All of the above

As I completed the post-conference survey of this year’s Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.) Exchange, I was asked to state the primary reason for attending the 2024 edition. That did put me in a quandary.

Was it to keep up with the latest trends in the credentialing and certification space? Of course it was! Listening to knowledgeable presenters share their early adopters experience in using AI for a Job Task Analysis (JTA) was a lightbulb moment for me: of course, there is much more to large language models (LLMs) than automated item generation (AIG), and there are organizations using LLMs in creative ways to perform specific tasks. Speaking of AIG, it was great to hear in a session titled Generative AI in Test Development (Continuing the Conversation), moderated by the genial Brodie Wise, PMP , that a titan such as Microsoft could candidly own up to having made less progress than anticipated and finding it particularly challenging to generate plausible distractors: it is harder to give AI credible and generalizable examples of how not do things than to ask it to generate the correct response together with the question. There were many intellectual highlights, but no-one will read this if I make it too long. Oh, one more: the vision shared by John Weiner and David Foster in Focus on the Future: Navigating the Next Decade in Testing was another Aha moment: randomization at scale will make cheating irrelevant, piloting assessment items will no longer be necessary. Bold ideas that did not resonate with everyone. In a nutshell, sure, tick that box: to learn and stay on top of new developments.

Was it the program? The lineup was intimidating, the quality of the content on offer was exceptional and enticing. The keynote with Shasta Nelson, the breakout sessions, the poster sessions, the live demos, the interactive sessions (let we quote the well-organized, highly interactive Netwalking: The Return of Fresh Air & Fresh Ideas). Undoubtedly, yes: we came for the program.

Was it the location? Well, one would be hard-put to say that Miami Beach isn’t a highly attractive setting for business travel. And both the hotel and the off-season weather were outstanding. So yes, let’s tick that box, too.

Was it networking? Perhaps that should be the primary reason. For sure, my extraordinary colleagues Devasmita Ghosh and Anubhav Nathani are aligned with me on this: hearing partner organizations say that cApStAn Linguistic Quality Control made their whole assessment localization experience a breeze is music to our ears. It was great to catch up with Carrie Abner, CAE from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), with Tara Myers, PhD, ICE-CCP, SHRM-SCP, ICF-ACC from the American Nurses Credentialing Center , Johnna Brewer Gueorguieva from the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB), Margaret Lyons from the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and many others. There was even more than reconnecting with the people we love to work with. There was a great Welcome Reception on the first day, and the credentialing community is very open, conversations spark off easily and we made new friends from Day 1. The next days, from early breakfast to coffee breaks, from lunch to dinner, we were carried by the good vibe, by mutual curiosity and respect. Thank you, PSI Services LLC and Isabelle Gonthier, PhD, ICE-CCP for the unforgettable rooftop event, where camaraderie took over. cApStAn had a booth, participated in the raffle organized by Lineup , and organized a language game (congratulations to Tom, the winner of the book Writing Beyond Writing?--?Lessons from Endangered Alphabets, by Tim Brookes ). And we talked to rising stars, veterans and pioneers: stay tuned for the short live interviews with industry titans that will be online soon. I am sure it is clear by now: tick that box, too. Networking was a prime reason for attending.

Was it my speaking engagement? Usually that is one key reason of attending a conference, isn’t it? But when I have the privilege to present Generative AI, the Augmented SME and the Augmented Translator: large language model assessment development in multiple languages with Steve Shapiro , CEO and Sara Vispoel , Chief Assessment and Learning Officer at Finetune (A Prometric Company) , then the presentation can become a pivotal moment where, for the first time, we could connect the dots between AIG and multilingualism for a select audience. So yes, lets tick that box as well.

The Institute for Credentialing Excellence Exchange 2024 is a conference that one attends for multiple reasons and, in this case, each objective was attained, and expectations were exceeded on several counts. So, when asked to state the primary reason for attending, if there had been and “All of the above” button, that is the one I would have selected.