Where did the month of July go? If you are anything like me, you probably ask yourself that question every month. I spent much of July learning and studying all kinds of new information. I spent two days in 115 degree heat in Phoenix, Arizona, learning a new software for my company and then the following week spent three days in Chicago. My first two days in Chicago I spent at ASTD’s ROI Skill Building Workshop. If you are interested in ROI, I highly recommend this course. The facilitator for the course was Patti Phillips, who authored many of the books used in the course with her husband, Jack Phillips. It was an eye-opening, attitude-changing experience, and the way I evaluate training changed overnight. On my third day in Chicago, I attended a program put on by the Chicago Chapter of ASTD (CCASTD) called “Summer in the City,” designed around leadership skills. The morning included two dynamic speakers and some great personal leadership effectiveness activities. In one of the sessions we took a social styles inventory and I found out that I am an Expressive (who would have guessed!). In the afternoon, Maureen Orey from the National Chapter of ASTD gave a presentation on the state of the industry and a trend watch. My three days in Chicago were informative, interesting, engaging and fun – what more could I ask for?

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Project Management for Trainers

CIASTD welcomed Lou Russell, president of Russell Martin & Associates, whose presentation focused on Project Management for Trainers. Lou’s sense of humor and natural speaking style got the audience engaged immediately.

In order to drive home the importance of project planning, Lou had each table work on a project building a bridge from a provided blueprint. Project managers had to estimate how many resources would be needed and how long the project would take to complete. While teams were fast at work putting the bridge together, observers walked around the room making notes regarding behaviors they witnessed. Once the exercise was over, the teams, observers, and Lou had a chance to discuss what went right and what could have been done differently. This hands-on exercise gave many participants a chance to consider the far-reaching effects of poor planning on a project.

Lou followed up the bridge-building exercise with a presentation on finer points to consider when planning a project.

Learning Outcomes
As a result of attending this program, participants learned:

• To plan for a project and the importance of the entire project life cycle
• To differentiate between the business objective and the project objective and plan for both
• To determine the risks associated with a project and how to manage them
• To avoid the five deadly sins of project management

July Meeting Announcements
Karen Zwick, VP of Communications, announced that you should put a hold on your calendars on Thursday, November 16, 2006 for the annual CIASTD Fall Education Conference. This year our program will be held at the beautiful and newly expanded Indianapolis Museum of Art. Our facilitator will be Linda Boardman-Fite from the Price Pritchett group.

Krista Skidmore, President-Elect, announced the elections for Board members will be taking place in the Fall. If you are interested in running for the board or would like to nominate someone, please contact her.

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• Allow adequate preparation time
• Establish a study schedule
• Consider working with a study group

• Accountability – you might be more likely to stay on a schedule if you meet with a study group
• Leverage strengths – tap into the expertise of other study group members; help others in your areas of greatest strength; share your experience and stories
• Support – I found tremendous strength in the support of my two “study buddies”, David Davila and Andrea Moore
• It’s Fun – it was a lot more fun to meet weekly with my “study buddies” than to try to plod through all of this material by myself. We most often met for a dinner followed by a study session.

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