What the World Needs Now Is . . .

Your Conference Sensei: Tony O’Driscoll, Executive Director, Center for Technology, Entertainment and Media at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

For the last 35 years, the training community has strived to better understand how to maximize human performance. During that time, we have learned a lot about what works—and what doesn't—when it comes to leveraging human capital to drive business results.

To mark the 35th anniversary of Training Conference & Expo at Training 2012, our aspiration is a simple but audacious one: to take what we know about what works and what does not in driving human performance and to apply it to allow everyone to achieve their utmost potential.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13 | 8:00-9:30 AM

ARE YOU ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS?
According to noted economist Laurie Bassi, co-author of Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era, we’re entering a more hopeful economic age where the good guys are poised to win. Treating and managing employees well, communicating with customers honestly, and giving back to the community help a business deliver great value and retain top talent. Economic, social, and political forces across the globe are making being a “good” company good business. The payoff: learn how companies who rank high on specific behaviors using the Good Company Index outperform their peers in the stock market. Using real-world examples, Bassi will explain each aspect of corporate worthiness and provide you with tools to make sure your organization stays within the ranks of the good guys.

THE SECRET TO MOTIVATION
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Dan Pink says in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. The secret to high performance and satisfaction is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He’ll share his latest thinking and examine the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offer smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action.

 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 | 9:15-10:45 AM

WHAT'S NEXT?
Under Omar Wasow’s leadership, BlackPlanet.com became the leading site for African Americans, reaching over three million people a month. Omar, a Ph.D. candidate in African American studies and Government at Harvard, also works to demystify technology issues through regular TV and radio segments on shows like Oprah, Today, CNN’s American Morning. As a student and social media entrepreneur, Omar lives at the intersection of education and technology. Join him to see what’s next for learning and how social, mobile, and collaborative technologies will shape the future of learning.

THE ART OF EXPLANATION
While technology increases connectivity, connectivity increases complexity. The time between decisions is shrinking and the scale of information around each decision is exploding. How do we craft explanations when faced with this dual challenge? How do we make sense of complex issues in the shortest time possible? Learn a breakthrough approach for crafting explanations that people get, and act upon the first time out. See how an explanation can move someone from disinterest to motivation and even excitement. Lee LeFever, renowned for building short, creative video explanations, will share what he’s learned about the key elements of great explanations.

TRAINING MAGAZINE'S SOCIAL LEARNING REPORT
Want to know how your peers are using social and mobile learning? Training’s Top 10 Hall of Famers will deliver the results of their 2011 Social Learning Survey—be there to discover how Training magazine readers are using social and mobile learning to deliver training and improve performance. The research includes data on which tools are being used, mobile learning usage patterns and devices, and what is expected in the near-term future. Each participant will receive a free copy of the white paper.

 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 | 2:00-3:15 PM

HOW CONNECTING OUR BRAINS WITH MACHINES WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES
Miguel Nicolelis is one of the world’s leading brain scientists, and author of Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines—and How It Will Change Our Lives. He shows how the long-sought merger of brains with machines is about to become a paradigm-shifting reality. Imagine living in a world where quadriplegics walk again; where people use their computers, drive their cars, and communicate with one another simply by thinking; where diseases such as Parkinson's are gone forever. Nicolelis will share his revolutionary insights into how the brain creates thought and the human sense of self—and both how this might soon be augmented by machines and what it means for learning today.

LEADERS NOT LABELS FOR THE 21st CENTURY
As technology brings us closer together, our environment becomes more diverse. Professionals of all backgrounds are merging into a global marketplace, while businesses are challenged by a shortage of talent. Bestselling author Stedman Graham will show how, if a business wants to succeed in the 21st century, it has to connect with the new and changing marketplace and the people who create it. Learn both how to transcend labels and become a leader in this competitive climate, and to value talent and skills above all else in building a diverse, successful workforce.

THE POWER TO INSPIRE
Victoria Rowell started life as a Ward of the State of Maine, and, with the help of a group of amazing women—foster mothers, caretakers, social service workers, and mentors—created a remarkable career as a dancer, actor and author. Emmy-nominated Rowell has been honored with 12 NAACP Image Awards and is a staunch advocate for mentorship. Her memoir, The Women Who Raised Me, reveals the transformational power of mentoring, love, and art. Join Victoria as she shares her inspirational story of the mentors who helped define her life. With focus and passion, Rowell offers a message of hope that will encourage you to succeed no matter how trying the journey along the way—and how to help others do the same.