ASTD Houston Chapter

Presidents Corner - Summer

noemail@astdhouston.org — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

The lazy days of summer are here! In Houston that means it’s HOT!! At ASTD Houston we’re not going to be lazy. There are a lot of HOT TOPICS for you this summer, so check out what’s going on! We kick off with the Just Add Water event on June 24th. The format for this meeting is our much acclaimed Cracker Barrel. We will have eight experts that participants can rotate to in four sessions during the evening. It’s a lot of fun! Come and join us for the opportunity to learn and network with your peers. We continue by bringing Best Practices of Global Organizations on July 22nd. You do not have to be part of a global organization to find value in this topic. Global organizations are on the cutting edge of learning and development. The speaker Jeremy Solomons has researched this topic and is currently writing a book entitled, The Truly Global Organization of the Future. He brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to share. On August 26th you will have a chance to learn the...

Greystone Guides Clients on TV

noemail@astdhouston.org — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Greystone Guides is proud to announce that two of their clients, both with with ties to Houston ASTD, were on television this past week.

ASTD President and Career Coach Kathi Crawford appeared on KHOU Channel 11 on the morning show Great Day Houston June 5th. Kathi discussed The History of Women in the Workplace
Watch it here:
http://www.khou.com/greatday/video/?nvid=251981&shu=1
and Flexible Career Options for Women
Watch it here:
http://www.khou.com/greatday/video/?nvid=251983&shu=1

Image Artist and Media Coach Sarah Shah, who spoke at the Career Transition SIG last year, appeared on the MTV series "My Sweet Sixteen" with her client Haley.
Watch it here:
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1588227&vid=238698

BBB PINNACLE AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

noemail@astdhouston.org — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The Woodlands, Texas – May 19, 2008

The Better Business Bureau Education Foundation recently honored BBB member companies that maintain a superior commitment to ethics, overall excellence, and quality in the workplace at the 2008 Awards for Excellence event held at the Intercontinental Houston Hotel. Sales Training International, a Woodlands based company since 1988 and BBB member, was recognized for the second year in a row, this year receiving the highest honor, the Pinnacle Award.

Bob DeGroot, a South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce Board Member, and his wife Kemba, a Woodlands Township Board Member, co-founded the company in 1986 and have grown it into an international training and consulting firm that specializes in Web based training and coaching solutions in Sales, Sales Management and Customer Service all over the world.

Initially called the Spirit of Texas Awards, the Awards for Excellence are modeled after the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. Today, the BBB Awards for excellence continues to recognize businesses and non-profits in the Greater Houston Area for their achievements and commitment to overall excellence and quality in the workplace.

www.saleshelp.com

www.LearnSellingOnline.com

www.LearnSalesManagementOnline.com

www.LearnCustomerServiceOnline.com

Presidents Corner - May

noemail@astdhouston.org — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

It’s May and we are already celebrating. How many of you enjoyed Cinco de Mayo? We continue to celebrate the Battle of Puebla victory for Mexico against France on May 5, 1862. As an avid cyclist, I must mention that the League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work week from May 12th to 16th and Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 16th. There are many cycling groups in Houston that will take advantage of this and ride their bike to work. And this Sunday May 11th is Mother’s Day. We end the month with Memorial Day on Monday, May 26th. To recognize the holiday that weekend, we have moved the ASTD General Meeting to Tuesday, May 20th. We hope you will join us as we celebrate our 2008 Corporate Sponsors at this General Meeting. Each of these celebrated sponsors will share a tool or best practice relevant to the Workplace Learning and Performance community. Talk about celebrations! The ASTD Houston Chapter has accomplished so much this year including the following recognition from...

Just Add Water Request for Proposal

noemail@astdhouston.org — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Invitation to Present at ASTD Houston’s Just Add Water Event June 24, 2008 Click here to download the form. Need Presenters for the annual ASTD Just Add Water event Presentation date June 24, 2008 – 5:30-8:00 Number of presenters needed Eight Presentation time for each speaker There will three 20 minutes sessions (10 present, 10 Q&A). Format Just Add Water format as the presentation of the evening: There will be eight presenters, each stationed at a round table. As a presenter, you will have three 20 minutes sessions to share your knowledge about a topic and to facilitate a question and answer session about your presentation and topic to three different groups of participants who have chosen your topic. At the end...

Congratulations Membership Roundup Winners!

noemail@astdhouston.org — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Thanks so much to all of you who participated in the ASTD Houston Chapter Membership Roundup. Your efforts added 30 new members to the Chapter!

Winners of the Membership Roundup prizes are: Jeanette Rosenbalm, iPod; Sue Kinack, $50 Visa Gift Card; Amy Hart, $50 Visa Gift Card. Others who participated in the Roundup and their names noted in the “referred by” column of the membership registration form: Tina Breslin, Nannette Daugherty, Kathy Crawford, Kate Hawkins, Bonnie Crowder, Peggy Krohn and Sarah Hurst. Be sure to encourage those new members to become an active part of the Chapter.

Maureen Kelley of Achieve Global donated the iPOD. Thanks, Maureen, for your active participation in this event. We appreciate you and Achieve Global for all your assistance.

Special thanks to those of you who shared the ASTD Houston Chapter value but no membership resulted. Keep up the good work and we may see those memberships yet. Great job by all!

Sarah E. Hurst published in Trainer's Warehouse Book of Games

noemail@astdhouston.org — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:15:00 GMT

Sarah E. Hurst published in Trainer’s Warehouse Book of Games

Congratulations to Sarah E. Hurst, Training Manager at Stewart & Stevenson whose submission, Project Change Challenge, was published in Pfeiffer’s 2008 Trainer’s Warehouse Book of Games. Project Change Challenge addresses change, stress, ethics and project deadlines in a creative team based initiative. Trainer’s Warehouse Book of Games will be available for purchase soon so check out Sarah’s exercise on page 313.

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

noemail@astdhouston.org — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:00:00 GMT

ASTD Houston Chapter April 14, 2008 Dear Members, For over twelve years ASTD Houston has kept steady the price of monthly programs, professional development events, and annual membership dues. We have absorbed the increases in costs from our service providers. Your elected Board of Directors is responsible for the financial health of ASTD Houston. Our goal is to remain fiscally sound while offering members the highest quality programming for our general meetings and professional development events, networking opportunities, a content-rich website and services such as the annual conference, Career Center and Consultant Referral Directory. To accomplish these goals, we have increased our General Meeting Pricing and Annual Membership Dues. General Meetings Some of our events, such as regional Lunch Bunch gatherings and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are free, or offered at a minimal charge to our members. For the General Meetings we have established a pricing structure that...

April 2008 Presidents Corner

noemail@astdhouston.org — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:00:00 GMT

ASTD Houston is the fifth largest ASTD Chapter in the nation. One way we continue to grow and provide more benefits to our members is through the support of our In Kind and Corporate Sponsors. In Kind Sponsors are companies who donate products and/or services to the Chapter. Corporate Sponsors make a financial contribution to the Chapter in return for Corporate Sponsor Program benefits. During 2007 the contributions made by our In Kind and Corporate Sponsors helped us accomplish the following: · Increase networking and best practice sharing through offering regional programming · Expand professional development offerings such as programs delivered by internationally renowned Thiagi and Dr. John Elliott, local certificate programs through our relationship with the University of Houston and RiceUniversity, and a Certified Professional Learning & Performance (CPLP) Study Group · Improve technology by launching a new website portal · Increase opportunities to volunteer...

Syed Zafar assumed President position

noemail@astdhouston.org — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Syed Zafar has assumed the position of the President for SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research) Houston chapter. SIETAR has been in Houston for a long time.

This group meets every 3rd Saturday morning for a stimulating program related to cross-cultural communication. More info can be found at http://www.sietarhouston.org/ .

Article on Learner Rights published in upcoming Houston Business Journal

noemail@astdhouston.org — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:00:00 GMT

The "Learner Bill of Rights" as the original title indicates, outlines several key factors learners should expect when they attend training sessions. The article will appear in the April 25, 2008 edition of the Houston Business Journal (Special Executive Education Section), but may not have the same title.

Jay, Bonnie and Alise encourage other ASTD members to publish articles about their areas of expertise. It's a great way to gain recognition for your organization and set apart ASTD as a professional standard of excellence. Look for the article soon!

Bonnie Crowder on TV!

noemail@astdhouston.org — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, Bonnie Crowder was an invited guest on Great Day Houston, a talk show on KHOU Channel 11. She was on a panel of women with intersting and unusual jobs. You can see the two video clips here:

http://www.khou.com/greatday/video.html?nvid=219622

http://www.khou.com/greatday/video.html?nvid=219625

Bonnie is the VP of Communications with ASTD Houston and is a Global Instructional Consultant with Halliburton.

March 2008 Presidents Corner

noemail@astdhouston.org — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:00:00 GMT

It is RODEO time and ASTD Houston is rounding up new members!! While the cowboys are riding the bulls at Reliant Park, our members will be reaching out to people they know to share the value of being an ASTD Houston member. The Membership Roundup Contest was announced at our February General Meeting and the details can be found here. We appreciate the donation of an IPOD from Maureen Kelly of Achieve Global as our Grand Prize! Current members: please renew quickly when you receive your renewal notice. We don’t want you to miss a minute of member value! In addition to the membership values identified on our website, I would like to add that associations are the originating source for codes of ethics and professional standards that govern professions and disciplines in the U.S. ASTD has widened the professions focus to link learning and performance to individual and organizational results, and is a sought-after voice on critical public policy issues. By engaging locally with ASTD...

March General Meeting

noemail@astdhouston.org — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Did you know that employee engagement is what drives customer satisfaction, not just "satisfied employees?" Building an engaged work environment is the challenge of the management team and training plays a significant role.

Based on state-of-the-art research, Barbara Ashbaugh will hone in on the critical knowledge, skills and techniques leaders must have to unleash the energy of their team in her presentation:

Do Happy Cows Give Better Milk?

Join March's General Meeting to explore these knowledge, skills and techniques that we can give those leaders!

Tuesday, March 25
5:30 to 8pm
The HESS Club
5430 Westheimer Road

Learn More Here!

Storyboards arent just for Hollywood anymore!

noemail@astdhouston.org — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Storyboard Smoryboard!

Creating E-Learning Storyboards

Alice May Berthelsen and Nuria Castellanos will discuss the techniques and benefits of storyboarding your modules for e-learning at the E-Learning Special Interest Group Event.

They will demonstrate two storyboards, the resulting modules and facilitate the discussions on:

Encouraging learner with learner interaction,

Having alignment among objectives, activities, and assessments,

Ensuring learner with instructor interaction,

Being able to address learners' varied learning styles, and

How to make learner with content interaction optimal.

Tuesday, March 5
6pm to 8pm
RAC Houston
1880 S. Dairy Ashford,
Bldg. II, Ste. 220

Learn More Here!

ASTD Membership Roundup Contest!

noemail@astdhouston.org — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:00:00 GMT

There are several chances to win prizes. Here’s how the contest works: Each time someone puts your name as a referral on their membership application form, your name goes into the hat for the drawing. Contest ends midnight Monday, April 21. Member with the most referrals wins a prize. Additional winner’s names will be drawn from the hat. Decision of the ASTD Chapter President and VP Membership is final. Here’s a step-by-step way to refer the most new members. Write down what the ASTD Houston Chapter means for you, personally. Make a list of people who would share that value. Read the ASTD Houston Chapter Value list below. Pick one person a week to call and share your value and tell them about the other ASTD Houston values. Ask them the question: Is this something you would be interested in? If they say yes, refer them to the ASTD Houston website for member registration: www.astdhouston.org. Have them put your name as a referral on the membership...

ASTD Houston Chapter Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

noemail@astdhouston.org — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:00:00 GMT

What is the ASTD Houston Chapter? Established in 1965 as a non-profit organization, ASTD Houston is a local affiliate of ASTD National in Alexandria, Virginia. Our members promote all facets of workplace learning including training and development, instructional systems design, organization development, human resource management, performance improvement and consulting in diverse industries. ASTD Houston’s vision is to bring excellence to workplace learning and performance improvement. To accomplish this we provide learning and networking opportunities to achieve unprecedented levels of individual and organizational performance. I am already an ASTD National member. Why should I also pay membership dues to ASTD Houston Chapter? ASTD Houston connects you with colleagues in the Houston business community for networking and support. It is a resource to build relationships to business opportunities, job openings and best practices. Membership in the ASTD Houston Chapter is a...

ASTD Houston 2008 Scholarship Program

noemail@astdhouston.org — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Let ASTD Houston help you reduce or eliminate the high cost of education! If you are a student of Human Performance Improvement, you could be eligible to receive a scholarship from the ASTD Houston Chapter. In 2008, ASTD Houston will award up to $2000 in scholarships to applicants who meet Scholarship Program requirements. Application deadline is 4:00pm, Friday, October 31, 2008. Email, or call or download a Scholarship Application Packet from: Alise Isbell, President-Elect E-mail: alise@writewisecommunications.com Phone: (713) 863-9140 Download Scholarship Application here. Download Scholarship Flier here.