ASTD 2010 International Conference and Expo Chicago Conference: a great show for public policy!

Hi there. For those of us who attended the International Conference and Expo in Chicago this year, it was great to see the public policy programming and recognition in Chicago.

Public policy programming had three sessions.

The first was on the engagement of the public workforce system and an overview of federal and state activities in the worker training area. A good review of local boards and one stop career centers was also discussed. The benefits on involvement to you and your organization were highlighted.

Our second session was a good deeper dive into state grants and tax credits. Most states in the US have programs in place to reimburse organizations for their investment in training or in hiring employees for their organization. Working with state agencies directly is the key, and many examples were discussed.

The third session was a panel discussion with ASTD members whose organizations had benefited directly from their participation in federal, state or local workforce systems. The goal was to highlight the importance of each level of government engagement.

And lastly, the ASTD Public Policy Council received the ASTD-Staff Partnership Award at the awards program on Monday night which was highlighted by the team's efforts with Congressional Conversations at last year's conference in Washington, DC. The announcement was in the awards program guide handed out that evening.

Over the summer, the policy team will continue to meet with key members of Congress and their staffs about WIA reauthorization, Section 127 of the IRS code and other training related legislation. We will continue to post updates to this blog.

And, if you're a chapter leader, don't forget that we will be going back to Capitol Hill this fall with a pre-conference day to the ALC Chapter Leaders Conference. Join us for Congressional Conversation 2.0!