A Message from the VP of Professional Development

2006 has been a busy year for Professional Development with several exciting projects brewing. In fact, it has been so busy I have two directors and a large group of volunteers helping to bring you programming and resources that will enhance your ASTD Cascadia experience.

One of the major responsibilities of Professional Development is our 2-day Training Series. ASTD Cascadia currently has two very well received training series: Fundamentals of Training and eLearning Strategies. This fall we will enhance our offerings by introducing a new series titled “Managing the Training Function.” This series is aimed at providing new and aspiring Training Managers with the skills they need to effectively lead a training team. More details about this program, as well as the Fundamentals of Training, can be found in the Program section.

Another area of excitement is the establishment of an ASTD Cascadia Online Community. We are currently exploring an open-source tool called Moodle (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) to host online communities. The name of the tool sounds intimidating but fortunately using the tool is very simple and user-friendly. The Moodle Team has been busy gathering best practices and piloting its use in conjunction with our current programming. Our vision is to rollout out an ASTD Cascadia Online Community to the general membership in 2007.

As you can see, there is a lot of exciting and engaging work being done by Professional Development. Special kudos to Pat Lake, Director of the Training Series, and Pat Case, Director of Online Communities, as well as their team of volunteers for all the fabulous work they are doing. They are a dynamic and dedicated group.

Getting involved is a great way for you to develop your own skills and to share back with the community. If either of these projects sounds interesting, I would love to add your skill set to our team. I can be reached at the email address below.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and keep your eyes open for new offerings from Professional Development this fall and continuing in 2007.

Sheila Kemp
VP of Professional Development
skemp@c-cor.com

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