7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome Opening and Introduction to the Best Practices Conference
— Greg Marsello, Vice-President, Learning Resources Network

9:00 – 9:30 a.m. 21st Century Challenges in Lifelong Learning
— Paul Franklin, Senior Consultant, Learning Resources Network

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. LERN’s Best Practices for Lifelong Learning
— Greg Marsello, Paul Franklin, Julia King-Tamang
LERN’s most important Best Practices in Lifelong Learning will be revealed, setting the context for the conference.

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Morning Break

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Creating Your Best Practices
Action Plan
Assess your program’s strengths and weaknesses against best practice areas and begin to create your “take home” action plan. You will continue building your plan over the entire Conference.

11:30 a.m. — Noon Introduction of Best Practice Panelists
Meet our expert practitioners and discover the best practices they use to lead their programs to great success.

Noon – 1:00 p.m. Luncheon

1:00 — 2:30 p.m. Panel Discussions
Pick one of two simultaneous panels

Panel One: Operating Like a Business:
Planning for Financial Success
Moderator: Paul Franklin, LERN Senior Consultant
Panelists: Amy Lane, Mike Rainey, Russ Mills
Effective planning is the cornerstone for financial success. All of our practitioners use LERN financial planning processes and all operate programs that are financially self-sufficient and that make an annual surplus. Learn how they apply the right financial, budgeting and oversight strategies. Discover how they set benchmarks to track and measure success at all levels of their operations.

Panel Two: Finding the Right Product Mix:
Strategies for Effective Programming
Moderator: Julia King-Tamang
Panelists: Kim Johnson, Jan Wahl, Kim Halpern
Deploying a series of LERN programming techniques and benchmarks, our practitioners have all created programming models that foster winners and limit loser courses and events. See how they plan, select, manage and evaluate programming for maximum success.

2:30 – 2:45 p.m. Break

2:45 — 4:15 p.m. Panel Discussions
Pick one of two simultaneous panels

Panel Three: The Wave of Now and the Future — Technology-Based Learning
Moderator: Julia King-Tamang
Panelists: Jan Wahl, Rita Martinez-Purson, Mike Rainey
Online courses, webcasts, blogs, discussion boards and social networking – what are the best practices in the use of technology for learning? Hear who uses what and how. Get savvy about the techonology challenges of the day and the best way to get started. Early adopters will share their experiences and how their efforts have panned out. Raise questions and start your own technology plan.

Panel Four: On Being a Data-Driven Organization
Moderator: Paul Franklin
Panelists: Tom Leaverton, Kim Halpern, Doug Soo
Data drive decision making for all of our expert practitioners at every level of their programs. Discover what data they collect, how and why. Hear how they wrestle key data out of reluctant IT departments and unfriendly registration systems. Get the key benchmarks they use and ask them how they use these data to track, monitor and measure success of their operations, marketing and programming efforts.

4:15 — 5:15 p.m. Bonus Session (Optional)
LERN’s Software Tools: Your Resources for Success — Greg Marsello
Test run LERN software tools that help you plan and operate your programs and that are available to LERN
members. Tools include segmentation and carrier route analysis, programming tools and a virtual office system.

4:15 — 6:00 p.m. Individual Consulting
Time for optional one-on-one access to individual panelists.
Get your questions answered, delve deeper into best practices and/or work further on your action plan. Sign-up to meet with the expert(s) of your choice.

6:00 p.m. Dinner on your own

7:30 — 9:00 p.m. 2009 Best Practices Olympics
Gather with other participants, LERN staff and our expert panelists for a time of fun and games, laughs, surprises, prizes and dessert. You can’t miss this first ever LERN version of the Olympic games!

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast and optional consulting with individual experts

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Action Planning
Designated time to work on your personal action plan to take home and implement. LERN staff and practitioner
panelists will be available to work with you individually.

9:00 — 10:30 a.m. Panel Discussions
Pick one of two simultaneous panels

Panel Five: Right on the Money – Corporate and Contract Training: Selling Strategies that Work
Moderator: Julia King-Tamang
Panelists: Amy Lane, Kim Johnson, Pat Hoyt
Corporate and contract training are big financial producers for all of our leading practitioners. Learn how they position their programs for success, how they staff for maximum success and sell for maximum dollars.
Here about the tools, templates and benchmarks they use to keep on track and leverage added success. Ask them for their best tips for success.

Panel Six: Hitting the Target – Marketing Strategies that Promote Efficiency and Growth
Moderator: Paul Franklin
Panelists: Tom Leaverton, Kim Halpern, Doug Soo
Being market driven and customer focused are the hubs for success for our top-performing programs. All deploy target marketing strategies that keep them focused on their most valued and valuable customers. Hear how specific target marketing techniques boost enrollments while reducing overall marketing expenses. Learn how they use key data to make marketing decisions and drive more dollars to the bottom line.
Ask how they create customer loyalty and build high customer repeat rates.

10:30 — 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. — Noon One Panel. All attend.
Panel Seven: Winning with Central Administration
Moderator: Greg Marsello
Panelists: Rita Martinez-Purson, Doug Soo, Pat Hoyt
Internal marketing, particularly with central administration, plays a major role in the success of all of our expert practitioners. Hear how they win over central administration and get the resource commitments they
need to expand, grow and make their programs big successes. Discover how to involve all staff in internally
marketing your lifelong learning program.

Noon — 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 — 2:30 p.m. Panel Discussions
Pick one of two simultaneous panels

Panel Eight: Strategies for Success in Workforce Development
Moderator: Julia King-Tamang
Panelists: Mike Rainey, Pat Hoyt, Kim Johnson
Workforce development could be your most influential program area in troubled times. Our expert panelists have each created model programs that produce skilled workers in good and bad economic times. Hear how they assess regional workforce needs and create the right mix of services for workforce development initiatives. Learn how they leverage partnerships with government, business and industry.

Panel Nine: A Solid Foundation: Staffing and Organization Structure
Moderator: Greg Marsello
Panelists: Rita Martinez-Purson, Amy Lane, Russ Mills
All of our practitioners have retooled their organizations and restructured their staff along the path of building
highly successful operations. Learn how they have implemented LERN’s organizational and staffing models and the differences made. Discover how they benchmark and evaluate for continued success. Ask them how they achieved central administration support for major change and overcame organizational and staff resistance.

2:30 – 2:45 p.m. Break

2:45 — 4:00 p.m.
Panel Ten: Addressing 21st Century Trends and Challenges
Panelists: All Panelists and all LERN staff
The trends and challenges encountered by practitioners around North America will be addressed by our practitioner panelists. Bring your toughest challenges and also expect a surprise or two in this session.

4:15 — 5:30 p.m. Bonus Session (Optional)
Web-Based Software: The Only Solution — Greg Marsello
Receive a hands-on demonstration of the LUMEN’s webbased registration software system.

4:00 — 6:00 p.m. Individual Consulting Sessions

6:15 p.m. Dinner Groups Depart

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast and optional consulting with individual experts

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Lean on LERN
— Greg Marsello
A look at LERN services and how they can support your program and your best practice efforts.

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Action Planning
Complete your best practices action plan to take home and apply. LERN staff and practitioner panelists will be there to help you.

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 – Noon Panel of Panelists
Moderator: Paul Franklin
Panelists: All Panelists
All panelists gather to provide their concluding thoughts and to answer any and all questions you have about specific best practices strategies and techniques.

Noon Adjourn

12:30 – 5:30 p.m. (Optional) Arizona Sonora Desert
Museum/Saguaro National Monument
Start your afternoon with lunch on your own at one of the museums restaurants then explore the grounds at
your own pace. On your ride to the museum you’ll pass through Saguaro National Park, home to the enormous
cacti that takes 75 years before they grow their first arms.

Transportation is included (lunch on your own). $39/person