15th Annual Workplace Learning and Performance Conference

Jeffrey Lawrence, Executive Vice President of Technology, Center for Economic Growth

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The Center for Economic Growth, a private, nonprofit organization committed to fostering economic growth in the 11-county Capital Region, is conducting a workforce development initiative. Its primary goal, job creation, will focus on meeting the demands of the technology sector and providing a long-term pipeline for skilled workers. CEG’s Executive VP, Jeff Lawrence will update attendees on the initiative, identify breakthrough solutions for our Region to embrace economic globalization, and present a systematic approach for workforce development.

Most importantly, Lawrence will counsel attendees on how they can maximize their role in this new age of workforce development. Specifically, he will address how the rise of Global Foundries might affect the regional training industry.

As CEG’s Executive Vice President, Jeff Lawrence is responsible for manufacturing and technology programs. Jeff is also responsible for the programmatic interaction and oversight of the Chief Executives Network for Manufacturing and TechConnex with CEG.

Jeff has more than 20 years manufacturing experience in engineering, quality, and operations management. Prior to joining CEG in 1994, he was employed for ten years by E.I. Dupont’s Remington Arms Company and General Electric Silicones. Jeff earned a BS in mechanical engineering and a MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Session 1
Michael Harrington, Director of New Training and Strategic Initiatives, New Directions Consulting

When workforce trainers use traditional methods of training, they often lose the GenYer in the audience. This session, taught by a GenYer, will provide key strategies and tools to engage the GenY audience, help build understanding and tolerance for differences and equip the trainer to redesign training approaches with proven techniques. This workshop will cover the historic events that drive the behavior of the four different workforce generations, and their workplace learning environment preferences; the Belief: Behavior Connection of Gen Y; and the important difference between learning styles (which don’t change) and learning environment preferences (which do change).

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Michael Harrington joined New Directions in January, 2009, after serving three years as Chief Student Affairs Officer at Paul Smith’s College. As Director of New Training and Strategic Initiatives for New Directions, Michael designs and delivers leadership programs for a wide range employees including Gen Y. Other areas of focus include consultation in teaming, change management and leadership development.

While at Paul Smith’s College, Michael was a key player in student leadership development, as well as crisis management matters involving student safety. He provided representation to a number of institution and regional committees and was considered the student services liaison to a majority of the college’s departments. Designing and implementing student programs to improve retention and student life was also a key focus for Michael during his tenure at Paul Smith’s College.

Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Master’s in Administration and Leadership from SUNY Plattsburgh.

www.newdirectionsconsulting.com

Session 2
Lisa Giruzzi, Author, Speaker, Consultant, Transformational Conversations

In these difficult times, doing more with less is necessary to survive. This workshop will demonstrate how to maximize the talent you have and make your organization thrive in the face of any circumstances. Creating WE is more than team-building; it is a way of operating that engages the mind and heart of each individual causing generative connectivity™ which positively impacts productivity and performance. This workshop offers practical information for any organization, including how to implement this new approach immediately.

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Lisa Giruzzi has always had a strong desire to make a difference in the world. She is fulfilling that desire every day as the owner of the consulting firm Transformational Conversations. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in coaching and consulting others. She has helped thousands to transform their lives, realize their goals, and achieve more satisfaction and fulfillment. In addition to coaching and consulting, Lisa is an accomplished speaker conducting workshops, keynotes and seminars nationwide on topics such as leadership, motivation, effectiveness, team building and customer service.

Transformational Conversations specializes in Appreciative Inquiry as a method for igniting and sustaining positive change with individuals and organizations. Ms Giruzzi studied with Dr. David Cooperridder, the creator of Appreciative Inquiry, at Case Western University Weatherhead School of Management.

Additionally, Lisa is a co-owner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, a consortium of AI consultants dedicated to creating a positive revolution in change using AI and a founding member of the Creating WE Institute, an international group of critical thinkers who are creating new forms of engagement and innovation in the workplace.

Lisa is the author of the newly released book, “31 Days to Transform Your Life: A Daily Action Guide for Increasing Joy, Satisfaction and Fulfillment” and the Co-author of the bestselling book “42 Rules for Creating WE: A hands-on practical approach to organizational development, change and leadership best practices.”

www.transformationalconversations.com

Session 3
Yael Zofi, Founder and CEO, AIM Strategies^®, Applied Innovative Management^®

We’ve all heard the advice that networking is an essential skill to master in this ever changing global business environment. Making impactful connections is important, but in order to really excel at networking, a successful relationship marketing plan is crucial. This plan should incorporate a strategy for developing a strong personal brand - an individual’s distinct identity as a member of a larger organization. The ‘brand’ defines a person’s reputation, strengths and predispositions. Yet, with the economy’s current state and job security on everyone’s mind, people often lose sight of the importance of making impactful connections and end up trying to blend in, rather than stand out from the crowd. How can you make sure you are visible in the right networks? What are you currently doing, if anything, to bolster your personal and professional brand image? Will you be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities when the economy improves?

In today’s complex business landscape, individuals must actively engage in relationship branding efforts – transforming their own self perception and skill sets from Performance-Focused to Relationship-Focused. This workshop helps you to achieve this with practical tips.

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Yael S. Zofi is Founder and CEO of AIM Strategies^® - Applied Innovative Management^®, a human capital consulting firm specializing in applying innovative people management strategies. She has been actively engaged in the practical application of behavioral science for 20+ years, and has dedicated her efforts to improving productivity in the areas of leadership development, team effectiveness and cross cultural communications.

Throughout her career, Ms. Zofi worked with clients in the financial services, high-tech, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as well as non-profits and educational institutions. Her organizational development work focuses on helping leaders and their teams become more successful. She created competency-based assessment tools, facilitated team strategy retreats, designed talent management programs and facilitated merger integrations with three organizations. Prior to forming AIM Strategies^®, Ms. Zofi was Global Vice President of Performance Management with J.P. Morgan and with Accenture (Change Management) and Price Waterhouse Coopers (Change Integration) running process reengineering and leadership development projects.

A frequent presenter at seminars, Ms. Zofi has been a guest speaker at national conferences, professional organizations and board groups. As a Professor at New York University, Ms. Zofi designed and taught Leadership and Business Transformation, Leadership and Management Skills, and Management Principles and Ethical Practices to professionals and MA/MBA students (1995-2003). She published several articles on leadership, with the most on Innovation in the Healthcare environment (2006).

Her most recent book, “Work Your Network – Making Impactful Business Connections” focuses on creating meaningful connections that impact your life and career.

www.aim-strategies.com

Session 4
Ann Reis, Director, Capital District Human Resources Professionals

This program will provide participants a hands-on opportunity to apply a model for analyzing external factors driving workforce development needs impacting their organization’s performance, and identifying strategic training initiatives aligned with organizational goals. Participants will develop an expanded understanding of workforce development, in terms of its role with respect to individual, organizational and societal goals, and the groups of individuals it potentially may involve.

Participants will identify a workforce development need significantly affecting their organization’s performance and strategic goals and a strategic training initiative their organization can take to address that need.

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Ann Reis founded Capital District Human Resources Professionals (CDHRP) in Upstate New York in 1985. Since then, she has provided a broad range of human resource, organizational and leadership development services to a variety of organizations -- including privately and publicly held companies, with unionized and non-unionized workforces, locally and internationally-based, in for-profit and not-for-profit business sectors.

Ann’s experience has been focused in organizational needs assessment, leadership development, talent management, employee satisfaction, team building, and human resource strategic planning and management. In addition to consulting, she teaches Business Communication at Siena College, and formerly served as Director of OD and Recruitment at Price Chopper Supermarkets, and in a number of Human Resource and Training management roles at the Center for the Disability Services.

Ann received her Master’s degree in organizational psychology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and her Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She is an active member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Hudson-Mohawk American Society for Training and Development, and the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce.

www.cdhrp.com

Session 5
Richard Johnson, Assistant Professor, University at Albany

Web 2.0, social networking tools, and their use by employees are part of what Horton (2000) called the biggest change in the way we conduct training since the introduction of the chalkboard. Tools such as wikis, blogs, mashups, instant messaging, etc. have been hyped as a way of extending the knowledge of the workforce and enhancing training options. In addition, immersive learning environments and virtual worlds such as Second Life are being touted as ways to improve engagement and learning when delivering e-learning initiatives. Finally, researchers are investigating electronic peers to assist and provide knowledge to trainees. The challenge is that providing training with these new technologies can be intimidating and may require additional learning before training begins. Therefore, the purpose of this presentation is to overview these new technology options, discuss how organizations are using them, and make recommendations on strategies which can enhance the chance of success when implementing these tools into a training program.

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Richard D. Johnson (Ph.D. University of Maryland) is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University at Albany. His primary interests focus on human resource information systems, e-learning, training, and the psychological impacts of computing technology. Dr. Johnson has published 20 research articles in a variety of journals such as Information Systems Research, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and the International Journal of Human Computer Studies. He teaches courses on HR and HR Information Systems as part of the University at Albany’s nationally recognized MBA concentration on HR Technology.

Session 6
Laurie Cohn and Susan Lauer, Principals, Aspire Consulting, Ltd.

In today’s ever-changing economy, customer service is simply not enough. Satisfaction is no longer the acceptable measurement of the Customer experience. The standard and measure of success today are loyal Customers. Developing and maintaining loyal internal Customers (employees) and external Customers is the critical difference in creating sustainable organizational success. Customer loyalty has become a distinct strategic advantage creating a new competitive edge for businesses and organizations. The program will give an overview of the strategic advantage of developing loyal internal and external customers with a focus on the internal customer as the center of the strategy.

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Aspire Consulting, Ltd. is a company dedicated to individual and organizational development. Located in the Hudson Valley, they partner with organizations and individuals within those organizations to manage strategic change. Laurie Cohn and Susan Lauer are Principals of Aspire Consulting and are certified affiliates of an international network of Senior-level Business and Executive Development Associates, focusing in the areas of business and management consulting, business coaching and training, youth leadership, and leadership development. They customize results driven processes in people, teams and organizations.

www.aspireadvantage.com

Session 7
Kat Koppett, Eponymous Founder, Koppett & Company

Improvisers make stuff up, on-the-spot, in front of demanding audiences, with nothing but their partners to support them. In order to accomplish this daunting task, they have developed principles and activities to develop creativity, flexibility, risk-taking, and collaboration. This practical, interactive (and fun) workshop, will explore how to apply the philosophies and tools of improvisational theatre to your programs and environments.

Participants will receive tips and techniques to:

In addition, participants will receive a handbook of interactive activities for training and development.

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Kat Koppett is the eponymous founder of Koppett & Co., a training and consulting company specializing in the use of theatre and storytelling techniques for individual and organizational performance. Her book on how to use improvisational theatre techniques in training, “Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning,” is used by trainers, teachers and organizational leaders around the world.

Kat holds a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University and an M.A. in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and has worked with teachers, administrators, doctors, engineers, lawyers and young people of all sorts. She has designed and delivered training such diverse clients as Chanel, Merck, Kaiser-Permanente, NYSID, Price-Waterhouse Coopers, Glens Falls Hospital, Cadence Design Systems, Eli Lilly, and The Farm Bureau in places such as India, Brazil, Paris and Oklahoma. Her areas of specialty include leadership and communication skills, creativity and innovation, teamwork and conflict resolution, and presentation skills.

In addition, Kat is the Training Director of The Mop & Bucket Theatre company, the Capital District’s premiere improvisational theatre company.

www.koppett.com

Session 8
Jim Mahan, Senior Partner, Vitalwork, Inc.

The New York Times best selling book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High provides the basis for this workshop. From an extensive research project for the book, the authors identified eight principles and eighteen skills that highly influential people utilize which enable them to navigate their way through very crucial conversations characterized by strong emotions, differing opinions, and high stakes.

This workshop will provide an overview of the eight principles and eighteen skills of Crucial Conversations. The participants will learn what elements make up a Crucial Conversation and what tools they can use to conduct effective Crucial Conversations. In addition, participants will be able to identify elements in organizational environments where the lack of candid and respectful dialogue may cause issues regarding productivity, morale, and inefficiencies.

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Jim Mahan is a Senior Partner at Vitalwork, Inc. supporting sales/business development and program delivery. Jim’s expertise is in working with senior executives and middle managers in creating alignment and opening the lines of communication. He has worked with Frontier Corp, Constellation Brands, Paychex, Harris RF Communications, FairPoint Communications, Oxford Networks.

Jim joined Vitalwork in 1994, after a long Leadership career at both Xerox Corporation and Frontier Corporation. During his ten years with Xerox, Jim worked in Sales, Sales Management, and Marketing Management, at both the field and headquarters levels. Prior to that, he had a highly successful fourteen-year career in the telecommunications industry, working for several high-profile growth companies. In 1985 he joined Frontier, one of the nation’s largest independent local and long distance telephone carriers, where he held several positions, including CEO of the firm’s major equipment subsidiary and Vice President of Sales in its largest telephone operating company.

Jim has a B.S. in Marketing from Gannon University and Continuing Education courses in Finance from The Wharton School.

www.vitalwork.com

Session 9
Dennis Douglas, President/Consultant, Mind Over Matter, Inc.

Despite a trend toward economic recovery, most training groups are facing a dramatically-reduced training budget for 2010. Lean staffing throughout the corporation is likely to increase the requirement to provide cross-training that will enable certain workers to augment or support other groups.

How can you provide the required skills training while staying within your training organization’s 2010 budgetary and staffing limitations? Can you meet this challenge gracefully and successfully?

The structured solution from the presenter combines the use of identified segments of existing learning resources (references, courses and procedures), limited formal training, and partnership with work centers to provide limited on-the-job training for frequent-use procedures.

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Dennis Douglas is an independent consultant that specializes in the implementation of new technology in the workplace. He has spent over fifteen years creating documentation and training for proprietary and customized software interfaces and helping to integrate them successfully into the workplace. A strong believer in the need for technology to be practical and relevant, Dennis is a strong advocate for the needs of stakeholders and end users when he collaborates with software designers and developers.

Consulting clients include Information Builders, Telcordia Technologies and Siemens Transportation Systems. Projects have involved database, communications and workforce management systems for companies such as Southwestern Bell, Telecom Italia, Alcatel, Bell South and New York City Transit. Dennis is a graduate of Houston Baptist University with majors in education and music and is a former US Air Force officer.

www.mindovermatter.net

Session 10
Brent Filson, Founder and President, The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.

The session will help boost your job performance by introducing you to a powerful, new leadership tool, the Leadership Talk. In the realm of leadership communication, there is a hierarchy of effectiveness. The lowest level and the least effective are speeches/presentations. They are used primarily to communicate information. The highest, most effective level is the Leadership Talk. The Leadership Talk not only helps you communicate information, it does something more. When you apply its rigorous processes, the Leadership Talk helps you establish deep, human, emotional connections with your audience — connections that motivate them to achieve great results, the results you need to get.

In the session, you’ll learn about the Leadership Talk by actually developing, on the spot, a rudimentary Talk — which you’ll give to a particular audience back on the job. When you’re on that job, you speak 15 to 20 or more times a day. When those leadership connections are made with Leadership Talks, your job performance can be dramatically enhanced.

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Brent Filson learned about leadership as a Marine Corps rifle platoon commander. As a civilian, he has, during the past 26 years, helped leaders of all ranks and functions worldwide boost their leadership effectiveness. Working with some of the top companies in the world, he has developed motivational leadership strategies, processes and skill sets, and created and instituted leadership educational and training programs. He is the author of 23 books and hundreds of articles on leadership. He has lectured at Columbia University, MIT’s Sloane School Of Business, Boston College, Wake Forest University, Williams College, Villanova; and he has spoken before many dozens of private, non-profit and government organizations. His latest books are, “The Leadership Talk: The Greatest Leadership Tool” and “101 Ways To Give Great Leadership Talks.” The book was a finalist in Foremost Magazine’s National Book Awards of 2005, and it won the Independent Publishers national award for “best business/personal growth” book of 2005.

www.actionleadership.com

Session 11
Mark Grimm, President, Mark Grimm Communications

The more you know about the media, the more likely you’ll get better results. How do you handle “downsizing news,” how do you get noticed for things you want covered – either at work or for your civic or charitable cause? Former TV new anchor/producer Mark Grimm puts us inside the heads of producers and reporters and gives practical tips that will help you deal more successfully with media.

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The former Guilderland Chamber “Entrepreneur of the Year” and regional “Trainer-of-the-Year” nominee of the American Society of Training and Development, Mark Grimm has an impressive history of private sector accomplishment in business and media along with substantial contributions to his community and government. He is the founder of Mark Grimm Communications, a Guilderland public speaking training and media relations firm.

Mark spent 12 years as a TV news anchor/reporter and producer, a career that spanned six markets. Mark
- conducted one-on-one interviews with Presidents Bush and Clinton
- appeared on CBS News and the Phil Donahue Show
- saw news ratings double as anchor at Denver’s NBC-owned station.

Mark has appeared often as an analyst for Capital Region media outlets. He is the volunteer producer/host of the Siena Alumni Connection radio program on WVCR 88.3.

In 2009, Mark released his book, “Everyone Can Be A Dynamic Speaker: Yes, I Mean You!” It is a practical and inspirational book on speaking.

Grimm was a senior communications executive for seven years in state government and Special Assistant to the Director at the Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform. Since Fall of 2003, Mark has been an adjunct professor at either the College of St. Rose and Siena College. His courses have included Mass Media, Media Ethics, and Broadcast Journalism.

Mark has a master’s in communications from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School and is a magna cum laude Siena graduate, where he was named the Conlin Scholar, the college’s top honor for English majors.

www.markgrimm.com

Session 12
Judi Clements, President, Judi Clements Training & Development

In a tight economy, managers will often find themselves the purveyors of bad news. In this program, the presenter shows you how to have those difficult conversations. Learn how to establish trust and honesty with employees, even when business conditions force difficult choices. Learn how to discourage closed-door meetings and back-room gossip that will only add to worker anxiety. Develop an up-front communication style that will help everyone deal better with harsh realities. The workshop discusses the trainer’s role in helping others achieve these goals.

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In 1986, Judi Clements founded Speech Training Associates, specializing in executive coaching and training in the areas of presentation and interpersonal communication. Judi trained hundreds of professionals, performers, and media spokespeople in the art of public speaking and stage presence. She provided interpersonal skills coaching and career transition skills. In 1989, Judi expanded her practice under the name Judi Clements Training & Development and began offering supervisory and communication seminars, workshops, and keynotes. Since then, Judi has worked with many organizations to improve employee and management performance in the areas of communication, supervision, customer service, and wellness.

www.judiclements.com