ATD2024 International Conference and Expo BloG

This year, the international conference and exposition is being held in New Orleans, LA from May19^th through May 22^nd, 2024. In keeping with the host city, the theme this year is “Recharge Your Soul.”

There are also pre-conference sessions where you can receive ATD Certifications in topics such as, ATD Master Trainer, Blended Learning, Coaching, and more. These sessions run from May 16^th through the 18^th. These sessions are a separate fee and not inclusive of the conference. They are however a way to consolidate your airfare cost as compared to getting your certifications at a different time. So, you can tell your sponsor or leadership that for the cost of the round trip, hotel, and conference, you will have the added benefit of certification.

Also, as part of the pre-conference is the ATD Leadership Conference on May 17^th and 18^th. This is a session for the more than 750 talent development professionals serving on and supporting local chapter boards of directors. It is my honor this year to represent the Vermont Chapter Board at this leadership conference, where we will discuss the challenges of local chapters and be able to learn from each other how we continue to act locally while thinking globally.

The full conference has 4 days of “Concurrent Sessions” where the learning takes place. There is also lots of learning in the expo, however those tend to be how to use the vendor products on the job which are great if you are shopping for new tools.

As part of the ATD full conference, there are three keynote speakers. The first is actor Mathew Matthew McConaughey.

Though the first day of the learning part of the conference is Sunday, the actor will kick-off the session Monday where after his keynote the Exposition opens where we all will walk from the keynote hall to the expo hall to see all the latest learning and technology to help we training professionals in our work.

Tuesday will start with one of my favorite professional development speakers and authors, Daniel Pink.

I will be bringing two of his books that I have read to ask for an autograph, “Drive” and “The Power of Regret.” I saw him in a previous ATD conference many years ago and I am a raving fan.

Daniel Pink will be signing books in the ATD bookstore, one of my favorite attractions of the whole conference. ATD has an onsite bookstore that hosts an opening event on Sunday evening and stays open from early each morning of the conference and does not close until the very end of the conference. I hope

Also on Tuesday night will be what ATD calls Networking Night. This is an additional fee and well worth it. It is a chance to network with friends you will make and others you have known for years. The celebration will be at Mardi Gras World. It is a warehouse where they store many of the floats from the Madi Gras parade. I attended this party in the past and it was a unique and fun experience.

On the final day of the conference, the closing speaker this year is Venus Williams, where she is sure to share her inspiring story of championship and entrepreneurial spirit. I hope to get a copy of her latest book, “Come to Win” and I can only hope to be able to get a signed copy.

This conference is what keeps – not only my heart – my soul as a trainer going. The energy is palpable.

There is a “Convince Your Boss” page on the conference website that might help you get approval to finance your trip. It has a lot of great ideas.

Find out more about the conference at: https://atdconference.td.org/

I hope to see you at this event. Please feel free to reach out to me before and during the session. This will be my 3^rd year in a row, I have also spoken at and been on the planning committee over the last 24 years so this is an event close to my heart, and as I wrote earlier, close to my soul. Let’s Recharge Our Souls!