125 - Special Report from The Hotelschool, The Hague, Netherlands

1. Hotelschool: A Model of Action Learning: We have been the guests of the
Hotelschool in the Hague, Netherlands for the past few days, as part of a
symposium on the role of training in the global hotel, food service and
hospitality industries. The Hotelschool is a delight to visit and a real
example of action learning in practice.

The students come from around the world to participate in a four year
program on every aspect of the industry. Only about 20% of their learning
takes place in traditional classrooms, with the vast majority based in
action projects, internships and very close coaching by their faculty. The
students gain fluency in a host of languages, skills in management, a polish
for dealing with a wide range of people, an entrepreneurial spirit and a set
of experiences working overseas several times during their college
experience. The leadership of the school are some of the finest educators
that I have ever encountered. They have a strong commitment to learning,
training and the development of new models of education. They are actively
involved in the lives of their students and see their task as not just
creating future hotel employees but high powered leaders. Interestingly,
more than 50% of the students will someday move from the hotel industry to
other enterprises, where their strong educational background and
understanding of service make them a treasured candidate.

Thanks to Inekek Witzel for organizing this trip. They are a great role
model for institutions of higher education around the world. Their website
is http://www.tc.nl

2. Training Tackles Child Sex Tourism Trade: While in the Netherlands, we
had the opportunity to hear how training can tackle an upsetting world
problem. Lyndall De Marco, Corporate Director of Education for the Pan
Pacific Hotel Chain, has started a project aimed at the issue of child
prostitution as part of the tourism industry. In many parts of the world,
including Asia and South America, organized travel tours use child
prostitutes, who are often sold into slavery by their families for as little
as $250. Lyndall saw the evidence of this in many of the countries where
Pan Pacific has hotels and started a project to provide training to these
young girls and boys. Her hotel chain is training a number of these young
victims so that they can get employment in the hotel industry. They are
provided lodging, classes and opportunities to work as apprentices in the
hotel. Cathy and I were deeply moved by the commitment made by Pan Pacific
and have adopted the Youth Career Development Council as one of the major
recipients for our annual TechLearn Donation. We will be circulating
additional information about YCDC later in the year, as well as hosting a
web site for their project. If there are any readers of Trends in the hotel
industry, please send a note to me at emasie@masie.com and I will hook you
up with Lyndall.

3. Learning Trends Overheard at ASTD: As we left the ASTD Conference last
week, here were some comments about the "State of Training" that I heard
from a wide range of colleagues:

- "These are very confusing times! We are seeing the PROMISE of technology,
yet it is not fully ripe yet. Our executives are already sold on the cost
effectiveness of delivering training to the desktop, BEFORE we can fully
develop the model that will work in our organization. The next year must
be a time for setting appropriate expectations and doing the innovation
necessary to make on-line learning a reality!"

- "More content! More content! We want to have hundreds of programs to
choose from. We are seeing a consolidation of players rather than an
explosion of learning choices. More content!"

- "I want to shift from training classes to performance consulting, how do I
find that job in the marketplace?"

- "What is all this technology going to cost? How will we pay for content?"

- "Is Knowledge Management REAL or just a FAD?"

- "Training is my dream job. Where else do I get to help people, tell
stories and get free food every day at lunch?"

- "The web is the most powerful tool for learning! Whenever I have a
question, a few clicks puts me in the classroom of my choosing for only as
long as it meets my needs. What a great time to be alive!"

4. The Learning Interface of the Future: TechLearn '99 Project: Have you
ever wondered what your "Learning Screen" will look like in 5 or 10 years?
Have you ever pondered what an ideal learning environment would look
like...how it would combine instruction, content, collaboration, performance
support and other features? Well, many of us have been dreaming about the
Learning Interface of the Future and YOU will have a chance to be part of a
design team at TechLearn '99. Working in small groups, we will design a
range of potential interfaces, screen views and technology applications
during TechLearn '99. These will all be placed in the "public domain" as
focus group tools for technology companies and designers to use in creating
new products. This project will involve all 2,500 TechLearn participants
in considering how technology can be used as a primary and secondary
delivery tool and what YOU would love to see on their screens for learning
resources.

Our intent is to Push the Future into a sooner product. If you would like
to help facilitate one of the design sessions at TechLearn '99, please send
me an email to emasie@masie.com We are now over 1,200 in registrations
and growing every day. To register, just go to http://www.techlearn.com
Get your design hat on!

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: (http://www.masie.com)
- The Road to On-Line Learning LAB & Seminar (Only 9 seats left) - June 21
and 22 - Washington, DC
- TechLearn '99 (Including The 1999 Computer & IT Training Convention) - Oct
31 to Nov 3 - Orlando, FL