How to Navigate Learning Tech Conferences Like a Pro (Part 1)

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 TODAY’S THOUGHTS ☠️

Hey there 👋,

With Spring in full swing, we both know what that means - conference season has begun!

The yearly game of pitches, badge scans and aching legs is about to commence.

But fret not, my friend, for I have a battle plan to share.

Today, we’ll explore the essential prep (and vendor floor questions) you need to walk away with impactful solutions, not just branded swag.

Get your tea or beverage of choice ready, 🍵.

We've got lots to discuss!

P.S. Your app might clip this edition due to size, if so, read the full edition in all its glory in your browser.

 IN THIS DROP 📔

• The questions every L&D Pro should ask on the vendor floor

• What ChatGPT really thinks of the education system

• Are we using the best design philosophy for the modern workforce?

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 THE BIG THOUGHT 👀

Before You Buy: The Questions Every L&D Pro Should Ask on the Vendor Floor

I think this is going to be the first instalment in a 3-part series we’ll unpack this month.

Today I’ll cover how to prepare before you hit the conference circus and the questions, thoughts and reflections to consider while you roam the vendor floor.

Of course, I’m going to cover the assessment of AI tools, too, but we’ll get into the weeds with that next week. In our final part, we’ll walk through how to assess your shortlist of contenders and move forward to a decision.

For now, let’s help you navigate this wild and noisy market.

What we know today

Everything is “AI-powered” but should be human-centred, although that’s not a sexy thing to say in the current climate. In my tea-infused opinion, buyers should be looking for tech solutions that are built on AI and powered by humans.

I’m an optimist at heart.

Despite the unstoppable AI craze, buying new tech, especially learning tech, is bloody hard.

I did it for 10 years across large corporate, scale-up and startup organisations.

It’s part of the game, I get that.

Yet, it often leaves buyers (and you suppliers out there - take note) confused and overwhelmed.

A $400 billion dollar game

That’s a huge number.

According to my research (shoutout to Perplexity AI 😉) $20 billion of that sits in the LMS/LXP market. The e-learning market (which I’m convinced will never die in my lifetime), which makes a significant portion of the EdTech category, is expected to reach $1 Trillion by 2032.

With these numbers, no wonder everyone is out there with an AI-powered, e-learning based, content warehouse monolith.

So, our job is to cut through this noise.

Everyone wants your $$, but you need the right dance partner. One who won’t just be another careless whisper (bonus points if you caught that reference).

That’s our big goal - find partners, not just providers.

Pre-game: Before you hit the conference floor

Before you power walk through those conference centre doors, ask yourself two essential questions:

1/ Why do we need this?

You’ve always got to start with why, right?

Challenge yourself to dig into the problem you’re solving by buying a new piece of tech. You might surprise yourself and even find it solves nothing.

This is the exact reason we start our journey with ‘why do we need this tool?’.

So, open a doc or grab a notebook and ask:

1. What problems or challenges are we trying to solve?

2. What could help us do this (features, etc)?

2/ Do we already have something that will solve the problem we have?

I find this is the least asked question.

It’s the number one reason why organisations end up with bloated technology portfolios.

It might surprise you to know that you might already have everything you need to support workplace performance. Buying a flashy new and trendy piece of tech doesn’t guarantee anything.

Well apart from a multi-year contract and yearly inflated prices that you might not get out of for a while.

Before a new purchase, I would strongly recommend you explore the features and functionality in your current tech stack before running out and buying a tool because some supplier says “Trust me, this will solve all your problems”.

A good exercise before you navigate the choppy seas of the vendor floor is a little bit of investigation work across your company to compile a list of what you’ve got.

This becomes useful later in the process when we look at connectivity across your tech stack.

It’s Game Time: The questions to consider during the ‘pitch’

Ok, you’ve clarified your intentions.

Now it’s time to lace up your comfiest shoes (trainers > work shoes, always), grab your beverage of choice, and get into the game.

My biggest piece of advice for you is…

Pick a partner, not just a provider

Getting a good product is one thing, but finding a great team that can help make that product a success for your goals is another.

That’s why we must go beyond just looking at products.

Some points to consider:

👀 Who are they?

It’s always good to know who the people are behind any tech you’re looking to buy.

I have a golden rule of picking partners and not providers, which means I look for people who know their stuff, are clued into the industry and can scale with my organisation’s journey.

So, you’ll want to know who is behind the product.

• Who builds the product?

• What previous experience do they have with learning tech and the industry at large?

• Do their credentials allow them to truly consult and know what they’re talking about? Or are they another run-of-the-mill salesperson trying to sell you a SAAS product with sub-par content and then disappear when you sign on the dotted line?

Do your research.

✅ What is their subject matter expertise?

If it’s not from the learning and education industry, then what is it?

• What products have they built before?

• Who uses them?

• And, have they been successful?

🗺️ What’s their product roadmap?

Again, something I find not often discussed, what does the team’s product roadmap look like for the next 6 – 24 months.

• How do they intend to improve the product over time?

• And are you able to feed into the roadmap with your requests?

This last one is very important for me.

If you can find a partner who will let you contribute to the roadmap as your journey scales, then you might be onto a winner.

🤔 What do their clients say?

You could ask this during the pitch, but this might be best served post-show.

If you’re starting to get serious about a few suppliers, ask for client referrals.

But don’t just stop at the ones that the suppliers will share with you.

Google is your best friend in these times, and you can find a bunch of websites that independently rate and review learning tech.

You should ask if they’ll introduce you to a few customers, too. Most suppliers have a few star customers they’ll set up a chat with.

Future-Planning: Will it work with everything else?

Interoperability with existing workplace technology is very, VERY important when it comes to making a purchase.

You must know if this tool will work with what you’ve already got.

If you have an existing HRIS, collaboration (Slack, Teams etc) and other performance tools. Can this potential new purchase connect to these? 

→ If so, how simple will that be?

Don’t get caught in the death valley of new tech purchases, where you’ve paid for your flashy new tool, only to realise it won’t connect with anything in your current tech stack.

Again, do your research.

🥇 The golden question: Can you see them as a worthy partner?

It’s hard to answer this directly after a pitch on the conference floor, but you should get a ‘feeling’.

Some organisations just want an off-the-shelf SAAS platform to stick their logo on and kick out to their people.

I get it, people have different needs and constraints.

I’ve avoided this approach my whole career. I like to cultivate partnerships with those whose products I’ll use as part of any learning tech ecosystem.

I talk to fellow learning peeps about this all the time.

Find companies that will scale with you and even tailor features and functionality for you. 

Some of the best I’ve worked with are those who had customer success teams that partnered with me beyond the technology.

I’ll often talk about strategies, new ways of thinking and creating new ideas. If you can find this, then for me, that’s a big tick in the yes column.

Your analysis so far will help you determine if any are worth a follow-up post your event.

Keep a list.

Final thoughts

This is by no means a comprehensive list.

There will be other questions that might fit specifically for your needs, but as a baseline, these are the questions I’d recommend you use.

You’ll notice I’ve not mentioned cost here, and that’s for a very good reason.

Ask that question once you have clarity on the points we’ve covered.

Next week, we’ll explore what you should ask suppliers about their AI capabilities.

→ If you’ve found this helpful, please consider sharing it wherever you hang out online, tag me in and share your thoughts.

Till next time, you stay classy, learning friend!

PS… If you’re enjoying the newsletter, will you take 4 seconds to forward this edition to a friend? It goes a long way in helping me grow the newsletter (and cut through our industry BS with actionable insights).

And one more thing, I’d love your input on how to make the newsletter even more useful for you!

So please leave a comment with:

1. Ideas you’d like covered in future editions

2. Your biggest takeaway from this edition

I read & reply to every single one of them!

 👀 ICYMI (In case you missed it!)

1. ChatGPT doesn’t mince its words when asked about the state of the education system. This was a revealing and weird Reddit thread.

2. Online education company Section releases its first AI coach product. Early days, but looks pretty basic to this tech nerd - let’s see how it develops.

3. I thought this was an interesting look into the polarising opinions of industry practitioners on how we craft experiences. With 150+ comments, this seems to have sparked the global community. Well, on LinkedIn, anyway.

 VIDEO THOUGHTS 💾

How I Reverse Engineer Ideas with AI to Learn New Skills

I’m surprised more people don’t talk about this use case with AI.

So, I decided to record my own.

There are many times when I ask myself, “How did they do that?” or “What made me behave ‘x’ way when I read this?” This came up again when I bought a course after being sent a short email.

This got me thinking, could I use AI to help me reverse engineer the triggers that influenced me to buy the course and learn about buyer psychology in the process?

Watch the video to find out how I did it.

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