November 20, 2009 Program
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Asking Powerful Questions

December 2, 2009  Program
How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

January 19, 2010 Program
Achieve Success in 2010

2009 Fall/Winter Program Schedule
Print out the expanded information and mark your calendar.

Report from the Annual Leadership Conference
ASTD-NRC Conference Attendees

Partner Events
Upcoming ASTD-NRC partner events and other events of interest.

Welcome to the November Newsletter!

We hope you will spend a few minutes checking out the upcoming programs which are planned through January so you can put them on your calendar.

·     The November 20 lunch program in Cheyenne features Celeste Dilorio exploring the power of questions to improve decision making and build better teams.
·    The December lunch program features Datta Groover who will share tips and techniques to improve your presentation skills.
·     The January lunch program features Jep Enck who will share his insights on strategy, risk taking and creativity to maximize success in the New Year.

We are starting to plan our priorities and programs for 2010 and would really appreciate your input. Would you please complete a short seven question survey for us that will take less than 3 minutes? We'll use your input at our December strategy meeting.

Three of our board members (Sue Fody –Past President, Kim Pichot – VP Membership, and Pam Smith-VP Communications) attended the annual ASTD Leaders Conference (ALC) last month in Washington, DC. This two-day event draws hundreds of chapter leaders together from all over the country to hear nationally known speakers and, even  more importantly, to share ideas on how to make the chapter experience more valuable. Read about their experience and impressions below. (Due to our very successful fundraising several years ago, our chapter is able to pay almost all the expenses for this annual trip – a perk of board membership!)

The organizational benefits of a questioning culture are many. When organizations create cultures that permit asking powerful questions, they transform into learning organizations of infinite possibility. Learning organizations that use powerful questions effectively increase in the following ways:
 - Improved decision making and problem solving
 - Greater adaptability and acceptance of organizational change
 - Improved motivation and empowerment of employees
 - Stronger teamwork
 - Enhanced innovation

Presenter: Celeste Di Iorio, M.Ed, PHR
Organizational  & Development Specialist
Fort Collins, CO

Datta Groover, international speaker and consultant, will share tips and techniques to improve your presentation skills. Datta offers public and private sector workshops on communications and public speaking, and has helped people around the world to improve their level and quality of communication. He has authored four books and is the founder and director of Higher Speech.

 It is a New Year and the recession is finally over!
Jep Enck, well-known and high-energy presenter, will challenge us to take advantage of the improving economy to be successful in 2010. After the bruising recession of 2008-2009, many are reluctant to take the steps (and the risks) necessary for success in the new year. Jep will share his insights on strategy, risk taking, and creativity to help us reengage for success. Join us for an energizing,  motivational look at 2010.
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010  11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Harmony Grill, Fort Collins, CO
$15 Members/Partners and $25 Nonmember
Register Here

Other News & Events

Northern Colorado Coaches Alliance
(NCCA)
No November events currently scheduled.
 

Northern Colorado Human
Resources Assn. (NCHRA)
No November events currently scheduled.
 

Colorado Career Development Assoc.
(CCDA)
No events currently scheduled.
 

ASTD Rocky Mountain Chapter
November 17, 2009 
5:00 - 8:00 pm
ASTD Free Networking Event!!
Introducing Technology Networking Group
We will be unveiling our new ASTD RMC SharePoint Collaboration Site and adding member profiles at the meeting.
Stop by and get to know us better!
Free admission, but you must register to secure your spot!

 
Loveland Chamber of Commerce
Visit the website.
 

Impressions from Sue Fody, Past President

It’s been a two-day information-packed conference in Washington, D.C. with other ASTD chapter leaders from across the country (held October 29-30). It’s invigorating to meet other chapter leaders and hear about how they are tackling challenges common to many chapters during these tough economic times. It’s exciting to hear about common trends generating energy. I leave thinking about to concepts in particular: networking and celebrating learning.

Networking! It’s happening both in person and on social networking sites, and it is what’s attracting people to each other today. Chapter members and guests are looking for support, ideas, discussions and a need to know each other on different levels. Chapters are networking during breakfast, lunch, and evening gatherings. Chapters are activating Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yahoo Groups to create communities. We here in NRC are exploring that need in our market.

The other concept I am excited about is ASTD’s Celebrate Learning Week (which is designated as the first week in December but can be any week you want it to be.) It’s an opportunity for consultants to remind their customers and contacts about the learning opportunities that have occurred and will occur within their markets. It’s a way for learning professionals to celebrate training and learning accomplishments within corporations and organizations. It’s another channel of recognition of what we do!

 
ASTD’s ALC is a yearly conference which provides unique opportunities for chapter leaders exchange ideas and for us as individuals to see and feel the bigger organization to which we belong. If you’re thinking you might want to participate in our volunteer organization and grow your own leadership skills, let us know! We will warmly welcome you to the board and help you reach your goals as you help the chapter attain its goals. Next year you can choose to represent our chapter at the ALC conference as well.

Four Secrets from the Masters by Kim Pichot – VP Membership
At the recent ALC conference, I enjoyed a great line-up of phenomenal speakers. On the flight home, I reviewed my pages and pages of notes, wondering what I could do with all this information and what I could boil it down to. What I’d like to share with you are some of the nuggets I heard, and a few “Secrets from the Masters.”

Secret #1: When was the last time you said “I love my work”? What part of your current work would you spend more time on? Look at your team, can you reorganize so everyone spends more time on their passion? Think of the incredible results if everyone had more joy and passion at work! Good leaders mobilize talent, they help people focus on their interests. You can’t train someone to love something they have no interest in. --Beverly Kaye, Ph.D.

Secret #2: When on boarding new leaders, give them clear objectives, help them build strong relationships, give them critical knowledge, be clear about team roles and relationships and give them an ongoing strategy. Instead of drowning them with information, make on boarding interesting, fun, engaging and most of all, check back with them to get feedback and answer questions as they start to acclimate to their new role. –Charnell Westerman

Secret #3: Ask each member of your team what is their preferred method of communication. Do they prefer text? Email? Phone? Take steps to accommodate their communication style and your communication will be greatly enhanced. --Kimberly Seeger & Trish Uhl

Secret #4: Over 75 percent of people learn more when they interact with others, than when they learn alone. You can create excellent learning through short and long training session, face-to-face or long-distance. The key is to get people involved and be creative about that involvement. --Bob Pike

Communications Report from Pam Smith - VP Communications

I’ve been the VP for Communications for the ASTD- Northern Rockies Chapter for only a short time, and recently I had the privilege of attending the Annual Leadership Conference in Washington DC. What a fantastic time and huge learning experience. I came back to Colorado with plenty of ideas for improving the ways we communicate with our nearly 70 Chapter members.

Not only are we looking at ways to communicate more effectively with you about upcoming chapter events and programs, but we’re also looking at making it easier for you to communicate with your fellow members. We want you to give you the opportunity to exchange ideas that allow more resource sharing, problem solving and solution providing than just at the monthly programs.

I will tell you this: your Board is evaluating and preparing to make a presence on the social media stage. We’re also refocusing our marketing message to make sure you can easily determine the value of a program to your organization’s needs. The Board will capitalize on your survey comments to develop monthly and special event programs that address other needs you identify as well.

 
Please complete the survey for us if you haven’t already. Click here for the survey. It only takes about 3 minutes and will be the cornerstone of where the Northern Rockies Chapter concentrates its efforts in 2010. Our goal is to make ASTD-Northern Rockies Chapter your primary training and development resource.
Thank you for time and commitment to Northern Rockies Chapter.

For Questions, please email info@astd-nrc.org               Visit our website at www.astd-nrc.org