLearning, you should follow that track and focus on that. If you are attending to learn more about training in general, then look at some of the names like Bob Pike and Thiagi. Or you may want to attend the sessions of some of the people you are following on your social networks and make that in person connection. There are 10, 000 people expected at ICE this year, and there are 10,000 unique reasons for each person being there.

The dress code is business casual. Be comfortable. Wear shoes you don’t mind walking long distances in. Consider the climate change. Are you leaving snow to travel to Florida? Bring clothes for after convention times.

What you should expect can be a unique experience as well. Let me add some tips that may seem apparent but I think they are important.

Stay hydrated and carry a snack bar with you, you don’t need to have a condition to need a blood sugar boost at a convention. On your badge there is a contact card. Be sure to fill that out. Make sure that one of the contacts is the name of someone you are traveling with or someone you know for sure will be on site. Make sure you communicate to your traveling partner if you have any special conditions. Do you carry an Epi pen or have a pill you need to take, are you allergic to nuts or seafood, make sure someone knows this. You can write that on the back of your contact card (keep this in your badge). If you feel something is wrong sit down, and let someone know.

Update your technology. Do you have the latest Facebook app? Are you running Twitter, TweetDeck or Hootsuite? Are you LinkedIn with your smart phone? Do you BUMP? There will be lots of networking at this conference. You will meet people from all over. Don’t miss an opportunity to connect with someone because you have to update your app.

Clean socks…check, lots of business cards…check…and now, my Twitter, FB and LinkedIn apps are all updated…check. I look forward to a great conference, and hopefully networking with as many of you as possible.

Kimberly Seeger, CPLP (@kimberlyseeger)
Larry Straining, CPLP (@larrystraining)

The ASTD International Conference and Exposition on May 22 – 25 will host more than 10,000 Workplace Learning Professionals in Orlando. If you have not attended this conference before or it’s been a few years, maybe the lists below will help you get the most of this experience. We first suggest that you define your INTENTIONS for the conference. For example, if you would like to learn more about evaluation, technology or designing learning, plan your schedule around those areas.

We have found that participation in this conference will:

• IGNITE your passion for workplace learning profession
• INFORM you of emerging trends and foundational knowledge
• INVOLVE you with industry & global leaders
• Provide INSTRUMENTS and techniques to support your solutions
• INSPIRE innovation

There are many fabulous facilitators and sessions, so this list is not comprehensive. Larry and Kim have experienced and learned from these facilitators.

Newcomers to ASTD International Conference may consider the following sessions:

CPLP (Interested or Certified) may consider the following sessions:

To find out more about The ASTD International Conference and Exposition visit http://www.astdconference.org/

You can also follow the Twitter hashtag #ASTD2011

See you in Orlando!

With all the talk this week about videos and power points with our QR Codes, it seems kind of awkward to talk about carrying them in your pocket. Here are two ways that make carrying your QR Code with you everywhere a possibility.

In today’s tech culture, from grade schoolers to senior citizens most of us don’t go anywhere without our cell phones. There is a company called www.skinit.com that allows us to make custom coverings for our mobile devices. This “skinning” process does two things for me. First I am able to recognize my iPhone instantly when I accidentally lay it somewhere. And second it allows me to carry my QR Code with me and display it at all times.

The second way we can carry around our QR Codes in our pockets is by including them on our business cards. This raises the question that if they have my business card, why would they need the QR Code?

When I see a QR Code, I am excited I want to scan it in and see where it goes as soon as possible. I will assume that others like to do that as well. Now, think for a minute, the last time you exchanged business cards with someone, do you remember where that card is? Is it in a drawer, a folder, did it get left in your pocket and washed when you returned home from your meeting? If the QR Code was scanned, the information is still in your QR Code reader’s history.

Think about all the information that is unique about you that is contained on your website that can’t fit on the business card, but through the QR Code on your card is now right at the fingertips of the contact you just made.

I hope that the creative tips I have shared this week help you understand QR Codes a little more and may even get you thinking about even more creative ways to use them.

Today’s Creative QR tip has little to do with how you use the QR Code, but how it looks. The QR Code reader is looking for the contrast in the code. What is surrounding it is completely up to you.

In the two examples here, I went to a website called http://www.glassgiant.com. This is one of many sites that has several different backgrounds into which you can import a graphic.

If no one sees your QR Code then no one will see its content. Dress up your QR Codes and be creative with them. Make them stand out and draw people’s attention and watch the increase in your content’s traffic flow.

Tomorrow’s topic will be carrying your QR Codes in your pocket.

Imagine taking a class where your handouts have a review at the end of a section. At the bottom of the page there is an upside down paragraph in a smaller font with the answers to the review questions. Now Imagine that your first instinct isn’t to look at that upside down paragraph right away and use your extraordinary powers of reading upside down to be the first one finished with the review.

How many of us have gone to a presentation where the presenter has provided handouts with fill-in-the-blanks for participants to complete as the speaker talks? Have you ever missed filling in step two of a 5 part process hoping it will be repeated later?

When providing materials to your participants with a review section or follow-along blanks to be filled in. Consider adding a QR code at the end of the section or on the last page of the handout, or even on the last slide of the presentation that takes your participants to:

• The answers for the section.
• The completed blanks.
• A section of your website that has a completed PDF of the materials.

Announce in advance that the materials will be “QR Enhanced” and recommend some QR Code readers they can download for this process.

Tomorrow’s topic will be Decorating your QR Codes.

Prior to your presentations, let participants know that your presentation is “QR Enhanced”. Include some suggested QR Code readers they can download while waiting for the presentation to begin.

When giving presentations in which you want participants to refer to a specific document, an article, or a web site, include a QR Code in your slides that takes your participants directly to the additional information. This can save on printing too many or too few handouts.

Make the presentation more interactive by dividing the class into small discussion groups. This will help if not all participants have access to a QR Code reader. Have a competition to see which group can get a solution to a puzzle or a series of questions first.

Don’t forget to include a QR Code on your beginning or ending information slide to drive traffic to your website.

Tomorrow’s topic will be concealing questions and answers in your materials.

A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. – Wikipedia

QR Codes can be created and saved using many different online services. My personal favorite is Kaywa.

To read a QR Code you need a QR barcode reader, you can purchase a stand alone reader or download one of the many free QR code readers for your smart phone. One of my favorite things about the QR code reader on my iPhone is when I scan a code it is saved in the application’s history. I can always go back and revisit QR codes I have scanned in the past.

With that little bit of background out of the way, lets get to the creative topic I have for today.

YouTube is one of the top search engines on the internet today. Videos entertain us, they teach us and they give us a creative outlet. When someone watches a video they are left with an impression. When creating a video, add a couple frames of your QR Code at the end of the video. This will give your audience a way to take a quick picture with their QR code reader that can either;

a) Save the link to the video for future reference on your smart phone
or
b) Take them to your website for more information on you, your company, or other content that relates to the video.

Go forth and create awesome videos, and add that QR Code at the end so we can get more of you.

Tomorrow’s topic will be Tying your Presentations into your Materials.