Sophistication and a scent of success
London (UK), January 2014 - (by Bob Little) The Learning Technologies (LT) conference and exhibition is 14 years old. Ever since its inception, the highways and byways of LT have been the preserve of the sector's great and the good, along with the not-so-great-and-good and at times, it has to be said, the opportunist and the downright shady. In many ways, LT has parallels with horse racing's Cheltenham or Ascot, or rowing's Henley Regatta. It's a place to see and be seen - and definitely not to be missed.
This year at London’s Olympia on 29/30 January, LT promises to be bigger and better than ever. There’s the Learning and Skills exhibition running alongside Learning Technologies. With over 140 free seminars, over 230 exhibitors, two halls packed with the latest learning technologies, innovation and best practice and Europe's leading L&D conference, it provides an environment for all those involved in workplace learning.
Both the conference and the exhibition have an increasingly international flavour. Conference speaker stalwarts including the UK’s Donald Clark, Laura Overton, Jane Hart and David Wilson are being joined by, among others, the USA’s Jane Bozarth and Julie Dirksen, Canada’s Harold Jarche and the Netherlands’ Hans de Zwart.
From the USA and Canada, the LT exhibition has attracted the American Society for Training and Development and Udutu. From Continental Europe, it’s attracted Italy’s LMS providers Docebo and LCMS specialists eXact learning solutions; Germany’s language learning specialists, Speexx and LMS vendor, IMC. There’s also India’s Upside Learning and Tata Interactive Systems.
It’s all very cosmopolitan, chic and celebratory: the Cannes of the online learning technologies world. It offers both a breath of international, jet-setting sophistication and a scent of possible success to speakers, exhibitors, delegates and visitors alike. So, once more, let the networking begin!
For over 20 years, Bob Little has specialised in writing about, and commentating on, corporate learning – especially e-learning – and technology-related subjects. His work has been published in the UK, Continental Europe, the USA and Australia. You can contact Bob via bob.little@boblittlepr.com His e-book, ‘Perspectives on Learning Technologies’ (e-book; ASIN: B00A9K1VVS) is available from The Endless Bookcase and from Amazon. It contains over 200 pages of observations on issues in learning technologies, principally for learning & development professionals.
