The CIPD Learning and Development Show: my highlights from day one

Today was The Writer’s first foray into the world of trade shows – and very interesting it was, too.

While Theo and Sarah manned the stand (if you come along today you’ll find us at 758) I went to a few of the conference sessions.

Here are three of my highlights.

Quote of the day:

‘A notebook is the most intuitive technology you’ll ever use. It doesn’t crash, it doesn’t run out of battery, you can carry it with you and pass it on.’ Robert Ashcroft, Santander.

On a day that was filled with companies selling learning tech and speakers talking about it, it was nice to see that trusty pens and paper still had their place (not that there was ever any doubt).

Later on, when Stephen Frost told us about his time training 70,000 Games Makers at London 2012, notebooks won gold again. How did they make sure every Games Maker knew what to do? They gave everyone notebooks to make their own mini learning guides. We’re so proud.

Slide of the day – Stockholm 1967 (the morning after driving laws changed, from driving on the left to the right)

Later, Stephen used this as a metaphor for poor organisational change. It’s not enough to tell people to change. They need to understand when, how and why to change if you want to avoid chaos. You’ve been warned.

You might see yourself as a free spirit. But the chances are you’re not quite as independent as you thought. Volvo Group’s learning team played this to remind us that, whether consciously or not, we all try and fit in. And if you want to break people’s habits, you’ll need a strong-minded team to start leading by example.

Our Neil will be at the event today, running a taster session on the neuroscience behind our training. He’s on at 11.15am. Hopefully he’ll see some of you there.

Here’s our stand, if you’re trying to track us down.