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A Day of Insights: Tata Learning Forum 2004

Learning NewsMPS Interactive Systems

Thanks to the support of some of its most significant clients, Tata Interactive Systems organized Tata Learning Forum 2004, a meeting of minds like never before.

In what can only be termed a resounding success, the Tata Learning Forum 2004 attracted more than 100 representatives from over 65 companies across the world. The event was organized by Tata Interactive Systems, one of the world's largest developers of custom e-learning solutions. It is the first event of its kind ever to be hosted by a custom developer of on-line learning solutions, and underscores Tata Interactive Systems' leadership position in the industry.

The event, which was held at the New Yorker Hotel in New York on Monday, 20 September 2004, comprised a series of interactive sessions and panel discussions on a wide range of issues and opportunities in e-learning. About 20 speakers and panelists participated in the action; most of them were from Fortune 500 companies representing industry segments like banking, airlines, consumer goods, defense, publishing, education, and telecom. These speakers discussed different dimensions of training and development, such as enterprise application training, simulation-based learning, story-based learning, and adaptive assessments.

The forum offered a rare opportunity for senior-level executives to interact with their industry peers, gain insights into creative solutions used elsewhere, learn about innovative training practices, and learn from the experience of some of the most successful e-learning initiatives around the world-participants hailed from the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia.

With a speaker list from companies such as American Airlines, American Honda Finance, GE, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Qantas, Thomson NETg, University of Phoenix, and UPS, it was definitely an event that was heavy on insights. As Joe Dougherty, President, Thomson NETg said, "It was a very interesting event. I personally think you get more value out of such events than any tradeshow you'll ever attend." Brian Lindquist, Dean of the Graduate Business and Management School at the University of Phoenix added, "It was interesting to know about the efforts being made by different organizations to create 'intentional learning'-learning that interested the learner and made him/her want to learn."

Manoj Kutty, Senior Vice President of Tata Interactive's North American and Asia-Pacific operations, was delighted when he said, "The turnout and the feedback on our sessions exceeded our expectations. Today's success has made us decide that this event should happen every year, and we will conduct it in different parts of the world." And that can only mean good news for the world of training and development.