Elearning blog: Learning re-imagined

Skillsoft announces diverse lineup of live and interactive leadership events

We are excited to announce the schedule for our next four Live Events! Available to customers of Skillsoft’s Leadership Development Channel and 50 Lessons and Skillsoft Leadership Advantage, these events provide subscribers with cutting-edge thinking in business and leadership through live and interactive presentations.

Over the course of the next few months, we look forward to hearing presentations from some of the most recognized and sought-after thought leaders and best-selling authors, including Susan Cain, John Kao, Seth Godin and Charles Duhigg.

The Live Events series gives us the opportunity to offer our customers rich content and conversations from distinguished industry thought leaders, which is a testament to our goal of providing our valued customers the tools they need to maximize leadership skills and inspire positive change, growth and innovation across the workplace. We hope that you will tune in and engage with our community!

The upcoming Live Events schedule includes:

• March 19 at 12:00 p.m. EDT (Broadcast from New York, NY) – Quiet: How to Harness the Strengths of Introverts to Change How We Work, Lead, and Innovate by Susan Cain, best-selling author. Drawing on her original research and the latest in neuroscience and psychology, Susan will radically change views of the best way to develop leaders, manage teams, make smart hires and stimulate innovation.

• April 16 at 12:00 p.m. EDT (Broadcast from Washington D.C.) – Jamming: The Art of Getting Innovation Done by John Kao, innovation activist and best-selling author. Using a piano to illustrate how jazz is a guiding metaphor for business, John will "jam" on stage during the live webcast and share the keys to innovation that he taught at Harvard University.

• May 14 at 11:00 a.m. EDT (Broadcast from Orlando, FL at 2013 Global Skillsoft Perspectives) – Pick Yourself: Success, Impact and Relevance in the Creative Economy by Seth Godin, best-selling author, entrepreneur and marketing expert. Seth will share his vision of the new economy and how professionals can draw out those discretionary qualities of initiative, creativity and passion of themselves and from those within their organizations to build competitive advantage in this turbulent marketplace.

Recognizing outstanding customers

By Melynda Hilliard, Manager of Events, Skillsoft

As we prepare for 2013 Global Skillsoft Perspectives in Orlando, Florida, the event would not be complete without recognizing our customers for their outstanding learning programs.  The Skillsoft Innovation Awards honor customers in up-to 10 categories ranging from leadership development and social collaboration to small-medium-business and best IT.  Nominations are submitted electronically and reviewed by a team of industry professionals from leading analyst firms and publications as well as Skillsoft internal learning experts.  

The deadline for submissions is fast approaching! Applications are due next Friday, March 1. We encourage you to apply and share your innovative ideas. Receive the recognition you deserve and inspire your peers to take their learning program to the next level! Winners will be officially announced at Skillsoft Perspectives May 13-16.

This year’s theme at Skillsoft Perspectives is Learning Transformed. How can/do you leverage learning to:

• Increase your bottom line?
• Improve customer satisfactions?
• Increase employee engagement?
• Enhance employee confidence?

View more information about Skillsoft Perspectives.

United States Air Force Renews Contract with Skillsoft to Support its Global Online Training Program

We are thrilled to announce that the U.S. Air Force has extended its decade-long partnership with Skillsoft with a new five-year contract to continue support of its global IT training program for critical IT and Leadership training for Air Force personnel worldwide.  

The Air Force’s elearning program, offers ongoing IT training for person­nel responsible for establishing and maintaining Air Force networks and providing network security support. These resources help Air Force personnel keep pace with the latest industry standards for hardware, software, networking, productivity and other technologies. Air Force personnel also receive a wide range of leadership development training and support resources. 

Delivering IT Training to Those in Need

Earning IT certifications can help individuals do their jobs more effectively and keep IT operations running smoothly. While this may be a great value-add for some, for others it can actually be life changing!  SkillSoft customer CompTIA helps individuals at risk of falling below the poverty line—as well as candidates under-represented in the IT industry such as minorities, women, veterans and displaced workers—to prepare for, secure, and succeed in IT careers by offering  free IT certification training.

CompTIA is a non-profit IT trade association that provides IT education and certification as well as advocacy on behalf of the IT industry. Part of the group’s focus includes giving back through their charity, the Creating IT Futures Foundation. CompTIA turned to SkillSoft for donations; SkillSoft contributed the IT courseware collection and access to the SkillPort® at no cost. Learners in the foundation’s training program used SkillPort to access content from the IT Skills course­ware collection. Once through the training, the participants were invited to sit for IT certification exams such as the CompTIA A+ certification.

It Was a Record Breaking 2012 SkillSoft Perspectives!

Thank you to everyone who helped make 2012 SkillSoft Perspectives a tremendous success. More than 1000 learning professionals representing nearly 450 organizations attended the event this year! It was great to see all of our customers gathering together to “Motivate, Innovate, Learn” to drive value through learning.  More than 60 clients presented at the event and shared their insights and successful programs with the attendees.

One of the most-talked about events at the conference was the announcement of SkillPort 8™, a revolutionary cloud-based learning experience that contextually organizes relevant and aligned learning around the user instead of the traditional course-catalog approach of other Learning Management Systems (LMS). SkillPort 8 quickly pinpoints targeted content that connects formal, informal, social and mobile learning—when, where and how people want to learn. It also transforms web-based learning from a solitary event to a richer, continuous community-oriented experience that has strong cross-generational appeal and can be integrated with Talent Management Systems, intranets and portals.

Metrix Learning Discusses the Benefits of Attending Perspectives

It's day one at Perspectives and we couldn't be more excited! Check out the video to hear why Metrix Learning was surprised by the value of the content in the presentations, seminars and learning sessions at Perspectives.

 

Gearing up for Perspectives 2012

By Melynda Hilliard

Here is another Perspectives 2012 update from Melynda Hilliard, SkillSoft’s Events Marketing Manager. After nearly one year of planning, the event is just around the corner. Perspectives will take place April 30 – May 3, 2012. For more details, visit here: http://perspectives.skillsoft.com/2012/index.asp.  

Perspectives is fast approaching!  We’re so excited to have more than 1000 customers registered for the event – this is more registrations than we’ve ever had before! Our customers will receive valuable insight from our presenters and have the opportunity to share best practices with their peers.  We’re so excited to see our customers and enable them to develop innovative learning programs.

The theme of this year’s conference, is “Motivate, Innovate, Learn: Driving Value Through Learning,” and will include customer-led learning sessions, workshops and a keynote address by General Stanley McChrystal, former Commander of U.S. and International Forces in Afghanistan.

In his keynote presentation, Plywood Leadership: Lessons on Leadership from a Warrior, Statesman, and Scholar, General McChrystal will address key leadership principles such as transparency and inclusion, leveraging the power of teams through shared ownership, evolutionary change versus revolutionary change, relentless mission focus, and the importance of sharing a clear vision.

Nasco Discusses the Benefits of Attending Perspectives

For Denise Peek of Nasco, Perspectives is a rich experience that can't be given a price tag. The opportunity the event presents to collaborate, learn and network is priceless. Visit http://perspectives.skillsoft.com/2012/?srcid=blog for more details!

 

SAP Discusses the Benefits of Attending Perspectives

What brings Michelle Braden of SAP to Perspectives? The forethought in trends discussed during the conference sessions and networking with multiple companies. Visit http://perspectives.skillsoft.com/2012/?srcid=blog for more details!

 

Thank You to Our Element K Customers!

Recently SkillSoft held a special call for former Element K Customer Advisory Council members to meet and discuss how the integration of the two companies is progressing. Participants also heard from Scott Eblin – the author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success – on how leading organizations get to the next level, visualize success, and handle disruptive trends. 

Jerry Nine -- the Chief Operating Officer at SkillSoft – shared with the council the progress made during the past five months since the acquisition of Element K was announced. During this time SkillSoft has:

• Added over 70 experienced customer-facing and support individuals and over 40 experienced product development individuals to the company.
• Deployed a unified content and platform strategy that focuses on adding approximately 400 Element K courses to the SkillSoft product line and the addition of key capabilities from the KnowledgeHub platform to SkillPort.
• Expanded our investment in innovation with the conversion of over 325 business courses to support devices such as Apple iPad, Blackberry PlayBook and Android tablets.