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Welcome to Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue
Greetings!
If you're planning any sightseeing in Edinburgh, you just might benefit from the Edinburgh Pass - see opposite. And to those of you who commented on the Keynote vs Powerpoint article in our last E-newsletter, thanks very much. If you missed that article and would like another copy, please just ask. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the rest of this month's commentary. Kind regards Mike Glaire |
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Thank You for Your
Suggestions 
In a temporary diversion from our
comments on presentations and the joys of learning & development,
we'd just like to say another big thank you to those of you who kindly
took the time to complete our survey last September.
Keen to know
how we could improve our services, we were delighted to get some
comments and feedback that we could act upon - some quickly and others
still in the pipeline. So here's a little taster ...
More...
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Achieving Business Focused L & D 
Over the past 6 months, increasing column inches have been given to how important it is for you as Learning & Development professionals to align yourselves more closely to your organisation's business objectives... to have increased dialogue with the business as a whole; to understand the needs of the business and be able to deliver against those needs.
And now a rush of advice has begun on how exactly you should do it. The question though - is this useful advice or condescending waffle?
More...
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Thank You for Your Suggestions
In a temporary diversion from our comments on presentations and the joys of learning & development, we'd just like to say another big thank you to those of you who kindly took the time to complete our survey last September.
Keen to know how we could improve our services, we were delighted to get some comments and feedback that we could act upon - some quickly and others still in the pipeline. So here's a little taster ...
New Signage
 Following several suggestions to improve our signage both inside and outside the building, you'll now find much clearer and more modern signs throughout the building, indicating where you are and directing you to the appropriate destination.
There is also new, brighter signage externally to help you find us more easily. Please let us know what you think - have we cracked it?
Boost to Internet Cafe
 By popular demand the Internet Café was refurbished and extended at the beginning of the year. There are now 5 PC's available for you to use, all of which have new, wall-mounted screens and excellent broadband delivery.
And we may extend this area further still ... we're carefully monitoring the usage of the Internet Cafe and if the need is there, we'll be happy to add more PC's.
Chairs
18 months ago, believe it or not, we actually looked at different re-foaming and padding options for our current stacking chairs from 2 or 3 different suppliers. We found that none of the options made any real impact or improvement to the chairs.
And then in the survey there were several requests for adjustable chairs with better support.
So, we asked four different suppliers to give us their best chairs to try and commissioned 20 of our regular instructors to test them.
The chair with the greatest votes - an office chair on wheels, adjustable in three ways and with extremely good lower back support - was then tested by a further 250 delegates in various rooms and layouts over a period of two months.
With a resoundingly positive response, over the next few months we will be getting more of these new chairs so that every delegate will sit on an a fully adjustable office chair with wheels. The only exception will be for theatre layouts or very large groups where we will use the conventional stacking chairs.
Please don't think we're obsessive about this, but do tell us what you think of the chairs!
Disabled Access
If you use a wheelchair, you'll be pleased to know a new handrail has been fitted along the ramp leading into the restaurant. Not exactly exciting we know but nonetheless a useful aid if you prefer to hold a rail.
Further Improvements
We are planning further improvements to the centre and will update you in due course. In the meantime do get in touch if you have any further suggestions - our ears our firmly open!
And thanks again to those of you who took part in the survey.
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Achieving Business Focused L & D
Over the past 6 months, increasing column inches have been given to how important it is for you as Learning & Development professionals to align yourselves more closely to your organisation's business objectives... to have increased dialogue with the business as a whole; to understand the needs of the business and be able to deliver against those needs.
And now a rush of advice has begun on how exactly you should do it. The question though - is this useful advice or condescending waffle?
Writing for Training Journal in March, Jackie Smith* asserts that numerous articles and books point to the need to move away from the provision of transactional services or a training menu and instead become strategic consultants.
Strategic Consultants?
Yes - it seems the L & D press agree that as an L& D professional, you should be playing a role in the formulation and development of strategy rather than just implementing component parts. Working with the business to determine future trends and providing relevant, tailored solutions. Becoming a credible strategic partner with a systemic rather than a reactive approach.
In their "Aligning learning to the needs of the organisation" factsheet, the CIPD highlight three opportunities for L & D professionals to maintain this alignment ... - Involvement in regular formal business planning processes
- Influencing decision makers to undertake learning in order to meet emergent business priorities
- Regular, informal and constructive dialogue with managers to find out how different parts of the organisation are performing - the hot issues and the priorities.
But how?
Whilst the CIPD suggests that you may need to develop a more strategic and commercial skill set to succeed as a strategic consultant, Training Journal in both March and April offer some specific advice on how to get started.
Jackie Smith says you need to understand how to use the consulting process to demonstrate your credibility. Amongst other actions, you need to ... Establish how your "client" sees things by building contact - get yourself invited to key meetings, get an overview of your client's vision, drivers and constraints so you understand the context of the issues. Don't accept what a client says at face value - probe with problem and need questions to understand what's really going on. Turn the ideas into action - use your management and persuasion skills to get buy-in from stakeholders, and maintain momentum in the face of competing projects and the "day job". Achieve closure and follow up - organise a "sign-off" meeting with your client to agree how you will withdraw from the project, building in your evaluation of the impact of the solution.
More ideas Steve Macaulay and Sarah Cook offer further advice in April's Training Journal. They suggest that when conducting learning needs analysis, as L & D professionals you should question line managers to determine their overall goals and strategy and how the learning intervention will relate to these.
And once again you should be more aware of the overall vision and strategy. You could read about the strategy process, find out how it works in your own organisation, get closer to it by offering to facilitate discussions around it, or even find a mentor who has experience of the strategic process and ask for comments and insights.
So - Useful or Condescending? You tell us! Send us an email to give us your views.
And if you're interested in seeing the fact sheet from the CIPD, click here.
* Jackie Smith is a senior consultant for communication and business relationship skills specialist Speak First.
* Steve Macaulay is a learning and development consultant at Cranfield School of Management
* Sarah Cook is MD of strategic leadership and customer management specialist The Stairway Consultancy. |
Edinburgh's "Sightsee til you Drop" Pass 
Well ok it's not really called that, but its real name - Edinburgh Pass - doesn't really do justice to the 23 attractions, 11 tours and 4 exhibitions to which you get free entry, and the special discounts you get with 10 transport & tour companies, 5 eating & drinking establishments, 9 gift shops and 3 entertainment experiences!
AND you get free return airport transfers with Airlink Express. So is this a bargain purely for visitors to Edinburgh, or useful for locals too?
How does it work?
Valid for 1, 2 or 3 consecutive days, this is the must have sightseeing pass for visitors, allowing you to experience quick and hassle-free entrance to top attractions and transport and save money at the same time.
Of course you'll need to be organized and fit as many activities into your day or days as possible, but if you've got a few things you'd like to see and do, or you have friends visiting, why not!
So whether you're into history, haunted tours, culture, nature or full on fun, the Pass just might be a sensible purchase.
Pricing
At £26.50, £39 and £51.50 for the 1,2,and 3 day passes, VisitScotland claim you will enjoy average savings of between £30 and £60 on entrance fees, tours, shopping, transport, entertainment and food.
And if you have children between the ages of 5 and 15, the Child Pass is £17, £25 and £33.
Top Attractions?
You won't be surprised to see Edinburgh Zoo and Edinburgh Dungeon in that list (£29 entry for the two attractions). But what about Camera Obscura & World of Illusions?
This unique experience is one of the most popular attractions, not least because of its location on the Royal Mile. It's in that Victorian building known as the Eye in the Sky, where you can enjoy spectacular 360° rooftop panoramas with free telescopes.
And then according to Jill Brownell, Manager of the Edinburgh Pass for VisitScotland, another four attractions consistently score well, amongst them ...
Botanic Gardens Glasshouses - Keen gardeners cannot believe the sheer volume of glasshouses and flora they contain. The main house alone is 128 m (420 ft) long and 18.25 m (60 ft) wide with all the supporting structure on the outside, so the internal area can be used to full effect. It covers two levels, five climatic zones and ten glasshouses in all!
Auld Reekie Terror Tour - Known as Edinburgh's scariest, most haunted underground ghost tour, this night time attraction is not suitable for under 18s! You'll see history at its darkest and most gruesome with a medieval torture museum, working witchcraft temple, legendary haunted vault and misogynistic poltergeist.
Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World - to counter the horrors of the Terror Tour, here is a great hands on attraction for the kids. The World's longest running Butterfly World houses hundreds of free flying butterflies in a large indoor rainforest.
In addition your children could come face-to-face with lizards, giant snakes, poisonous frogs, jumping locusts and glow-in-the-dark scorpions as well as take part in daily animal handling sessions with a giant millipede, snake and a tarantula!
Have fun!
For more information about the Edinburgh Pass, click here
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Edinburgh's
"Sightsee til you Drop" Pass
Well ok it's not really called that, but its real name - Edinburgh Pass - doesn't really do justice to the 23 attractions, 11 tours and 4 exhibitions to which you get free entry, and the special discounts you get with 10 transport & tour companies, 5 eating & drinking establishments, 9 gift shops and 3 entertainment experiences!
AND you get free return airport transfers with Airlink Express. So is this a bargain purely for visitors to Edinburgh, or useful for locals too?
More...
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