I’d like to wrap up the year with some reflection on how we did this year. It seems like just yesterday when the board had its planning retreat for 2005 and developed the following goals:

• Align professional development opportunities with the ASTD Competency Model. ASTD has developed a competency
  model for those of us in the workplace learning business. This is an extremely significant step in recognizing what we do as a profession.
• Execute new strategies and variations for monthly program format. For many years, the monthly program and the Fall Education Event have been the primary vehicles for your professional development offerings for the chapter. Each month, roughly 15-20% of the chapter membership attends the monthly meeting. We need to work to meet the needs of the other 80-85% of the chapter who cannot attend those meetings.
• Plan and execute a College/Chapter partnership program. We want to reach out to those who are new to our profession to provide them a place where they can obtain their on-going professional development.
• Provide more recognition and awards. This is to recognize both those volunteers who make this chapter work (without them we wouldn’t exist), and those businesses and individuals in our area who are “models for workplace learning organizations.”

I believe we’ve done well on the first goal. As we put the programs together, we made sure that we could clearly identify how a specific program would contribute to building members’ skill levels on one or more of the competencies. If we couldn’t clearly align a program with a competency, we didn’t do it.

I’d like to say we made more progress on the second goal that we have. We made some changes in the program formats, introducing several shorter programs that seemed well received. We also changed the focus of the Fall Education Event from a complex offering with multiple breakout sessions to a single-focused event. We made some progress, but there’s more work to do here.

We made some inroads on the College/Chapter partnership program. The major effort here was to launch a scholarship program. We also have done some nice initial work that will pay off in the future.

Finally, I’d also like to say that we’ve done a lot with recognition and rewards. This is an area that we can’t do too much in. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization and without them, CIASTD wouldn’t be able to provide the value to you, the members, that is offered.

On balance, it has been a good year. The membership has stayed relatively constant. We fluctuate up and down a bit, but have stayed around 440 members for a long time. I used to get very concerned about that, but after learning what’s happened to other chapters with their drastic membership slides, I’m pretty happy maintaining status quo there.

The chapter is financially sound. We haven’t quite closed out the books for this year, but we’re in good shape.

As a closing note, I want to thank each of the board members this year: Lisa Autry for her efforts getting ready to pick up the role of President for your chapter next year; Krista Skidmore, your VP of Programming has just done a superb job developing a year of exceptional programs (Krista will move into the President-Elect position and understudy Lisa next year); David Llewellyn, who has the unenviable task of trying to top the Fall Education Event year after year and certainly did that this year with “Training Ain’t Telling” and a stunning venue in the Eiteljorg; Leanne Batchelder, who has worked tirelessly to create new ways to vitalize the membership (her initiative led to the scholarship program that we’ve introduced); Sam Thompson, Finance VP, who has kept a firm hand on the chapter’s finances and ensured the board knows where we stand financially at all times; Karen Zwick, who worked to build some new communication vehicles this year and stepped up to take part in the pilot program for the CPLP certification; and Sher Shepps, the VP of Administration, who did a great job with the often thankless task of tracking our compliance with the ASTD CORE requirements and insured that we met 100% of those requirements.

I’d also like to say a special thank you to Linda Bush the Past President for her continued service and great advice that kept me on track several times as the year went on. Linda has been on the board as long as anyone can remember and has been a major contributor the Chapter’s success over time.

I also can’t forget the folks at MP Records, Mark Records and his crew. They do all of the day-to-day stuff that keeps us going. Having their contributions makes this volunteer effort a pleasure instead of a burden.

Finally, thanks to you, the membership for your continuing support of the chapter and our programs. It’s you for whom the Chapter exists!

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Jay McNaught, Facilitator Editor

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. Each year at this time, I find myself getting reflective and a bit sentimental. I look back over the previous year and try to remember what has happened. I also look ahead to the coming year and wonder what it will bring. As I began putting this newsletter together, I was amazed to realize that this was my 51st issue as editor. Much has happened during the past 50 issues. Members have come and gone. Officers have changed. The organization has adapted to meet the needs of those who attend. As I recall, the issue that I started as editor was the first issue to be published electronically (distributed through e-mail). It is amazing to think about how the Internet and computers have changed how we manage the organization and how we deliver training. During the last 50 issues, we started a technology-based training special interest group (SIG). At first it was very popular and well-attended because it was a novelty and many were anxious to learn about the new area. Since then, I believe technology-based training has become common-place. It’s just a part of what we do. It’s no longer a “special interest.” It has become a common interest. During the last 50 issues, e-mail has become more widely used than traditional postal mail. It’s not unusual for you to receive a newsletter like this through e-mail. Four years ago, that wasn’t the case – we were very concerned that people would have a hard time making the adjustment.

So what changes will the next 50 issues bring? For me personally, I suspect that I will have a new job. My company is going through a merger and this provides me with an opportunity to move on. I am looking for a new position as a training manager or a director of OD or leadership development. A job change might mean relocating. I am encouraged and amazed by the number of openings in these fields around the country. Go to Monster or CareerBuilders, and search for the key words “Leadership Development.” You will be surprised at the number of great jobs all around the country. I think this is indicative of a trend; I see more and more organizations recognizing the importance of their people – recognizing that building leaders is vital to the organization’s success and sustainability. What other changes will occur during the next 50 issues? Will technology continue to revolutionize everything? Will there be new trends in training and development? No doubt the answer to these questions is “yes.” So this raises an even more important question, “Will CIASTD continue to adapt and change to meet the challenges of changing world?” If the past is any indicator of the future, the answer to this question will also be a resounding, “yes.” The new leadership for CIASTD in 2006 certainly seems up to the challenge!

At the December meeting, Jim Patton presented me with the President’s Award for service. I was totally surprised and humbled. There are so many people in CIASTD who do so much for the organization. It has been my privilege and pleasure to serve as newsletter editor. As I pointed out, I have the easy job. The writers on my staff and the president do most of the writing, and Mark Records does the actual publishing. I get the fun job of assembling everything. I am hopeful that I will be able to edit another 50 issues! Thanks for the opportunity.

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