145 - (Washington, DC - PCWeek Shootout on Learning Technology)

1. PCWeek-MASIE Center-ADL Shootout Underway: I have been in Washington,
DC to visit the PCWeek-MASIE Center-ADL Shootout that is now in progress.
This is an exciting new model for a "shoot-out", bringing together two dozen
corporate and government training managers with seven developers of Learning
Management Systems. Each vendor has been asked to present their best
solution for managing and delivering learning events via the web. Judges
include representatives of the Department of Defense's ADL effort and
TechLearn Collaborative Members (including Chase Manhattan, McDonalds,
Arthur Anderson and University of Wisconsin). Vendors participating in this
event include: Lotus, Teamscape, Asymetrix, Docent and others. The judges
have been drilling down each of the vendors, as they look "under the hood"
of the technology to see how it aligns with their current and future
requirements. A summary will be published in PCWeek in mid-November. We
will be sharing the judge's evaluation scoresheet next week in Trends.

2. Bush (The Music Group) Sells Songs for 99 Cents On-Line - We have been
tracking the music industries pricing practices as an indicator of the move
towards on-line, granular content sales. This morning the music group,
Bush, offered a hit single for 99 cents as a downloadable file over the
internet. Let's see how many folks step up the bar to buy music in this
format. Check out your own (and teenager's) opinion about buying music in
this format.

3. Sales.Com Example of Vertical Community and Learning Portal: Go to
http://www.sales.com and look at this new portal site that has been aimed at
sales executives. This is an example of a vertical community and even
learning portal. The idea is to offer information and tools on-line
designed to engage and involve sales professionals on an on-going basis.
The goal of the site is to offer a compelling community of interest for a
profession that will evolve into an active work and learning center. Watch
for similar sites to hit the internet in public formats, with internal
versions of these portals offered to corporations.

4. TechLearn '99 Highlights Difficulty of Learning Decisions: As we
countdown to TechLearn '99, we are hearing from our attendees about the
difficulty of key Learning Decisions that they are facing. A recent
dialogue with a sample of TechLearn attendees highlight these decisions they
are facing:

- How to blend classroom delivery with on-line options?
- How to change the curriculum development process for on-line learning?
- How to make a technology "bet" in a turbulent and rapidly changing
marketplace?
- How to align training more tightly with business goals, activities and
language?
- How to develop the skills of the learning professionals to function in the
increasingly digital context?
- How to evaluate the difference between "cool" and "effective" in new
learning
products, services and technologies?

These issues will be the core of the dialogues at TechLearn '99. We only
have
162 spaces open at the Conference (Oct 31 to Nov 3 - Orlando, Florida).
Join
us for a high energy, non-trade show, exchange on these Learning Decisions.
Go to http://www.techlearn.com for complete information and registration.



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