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We attend lots of industry conferences these days. While they are always a fun break from the routine and a chance to meet new people, connect with colleagues and expand our knowledge, some conferences stand out above the rest. The LTEN Annual Conference is my personal favorite of all those we attend, and I have several sessions on my “can’t miss” list this year.

While BLP works across a wide range of industries, we do have many clients in the life science and medical device space. LTEN is a great chance to learn from our clients and their peers about the changing healthcare landscape while giving sessions of our own that emphasize the importance of sound adult learning and instructional design. In addition to the healthcare-focused sessions, programs like the LTEN Excellence Awards (we won with our clients at Roche in the inaugural LTEN awards program last year) are a great way to benchmark a learning curriculum and give project teams recognition for their success.

This year’s conference agenda looks great and I see several speakers I have had the opportunity to hear at a previous LTEN event. I selected my top five workshops and have listed them below. Two of them sadly occur at the same time, so you’ll have to pick one if you want to take the “BLP Track” at the conference!

1. Strategically Aligning Learning and Development with Customers’ Goals

Presented by: Michelle O’Connor, Dr. Lindsay Jubelt, Randolph Legg

Tuesday, 6/14: 10:15 – 11:45

The priorities of healthcare providers have changed quite a bit over the last 6 years. The focus on accountable care, value-based payment and risk sharing has driven this shift, and medical device sales trainers must align their sales training initiatives with HCP’s goals. If you are trying to figure out how to shift your sales competencies and learning solutions to meet the changing needs of healthcare providers, this session is for you.

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2. Play to Learn: Using Games to Drive Learner Engagement and Learning Outcomes

Presented by: Karl Kapp, Ed.D

Tuesday, 6/14: 10:15 – 11:45

If you are more interested in how emerging learning strategies such as games can be used to motivate and reinforce key skills, this session is for you. I’ve gotten to see Karl speak and facilitate several times through his learning game design workshops with BLP’s Sharon Boller, and I love how he always brings fresh research and case studies to his sessions. You will leave Karl’s session with an understanding of how game elements impact specific learning outcomes.

Games are powerful tools for crafting learning solutions that engage, motivate and reinforce key skills and techniques. Instructional designers, training managers and anyone tasked with creating learning events need to seriously consider implementing games into their learning toolkit.

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3. Sales Enablement and Beyond: Using Games and Smart Implementation to Drive Performance

Presented by: Sharon Boller, Stephanie Sullivan, myself

Wednesday, 6/15: 8:30 – 10 am

We kick off this session with a case study from a successful medical device product launch that used games throughout a phased curriculum. Then, we discuss what sales enablement learning objectives lend themselves best to a game-based approach and identify what good game design looks like. To learn how to design games that appeal to target learners, participants will use a worksheet to craft learner personas that are similar to the buyer personas that marketing departments create. The session ends with seven implementation tips you can put into practice when using games for learning.

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4. The Neuroscience Factor: Training Techniques to Impact Retention and Application

Presented by: Donna L Maier, Ph.D. and Terry Luthman

Wednesday, 6/15: 2 – 3:30 pm

I appreciate how life science trainers have a strong interest in how the workings of the human brain impact adult learning. This session promises to show how the neuroscience of attention, learning and memory impact how we obtain knowledge. This is highly useful subject matter for trainers, as retention is top of mind at many organizations these days. Most importantly, the session description says that participants will learn innovative training techniques that help spark interest and build retention.

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5. ACA and its Impact on Training in the Life Sciences

Presented by: Ryan Graver

Thursday, 6/16: 10:36 – 10:51

LTEN talks are focused, 15-minute presentations modeled after TED talks. For some topics, 15 minutes is just the right amount of time to learn a new concept, get inspired or pick up some interesting facts. If you cannot attend any of the earlier sessions on the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and how it impacts the life science industry, I encourage you to attend this talk on the final day of the conference. 15 minutes obviously isn’t enough time to get into all the details, but Ryan is a compelling speaker who will motivate you to continue learning about the changing healthcare landscape long after the conference ends.

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Bonus: Make it Stick: How to Drive Uniform Messaging After a Product Launch

Presented by: Me!

Wednesday, 6/15: 1:30 pm – 1:50 pm

Speaking of short, focused sessions… LTEN Learning Hubs are a great way to hear the latest ideas from vendors while grabbing lunch or a drink in the middle of the day. The Learning Hub agenda is full of interesting sessions and I encourage you to check it out. My session will talk about how learning science can be incorporated into the structure of a product launch curriculum to drive retention. We’ll discuss the role of mobile reinforcement apps and other tools.

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