1 Buzz word bonanza

This year ‘informal learning’ goes top of the list, as more and more vendors and customers come together to agree the term, and ponder the paradox. How can you control the uncontrollable? Check out our thoughts on how to do this in Mark Harrison’s Insight Report.

2 Gimmick of the exhibition

Top marks to Saffron’s blending team who did a credible job of putting the fruit into the blend with a well rehearsed patter. Looked like they were having a lot of fun too. ‘Blending’ is a now a commonly used term by all the technology and e-learning developers, who are repositioning themselves to occupy a new space for designing learning which embraces a wider range of delivery models. See point 5 for what we think of that!

3 Buzz word bonanza 2

'Alignment': ensuring the investment in learning is aligned to the business priorities. The conference programme in particular picked up on this theme in a number of key areas – line manager support, getting board buy-in, demonstrating the value of learning and development and looking and learning and development manager needs. See what we have to say about alignment in this month’s free briefing.

4 Left us wanting more

Focus on 'acceleration'. This can be liberally applied to a range of terms including: performance; development; learning. ‘Acceleration’ was particularly pushed forward by vendors at the show. It would be good to see more data to show what is accelerated and how, and compared to what. We can’t help feeling it’s a term of convenience which is what businesses and learning and development buyers want to hear. But as the old ad goes, ‘where’s the beef’?

5 Left us wondering (and wandering)

The differentiators between what different vendors offer are becoming fainter. You can be pretty confident of buying well-proven cost-effective technology and well-designed content wherever you are and whoever you go to. That’s the good news. In the competitive market place who wins out? Traditional differentiators such as cost, innovation, customer service become less clear. And looking to the future where’s the innovation that really makes a difference to performance in organisations? How do buyers make effective decisions?  And does a show really help in getting them to their buying conclusions?