ASTD Is Changing the Way We Serve the Learning Profession

During the past 18 months the staff at national ASTD have been restructuring our organization to lay the groundwork for a new way of serving our members and the broader community of workplace learning professionals. I’m excited to share with you what these changes mean.

You may have seen some messages in the January and February issues of T+D referencing a change coming to “your ASTD.” That message is the crux of what we have set out to do. Our goal is to bring you tailored content and resources that help you do your job better, that serve your needs, and that help you grow and develop in areas that matter to you.

We are realigning the way we serve you through the adoption of a Community of Practice model.

In the 69 years that ASTD has been in existence, we’ve seen the workplace learning profession grow and change to meet the needs of business. The people we serve are no longer just “training men” in the petrochemical field. Today there are designers, learning technology specialists, leadership development experts, line managers tasked with their teams’ development, and senior learning leaders responsible for aligning learning and development efforts to their organizations’ strategic objectives.

ASTD produces a lot of content. We have books and research, webcasts and conferences, and toolkits and competency models. The one-size-fits-all approach to how we deliver this content simply doesn’t work. We want to serve you better.

Our Community of Practice model is designed to provide you tailored service. Our new website—launching this month—will feature Community pages designed specifically with your needs in mind. You’ll select which Communities of Practice are most relevant to you, and find the resources targeted to your needs.

In the coming months in this spaceyou’ll meet the Community managers, who will share more about their specific focus and what they will provide to you.

I’m excited about the new ASTD and how we will better serve the learning profession. I invite you to share your thoughts as you get to know your ASTD.