Learning Exec Introductions

Welcome to the Introductions Page for Learning Executives and Directors Learning Lab!  Please feel free to post a picture and brief bio of yourself below.  This will assist us all in getting to know each other.

Robin Eisenberg

Learning and Development Manager

Pearson VUE 

Bala Cynwyd, PA (with corporate office in Bloomington, MN)

610-617-5235

robin.eisenberg@pearson.com

Pearson VUE is the global leader in electronic testing for state governments, certification organizations, IT, academic, and government clients. In short, we develop, deliver, score, and report on examinations that are used to qualify individuals for jobs, graduate school, drivers safety, etc. 

My role in the organization is to manage, design, and deliver learning opportunities for both our corporate and distributed employees in the US. (I have a recent counterpart in the UK.) We have about 2500 employees in the US. I have a department of 2 - myself and a coordinator/LMS admin. I'm relatively new to the learning management function, however I've been associated with my company for a little over 20 years. I have content expertise and credibility. I'm now in the process of developing my learning management skills, jargon, and expectations. 

In the last year, we developed over 20 short eLearning courses on a variety of first-time manager topics, a course on email communication, new employee orientation, and several company-specific courses. I also work with vendors, consultants, and universities to deliver our training. In the last 18 months, our population has completed over 5000 course sessions.

Shannon Tipton

Learning and Development Manager

Ambius

Buffalo Grove, IL

847-634-4259

email: shannon.tipton@ambius.com

To learn more about Ambius and how we "Enhance the Workplace" click here ambius.com

I have been with Ambius North America for 6 months and am responsible for kick starting their learning program.  While I may have been with Ambius for 6 months, I have been involved in Training and Development for over 15 years, most recently with Brunswick Bowling and Billiards where I managed the learning and development function for all levels of employee; from the hourly personnel to the senior leadership.  This would be the second time I'm building a Training Department from the ground up - guess I'm a glutton for punishment!  :-)

There are complex challenges within the organization mostly because Ambius has a very dispersed population and the learning needs are all encompassing.  We have 1500 employees in 42 locations from DC to San Francisco to Toronto, Canada.  Therefore, my focus is on creating learning programs which are interactive, engaging and e-learning based.  The secondary challenge, but no less important, is that we are a global company with our parent company based in the UK.  While my focus at this point is North America, I have already been challenged by the leadership in London to create Leadership Development modules for the other communities. 

Going to ICE helped tremendously.  I was able to make contacts with vendors and participants which will be invaluable in making programs that are not only sustainable but suited to my customers reagrdless of the country they reside in. I look forward to talking with you all, sharing ideas and challenges. 

Doug Upchurch

Head of Community Development/CLO at Insights Learning and Development

email:  dupchurch at insights.com

phone:  512-371-9200 x102

I have been with Insights for 8 years.  I am responsible for the global Learning and Development needs for our Internal (Approximately 200 people) and External Community (Approximately 5,000 people).  My primary focus is on ensuring these individuals have the skills and knowledge to work with our products and services in the field.  My team is also responsible for all internal communications around our strategy, global projects, and processes/best practices.  Prior to joining Insights, I spent 10 years in the IT Training Industry including 2 years as Executive Director of the IT Training Association.  I live in Austin, TX and have been involved with ASTD locally since 1999. 

Herb Cohen

Chairman, Performance Connections International (PCI),  Bedford, NY

For the past several years, I've been responsible for the research, development and the launching of PCI's  engagement leadership and customer engagement solutions.  Prior to PCI, I was a founder and COO of MOHR Development, founder and CEO of MOHR Retail Learning Systems and  a founder and Goup President of Provant.  I now live in Maine and remain active in ISA, where I am a past President.

Brian DeVeney

Training & Development Manager

Omaha Steaks

briand@omahasteaks.com

402.597.8309 

About Omaha Steaks:

Many of you are familiar with Omaha Steaks or can guess by the name what we do, but here's a little about our organization.  We sell premium food products delivered to your door.  We are based in Omaha with about 2,000 employees.  We are a fifth-generation, family-owned company (started in 1917).  We like to own the customer experience, so we control virtually all of the value chain from sales to production, distribution and customer service.  Only the final step (delivering to your door) is handled by a vendor.  We sell a lot more than steaks, so if you're curious about other products, visit our website (www.omahasteaks.com).

My role and team:

I oversee the learning function at Omaha Steaks.  I have a staff of six and we currently focus on new hire training for sales and customer service call center employees, new hire training program design and materials for retail store, distribution center and production employees, leadership classes and

orientation for the entire organization.  We have recently began dabbling in performance improvement and managing organizational changes.  So far, so good.

Some of the challenges we face:

• We double in size for about six weeks during the holiday season.
• We are a relatively new function - six years ago each area managed most of their own training (with the exception of leadership) and so we have the opportunity (and challenge) of defining ourselves.
• Because of our size, we have to balance being responsible for all employees (call center, production, management - each audience posses very different challenges) and not spending too much time and money creating a formal system for a relatively small number of employees.

What I hope to get out of this:

I'm most interested in selecting and defining our services and role in the organization.  Currently, I'm looking at adding managing organizational knowledge and continuing to build HPI processes.  I'm starting very small and simple.  Along the way, I have a second goal, measuring impact.  We all know the reasons, but in addition to making a case for our value, I want to measure best practices as we build our expertise in new areas and decide if we really should be in the business of some of our potential offerings.

Wes Stockmann

Performance Development Manager

OZ Accountability Champion

Nicholas and Company

wstockmann at nicholasandco.com

801-530-5297

I also created my dept. in 2006 with a team of 2 others to support a company of 500 team members.  We are a broadline FoodService distributor with a sales and transportation operation spanning 7 states; www.nicholasandco.com  Our current initatives are a cultural transformation process that we chose Partners in Leadership to help with in the first year, and now in year 2, we have OZ Accountability Champions and continue to see amazing results.  Developing new leaders, and making high performance leaders, is our second priority, as we have double-digit growth and 2% unemployement in our market.  At my previous firm, I completed a 4 year leadership development program, and have been lucky to have several heavyweight mentors.