T+D Blog

Another installment of free webinars

Here are the latest free webinars to arrive in my inbox.

Proactive Strategies for Capturing and Consuming Expert Knowledge. Tuesday, October 25 at 1:30 pm ET or Thursday, October 27 at 8 am ET.

Corporate Mentoring: Grow Your People and Organization. Wednesday, October 26 at 1 pm ET.

LCMS 2006: What Works. Tuesday, November 1 at 2 pm ET.

Value Creation and Measurement in Learning Environments. Wednesday, November 2 at 2 pm ET.

E-Learning Solutions for Small- to Mid-Size Companies. Wednesday, November 2 at 2 pm ET.

The New Learning Landscape: Death of the Corporate University. Thursday, November 3 at 2 pm ET.

Creating Effective Communication for the Online Environment. Tuesday, November 15 at 3 pm ET.

Learning Content Management Strategies for the Future. Wednesday, November 16 at 2 pm ET.

Free research and webinar on e-learning maturity

SkillSoft is offering a free 56-paged research report, written by Josh Bersin and Associates, that documents the use of e-learning within 526 companies and identifies four stages of program maturity.

The blurb reads:

"What are the evolutionary stages of corporate e-learning? At what stage of e-learning maturity is your organization and how does it compare with other companies? 'The Four Stages of e-Learning: A Maturity Model for Online Corporate Training' details the corporate e-learning market and identifies the stages of growth and maturity common to many learning organizations. Based on interviews and surveys with more than 500 executives and learning managers, the study describes how corporate learning changes with the adoption of new technologies and learning resources."

In addition, SkillSoft will host a free webinar with analyst Josh Bersin to detail the research findings and answer questions.

Topics will include:

• the planning and budgeting required for each stage of corporate learning
• the technologies, resources and challenges characteristic of each stage
• the relationship between corporate culture and learning stages
• the importance of understanding where your organization currently fits and where you’d like to be.

In addition, participants will "learn about the evolutionary stages of corporate learning; the characteristics of each stage; how their organization compares to other learning organizations surveyed; factors to consider when trying to move to the next stage; and the latest trends in learning content, technology and services."

Lots and lots of webinars

All of these events are free, to my knowledge.

September events, from a variety of sponsors and providers:

• Winning Online Training Strategies (an online conference). Tuesday, September 20 and Wednesday, September 21.
• Epistemic Games. September 20 at 12 pm ET.
• Changing the Game: What Happens When Video Games Enter the Classroom? Tuesday, September 20 at 4 pm ET.
• Learning Function Governance: Centralization Strategies for Maximum Business Impact. Wednesday, September 21 at 2 pm ET.
  
• Overview of Course Genie. Thursday, September 22 at 11 am ET.
• Using Benchmarks to Optimize the Business Impact of the Corporate Training Function. Thursday, September 22 at 2 pm ET.
• A Comprehensive Overview of Synchronous E-Learning Systems. Tuesday, September 27 at 2 pm ET.
• Has the LMS Became Mission-Critical? Tuesday, September 27 at 2 pm ET.

From the Human Capital Institute (HCI), who is limiting attendance to "managers, directors and VP leaders who are responsible for talent strategies, consultation and decision making."

• The Performance Management Technology Solution Landscape. Tuesday, September 20 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm EDT.
• The Development of Managerial and Executive Talent: A Dual Perspective. Wednesday, September 21 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm EDT.
• The Age of Angst: Embracing Responsibility for Career Management. Thursday, September 22 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm EDT.
• Lessons From the Talent Wars in the Toughest Industries. Tuesday, September 27 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm EDT.
• Choosing a Talent Management Technology Partner & Solution. Thursday, September 29 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm EDT.

October events, from a variety of sponsors and providers:

• The High Impact Learning Organization: What Works. Wednesday, October 5 at 1 pm ET.
• Developing an Enterprise Learning Content Management Strategy. Thursday, October 6 at 11 am ET.
• How Technology Drives EPM. Wednesday, October 12 at 2 pm ET.

Two more free webinars

Notices about these webinars arrived in my inbox recently. The price for both can't be beat!

• Conducting Business in China: Opportunities for Corporate Training Companies is sponsored by TrainingOutsourcing.com and will take place Wednesday, August 24th from 2 to 3 pm EDT. "China’s rapid growth has created an increasing demand for corporate training products and services. Join ranks with top US companies that have secured huge profits through international exchanges of products, services, labor and information with China as you learn what it takes to position your company to penetrate the world's sixth largest economy."
• E-Learning Strategy: A Framework for Success is sponsored by BlueStreakLearning and will take place Wednesday, August 31st at 2 pm EDT. "During this session, we will review the components of an organizational e-learning strategy and why it is important to address each of these critical success factors. This interactive session will give you an opportunity to interact with the presenter around the strategic components."

Free webinars and teleseminars

Here are the latest free online and on-the-phone sessions to hit my inbox.

Rapid Training and E-Learning With Macromedia Breeze. There are many options for attending this session; dates range from August 9 at 11 am ET to August 18 at 2 pm ET, with many sessions in-between.

Global Telework: Trends and Practices for an Interconnected World. The Human Capital Institute offers this webinar (for community members only, but community membership is free) on Tuesday August 9th from 12 pm to 1:30 pm ET.

Why Should Anybody Buy From You? How Online Product Training Can Give Your Company A Competitive Edge. I mentioned this free seminar from Bryan Chapman of Brandon Hall last week, but I thought I'd include it again here as a reminder. It will take place Wednesday, August 10 from 1 pm to 2 pm ET and Thursday, August 11 from 3 pm to 4 pm Hong Kong time.

Developing an Organization-Wide Mentoring Program. Also sponsored by HCI and requiring free community membership, this webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 24th from 12 pm to 1:30 pm ET.

Talent Engagement: Moving from Employee Satisfaction to Commitment. This HCI session will take place on Monday, August 29th from 12 pm to 1:30 pm ET.

How to Save Money on Outsourcing and Buying Products/Services for your Training Department. This teleseminar takes place via phone, not online, on September 27. You have to subscribe to the One Person Training Department's free ezine to find out the time and how to call in.

These webinars and teleseminars are the ones that I thought were most relevant to my readers. But there are more listed here (HCI) and here (Horizon Wimba) and here (One Person Training Department). 

As always, I provide these listings as a service to readers and make no guarantees about their quality or usefulness.

One more freebie (and potentially more)

Notice of another freebie landed in my inbox late yesterday.

Bryan Chapman, e-learning analyst for Brandon Hall (a well-known e-learning research company), is presenting a free webinar on "How Online Product Training Can Give Your Company a Competitive Edge."

The webinar will take place on both August 10th at 1 pm to 2 pm EDT and August 11th at 3 pm to 4 pm Hong Kong time.

According to the release, the session will addresss

• establishing a forum for sharing product knowledge
• repurposing product information as part of structured training courses and for just-in-time learning
• adapting product knowledge for difference audiences
• working across lines of business
• deploying product knowledge to a global workforce.

Not only is the webinar free, but attendees will also be registered to win prizes, such as a subscription to Brandon Hall Research's LMS KnowledgeBase (valued at $995) and a $125 gift certificate to Powell's bookstore. Not bad.

Free stuff! (including webinars)

Everyone loves getting something for nothing. Here are a few free summer finds.

• E-book on "My Most Memorable Teacher or Trainer." Elliott Masie offers this feel-good PDF made up of 170 pages of contributed memories. 
• Audio messages from Ken Blanchard. The well-known speaker and consultant, author of The One-Minute Manager, was just inducted into Amazon.com's Hall of Fame for being one of the top 25 all-time best-selling authors. As a gift to customers, Amazon is offering these short audio clips from Blanchard on leadership principles and business performance issues.
• Free webcasts from the Human Capital Institute. Titles include "On the Line: the Manager's Role in Performance," "The Future of Work: Adapting to the New Workforce Composition,"  "Metrics on Organizational Leadership," and more. Attendees must be HCI Community members, but community membership is free.
• Webinar on findings from "The High-Impact Learning Organization: What Works in the Management, Operations, and Governance of Corporate Training." Bersin and Associates present findings from their in-depth study in a free webinar. (This is a bargain, as it will cost you almost $1500 to buy the study.)

Hope you enjoy these free summar goodies, all!

Free webinars galore, and a teleclass

Periodically I receive press releases and email newsletters listing free webinars and teleseminars. Here are the latest ones to hit my inbox.

• A free teleclass, "7 Buzz Building Promotion Strategies to Build Your Business," is being offered by UpLevel Strategies, June 9th at 1 pm EDT.

• Horizon Wimba offers webinars on such topics as "Synch or Swim: How to Effectively Facilitate Live Online Events," June 14th at 11 AEST--Australia Time and "The Value of Synchronous Education in eLearning Environments," June 30th at 9:30 am EDT, and more.

• Interwise has a host of free online seminars coming up, including "Managed Learning Services: Leveraging Technology & Training Outsourcing Services," June 15th at 2 pm EDT, "The Business Results of Learning, Part I: Setting the Stage for Business Impact,"June 15th at 2 pm EDT, and more.

• Raindance Communications offers a webinar on "Mentoring and You: Strategies for Success," June 15th at 1 pm EDT.

• Jupiter Webcasts is promoting its session on "Online Customer Acquisition: Best Practices for Connecting Your Brand with Buyers and Ensuring Maximum ROI," June 16th at 2:00 pm EDT. The release says "free for qualified attendees"; I'm not sure what that means.

• Blanchard Media Resources presents "Self Leadership & The One Minute Manager," June 21th at 12 pm EDT.

As always, I'm not endorsing any of these learning opportunities, just providing the info. Quality may vary, attend at your own risk. :)

Second free webinar added: "How to Increase Business Value Through Customer Education"

I wrote about this free webinar from TrainingOutsourcing.com back in April. I don't want to overemphasize my own importance, but, well, the webinar is now full. I'm sure it was all my doing (just kidding). Anyway, the company has now added a second session to this very popular event.

The added session will take place May 26th at 11 am EDT. Register quickly to make sure you get in before this one fills up.