Learning Technologies Top Tips

Practicalities

1.) Getting to learning technologies

The best way to get to the event is by public transport. Kensington Olympia tube and train station is closest but it is only a brisk walk from stations such as Hammersmith, High Street Kensington and Shepherd’s Bush.

If you are coming by bus Olympia is served by the following bus routes:

• Hammersmith Road: 9, 10, 27, 28
• Holland Road: 49
• North End Road: 391

2.) The location

3.) Hotels

The official hotel booking partner for Learning Technologies 2012 and Learning and Skills 2012 is The Solutions Company and they have negotiated special event rates for a range of hotels in the vicinity.

For more information and to book your hotel please call them on 01335 345655 or visit www.thesolutionscompany.co.uk/ and they will be delighted to help.

4.) Pubs

There are 760 pubs within 3 miles of Kensington Olympia station, so you have plenty of choice, though maybe not that much stamina. Some you might want to visit are:

• The Jam Tree, 58 Milson Road, W14 0LB
• The Albion, 121 Hammersmith Road, W14 0QL
• The Warwick Arms, 160 Warwick Road, W14 8PS
• The Scarsdale Tavern, 23a Edwardes Square, W8 6HE

There’s always a large e-learning gang on the Wednesday night.

If you want a free drink, Mark and Ian are the people to be nice to...

5.) Eating  

The cafeteria in Olympia is legendary. For all the wrong reasons.

Best to get out and about. There is a great choice of places to eat nearby and a wide range of cuisines for example: 

• Pizza Express, Hammersmith Road right next to the Exhibition Centre
• Thai, Kanna Thai, 127a Hammersmith Road, W14 OQL
• Persian, Mohsen, W14 8PS

Or use the trusty #LT12uk to ask for recommendations – maybe even find a lunch companion or two.

6.) Coffee

You’re going to need a lot of it to get around the show. If you need  a caffeine kick come to the Kineo stand where we will have an espresso machine on hand. Alternatively try a local cafe such as:

• Betty Blythe, 73 Blythe Road, W14 0HP
• Cafe Paradiso. 129 Hammersmith Road, W14 OQL

7.) Parks

The show can get a little overwhelming. Holland Park is a good place if you need some fresh air and have time for a little walking away from the show. 

Or just come to the Kineo stand and we’ll fan a brochure gently on your face until you feel revived.

Are you ready(?) checklist

8.) Set your objectives

Set your objectives before you set out for the event. For example: Why are you going? It’s nice to get away from the desk – but want do you want to bring back?

What are your objectives in the next 12 months? Write out the top 3 objectives from your learning strategy and share them with people at stands, ask them how they could help you. It’s a good conversation opener. Who do you want to see? Do you want new product demos, case studies? Do you need a (new) LMS? The more specific you can be, the better conversations you’ll have. Do you have a purchasing decision you need to make? Tell vendors what you want, by when and your budget. You’ll both have a more focused discussion.

9.) Plan your visits - and make contact

You could spend days and never see everyone at Learning Tech. Our network recommends you do your homework – look at websites and have a plan who you want to see, think about what questions you want to ask them and have a plan. Last year’s exit poll might give you some clues as to who might be the best people to make arrangements with...

Most vendors will be more than happy to arrange a meeting with you if you make contact before the show.

10.) Water & snacks

Bring a bottle of water and snacks to keep you going, the catering is not only expensive but the queues are long.

11.) Comfy Shoes

Be prepared for a lot of walking, comfortable shows and peppermint foot lotion is recommended. Caution: For external use only.

12.) Charged up?

The days are long at Learning Technologies: fully charge your phone, tablet and laptop. Nice people at stands may be willing to give you a bit of a power surge. We’ll keep a socket free for you at 64. Business cards (image of a business card) You will meet lots of people at Learning Technologies so bring plenty of business cards. Let people on stands scan you too – save on paper, and it doesn’t hurt as much as it sounds.

13.) Business cards

You will meet lots of people at Learning Technologies so bring plenty of business cards. Let people on stands scan you too – save on paper, and it doesn’t hurt as much as it sounds.

14.) #followtherightpeople

Follow the Learning Technologies twitter hashtag #LT12uk for all the latest news.

Unfortunately marketing departments now fill these once useful hashtags full of marketing and promotional spam rather than useful information. Bad marketing departments, bad!

Our advice is to identify people who are saying useful things and then follow them. Hopefully you will already be following @kineo. Where we will say only good and useful things.

15.) Going to the conference?  Don't miss the exhibition

The conference is great, with lots of absorbing speakers. Do plan in time to go to the exhibition toon.  It's very easy to get carried away and miss the opportunities that exist in the exhibition. Make the most of lunch and breaks to see what's going on in the exhibition. Understanding the latest trends in the market should be an important element of the conference.

Exhibition Top Tips

16.) Floor plan

Get the floor plan and plan what you want to see. Shortlist the stands you want to see and be clear what you want to get from your visit to the stand.  If you stop at every stand, you won’t get more than a quarter way around the floor, so you have to be selective. If you want a more in depth session book a slot in advance.

At Kineo we have a private room throughout the event so call us and fix a time for a discussion away from the busy exhibition floor and step into an oasis of calm green...    

17.) Free Exhibition seminars  

There are some great free seminars on the exhibition floor. Get the seminar guide (sponsored by Kineo) and plan the seminars you want to attend.  

Lots run at the same time, so be prepared to make some tough decisions. We have three running including:

• A Totara LMS case study with Tesco,  11am, 25th January
• A mobile learning masterclass , 2.30pm, 25th January
• A case study on launching e-learning with Compass Group, 11am, 26th January

Get to the seminars early, they are often packed out and there is standing room only.

18.) Use Twitter  

If you can’t make a seminar or afford the conference, follow someone on twitter that can. You can often find out a lot about a session via twitter including pictures and slides. Follow the twitter hashtag which is #LT12uk

19.) Talk to people  

It sounds obvious but talk to people on the stands. Find out what they do. Ask them what makes them different. Ask them what is new.  Get a demo.

Learning Technologies is no time to be shy. If you’re not connecting on a stand or finding what you want – move on to the next one. Life is short, Learning Tech is even shorter. Ask them what is new and get a demo.

20.) Be flexible, try again later...

Be flexible -  if a stand is busy, come back later. Don't get draw in by those slick stands and fancy giveaways, keep an open mind and focus on getting your questions answered. If you want to spend longer with  an organisation in the exhibition head to their stand when it's quieter, maybe first thing or later in the day. People will have more time to focus on you and you are more likely to get to be able to get to speak to the people you need or see products demonstrated.

21.) Go independent

There are a lot of vendors at the show. To get an overview to start with that’s vendor neutral, you would do well to talk to people like Elearnity. David Wilson, Adrian Jones and the whole team are experts in the market and as one network member put it “what they don’t know, isn’t worth knowing...”.

22.) Freebies 

Many stands will have freebies to attract you. Take them. Take them all. Leave your shame at the door.

Our network recommends the Adobe stand for the best freebies, the Sponge stand for best free cake, and the Kineo stand to pick up your Kineo superhero. (Will actually fly. If thrown very hard.)

Join the network

23.) Follow Twitter  

Sign up to the twitter hashtag #LT12uk to follow what everyone is saying. Ask questions using twitter and the event hashtag, you will be surprised what you can find out from wifi codes to social events. People are generally helpful. Follow @kineo for all our updates and insights

24.) Share

Share what you are learning both on twitter and in conversations. You will find you connect with lots of new people. Knowledge isn’t power any more – sharing is.

25.) Ask questions

Don’t be afraid to ask questions via Twitter, you will be surprised at how many responses you get.

26.) Share your details

In addition to taking lots of business cards you can create your business card as a QR code vCard (such as at http://goqr.me/) and Bluetooth it or use the Bump app to send it from your phone to others' phones.

Finally.....

27.) Linkedin 

Join Kineo’s elearning professionals group where we will be running discussions and providing key updates from Learning Technologies. Already over 3,500 elearning professionals are members of the group and use it as a forum for asking questions and sharing e-learning experiences.