Want to hear the worst kept secret in town? It’s back to school time in Atlanta! It’s time for the kids to go back to class, and time for them to learn. But what about us? We never stop learning, right? So this is a good time to refocus on your own professional development, and here’s what ATD has up our sleeve to help you.

• The Neuroscience of Engagement. This afternoon webinar will introduce you to key neuroscience techniques that can be applied to shift your and your team’s mind set with remarkable results. Set aside an hour to dive in with us.
  
• Behavioral Interviewing Workshop. Robb Bingham will lead an interactive session to help you demonstrate in interviews how results-oriented you are. When that next career opportunity comes your way, this session will really pay off.
  

Plus, we have a few other events that are still in the works, but they are such great opportunities, I couldn’t wait to give you a peek:

• Leadership Blind Spots Workshop. Recently, Dale Carnegie has compiled research on areas where leaders fall short, the impact on their organizations, and ways to overcome these issues to drive employee retention and satisfaction. And now they are offering this as a professional development event. This workshop will be offered at Carnegie’s Atlanta location on September 28.
  
• E-learning Workshop. Who isn’t familiar with Allen Interactions—an icon of our industry who appeared on the Top 20 Content Development Companies List for 2017?!? We all know they do great work. How would you like an opportunity to learn directly from their team? We are in the process of putting this workshop together in partnership with Allen Interactions to help you grow your e-learning skillset.
  

Details on both of these events will follow soon.

OK, how about the other worst kept secret in town—ACE 2018 was a huge success! We had approximately 200 people in attendance, which included 23 speakers, 27 sponsors and exhibitors, and dozens of non-members who joined us for our premiere event. Special thanks to Mary Kay Willcox for leading the army of 30 volunteers that it took to pull this event off. What a great way to cap off the summer together!

For the rest of what’s coming up this year, take a look the event calendar. Our team works hard to put together events and resources throughout the year to help you further your professional development. But you know, there is an even better way to boost your own PD: consider sharing your knowledge with your peers! We have such a depth of talent in our chapter—chances are good that YOU have a specialty, an expertise, and an idea that would benefit us all if you would share it. This would be a great professional development opportunity for you. Would you consider presenting at an upcoming chapter or Community of Practice meeting? To look into this, check out the speaker’s information page. It’s a chance to enhance your career, yourself, your peers, and our chapter.

Julie Padgett
Chapter President