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 2 started with such passion and excitement. Thousands of Talent Development professionals waited in line to get into a crowded theater to hear first from Tony Bingham, ATD President. 

Tony's key message was for organizations to continue to embrace micro-learning. We need to rethink how we are delivering micro-learning so that it's more than a "just in time" learning solution.  

The buzz moved through Tony and into the anticipated opening keynote speakers: Mark and Scott Kelly (you might have heard of them - they're the only twin brothers who ever traveled into space!). Their funny, entertaining and informative session kept the audience intrigued as we learned about space travel and how they became successful. The key takeaways were that we should compartmentalize what we can control, and separate that from what we can't control in order to stay focused on achievable goals. They also talked about how we must always strive to take risks and work hard to achieve real success.  "If we don't take risks, we don't go anywhere."  It's an incredibly valuable message in this world!

After the keynote sessions, the expo opened this morning. The expo holds an endless supply of vendors to help Talent Development professionals meet their needs and provide critical solutions needed.  It doesn't hurt to have a bottomless supply of giveaways as well, in order to make the experience interactive and fun. We love free stuff! Concurrent sessions continue to provide us with knowledge and key takeaways that we'll surely be able to apply back home in our organizations.

ICE is awesome! You gotta come with us next year!