The following post is by Diane Fox (ATD Detroit President Elect), sent live from the ATD International Conference and Expo (ICE) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Day 3 started on a positive note by participants learning the upside of stress. It might have been pouring outside, butit didn't stop anyone from pushing through to get to the convention hall.

In the second keynote session, Dr. Kelly McGonigal - famous for her Ted Talk about how stress is actually good for people -expanded on the notion that there is really no such thing as bad stress. Kelly's research suggests that in stressful moments people can accept and harness the stress, let it bring out our best selves, and learn and grow from it. What talent development professional doesn't want to learn and grow from their experiences? Kelly also noted positively that stress makes us kinder, more social, and makes us want to help others.  Her charge for us - turn stress into energy that we can use.

Concurrent sessions continued today with the longest day of the conference and literally hundreds of options to choose from.  The big buzz around today's sessions came from Bob Pike and Becky Pike Pluth, who in separate sessions demonstrated a great trainer's toolkit and used UMU.com for interactivity in sessions. 

 Several board members attended the #leadlikeagirl session lead by Tacy Byham, CEO of DDI.  Tacy inspired the women (and men) who attended the session to understand that there is a confidence/competence link and gave four action steps for women to continue to lead strongly. It was truly inspiring and I'm charged up to bring these lessons back home!

Tonight, about a quarter of the 10,000 attending the conference will expand their professional network in the brand new Georgia Aquarium. They will mix and mingle with each other, and perhaps some new exotic friends! They will have access to over 500 exhibits and there will be no shortage of food, fun, and dancing!