ATD 2023 - A SHORT REVIEW

The Association for Talent Development's (ATD) 2023 International Conference and EXPO has come to a successful conclusion. This landmark event was held in the stunning city of San Diego, California, providing an immersive platform for over 13,000 Learning and Development professionals from across the globe to converge for four days of deep collaboration, vibrant networking, and insightful learning

The keynote speeches left a lasting impression. Adam Grant, the renowned organizational psychologist and author, underscored the power of unlearning, sharing his personal narrative of missed opportunities due to preconceived notions. His talk served as a reminder for us leaders to continually question and reevaluate our assumptions and traditional practices.

Strategic advisor and author Priya Parker brought to light the significance of purposeful gatherings. Her message was clear: to transform group experiences, we must be intentional about our roles, whether as hosts or attendees, and about the objectives of our gatherings.

Leslie Odom Jr., the Tony and Grammy award-winning artist, offered a unique perspective on success. His conversation, albeit a bit unexpected in its format, emphasized giving one's all – a percentage that may vary day by day – and the courage to embrace failure as an integral part of the journey. It was an unconventional session, with the interviewer working hard to extract nuggets of wisdom that we could apply in our field. Some of us found it a bit challenging to draw immediate connections, but his viewpoints offered food for thought.

One of the remarkable aspects of ATD 2023 was the range of activities it offered. The conference was a rich tapestry of diverse workshops, expert panel discussions, and comprehensive activities, providing something of interest for every attendee. However, it was quite clear that Artificial Intelligence (AI), and particularly generative AI, stood out as one of the most attended streams. The buzz around OpenAI's GPT-3 was palpable, and I found it intriguing that I seemed to have a more in-depth understanding of this AI model than many of the speakers. While this might seem surprising to some, it's a testament to the rapid pace of AI development and the need for continuous learning in this field.

Despite the high interest in AI, I found some of the sessions lacked a well-defined purpose. For instance, a few sessions merely demonstrated how to mimic the voice of the popular rapper, Snoop Dogg, using AI or how to extract information from Wikipedia. While these are fascinating applications, they don't fully represent the potential of AI in Learning and Development. Many professionals I spoke to were keen to understand how AI can be leveraged to save time, optimize resources, and effectively create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) among other applications.

One of my personal highlights of the conference was the session led by Jeb Blount, an acclaimed sales acceleration specialist. His presentation was nothing short of dynamic and engaging. Despite having prepared a formal presentation, Blount chose to deviate from the script and opened the floor to questions. He provided candid, insightful feedback on how to address some of the challenges that the group was facing. This candidness resonated strongly with the audience, providing us with actionable insights that we could apply to our own contexts.Another memorable moment was a session conducted by the Kirkpatrick family, the pioneers of the globally recognized Kirkpatrick Model of training evaluation. Their insights were incredibly enlightening, reminding me that while the Kirkpatrick Model may have been developed decades ago, there is still so much more we can do to optimize its use for driving change within organizations.

The EXPO floor was a bustling hub of activity, packed with vendors each providing a unique blend of AI and traditional services. These services ranged from AI-enhanced Learning Management Systems to AI-driven video creation, coaching, and microlearning solutions. Although the foot traffic reduced noticeably on the second and third days, the EXPO offered unique networking opportunities with delightful indulgences such as peanut butter whiskey and champagne being served.

One of the standout moments of the conference was the networking night at the San Diego Padres baseball stadium. It was a truly magnificent experience filled with innumerable networking opportunities. The sheer scale of the event was awe-inspiring and provided an excellent backdrop for forging new professional relationships.

In conclusion, ATD 2023 was a truly enriching experience. The conference encouraged us to rethink old assumptions, optimize our gatherings, and create new measures for success . It served as a powerful reminder that creating a world that works better isn't just a lofty ideal, but a necessary goal that we can all strive towards. Above all, the conference provided a robust platform for establishing lasting connections and exploring new market opportunities for our products. I look forward to bringing these insights into my work and witnessing the continued evolution of the Learning and Development field!