By Linda Bush, Ph.D.

April is the month when we think about GROWTH.

This time of year nature almost grows in front of our eyes. One day the trees have buds; the next day there are leaves. One day tiny shoots peak through the dirt; the next day you have daffodils. One day there is a random tuft of grass; the next day the ground looks like a clumpy green carpet.

Human GROWTH is never quite so visible.

There is an interesting GROWTH story about the Japanese carp, or koi. Fish hobbyists know that if they keep the koi in a small fish bowl, it will grow to be two or three inches long. If they place it in a larger tank or small pond, it can grow well over a foot. However, when the koi is placed in a large lake where it can really stretch out, it has the potential to GROW up to three feet.

The human GROWTH analogy is clear. Our GROWTH potential is determined by the size of our world.

Learning professionals have a natural predisposition toward GROWTH. It’s one of the reasons so many of us have chosen to do what we do. But do we let our busy personal and professional worlds become our own small pond?

A good place to seek GROWTH is at Central Indiana ASTD programs. The topics can challenge your view of yourself and your world. The professionals sitting beside you may have experience with some of GROWTH opportunities you are confronting—or will soon confront.

Look at the list of upcoming programs.

• April 16 – Change Management
• My 21 – Saying Yes to the Future: Creative Problems-Solving
• June 25 – Workforce Development
• July 23 – Experiential Learning
• August 27 – Stories that Trainers Tell
• September 24 – Manufacturing Concept Learning Lab
• October 22 – Employee Loyalty and Engagement
• November 11 – Fall Education Conference (a plethora of GROWTH topics)

Come enlarge your world.

A final thought:

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”

--Mortimer Adler

Linda is president if CIASTD and is Director of Staff Development at ITT Educational Services, Inc.

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Covering Your Assets:
Everything You Need to Know About
Trademarks and Copyrights
The March meeting provided an introduction to trademark and copyright law, including a discussion of different types of intellectual property protection. Attendees learned how to protect their company assets, and how to avoid infringing the rights of others.

Cultivating an Ethical Corporate Culture: How a Corporate Compliance Program Can Promote Integrity Within Your Organization
The session was presented by Mary Jan Frisby, Julia Spoor Gard, and Jason Barclay from Barnes and Thornburg.

Mary Jane Frisby is the co-instructor of the Copyright Law class at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. She has also lectured on copyright law before various professional and trade organizations, and she has taught continuing education courses on copyright law for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum and the Medical Library Association. Her background includes experience in the world of academic publishing, the academic library, and the music business.

Julia Spoor Gard is an associate in the Indianapolis office and a member of the Intellectual Property Department. Her practice consists of searching and clearing trademarks, prosecuting domestic and international trademark applications, intellectual property licensing and assignments, and litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She counsels primarily high tech clients in the areas of trademark, copyright and unfair competition, and has authored several articles on trademarks and trademark law in technology and intellectual property newsletters and magazines. She has lectured at seminars on intellectual property, e-commerce, and internet law for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (ICLEF), the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, among others.

The power point presentations are available for download here.

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Help! We recently lost two staff members of the Facilitator. Do you enjoy writing? Would you like to contribute to CIASTD and get involved, but have limited amount of time? Writing for the Facilitator may be the perfect way for you to get involved! We have immediate need for someone to write the “Member Profile” and for someone to write a preview of the upcoming meeting. Both topics require fairly little time write and are easy to research. If this sounds like something you would be interested, email Jay McNaught at JMcNaught@cinergy.com. The pay is not great (you get paid in CIAST bonus bucks!) but your help would be greatly appreciated!

Fortunately, we lost both staff members for good reasons. They both took on new jobs that changed their responsibilities and/or demanded more of their time. We want to thank David Llewellyn and Kristin Livel-Smith for the tremendous contribution they both made to this newsletter. Their writing will be greatly missed!

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