Training’s TechLearn 2025 Conference kicked off in true New Orleans style last month—with attendees groovin’ behind a brass Second Line Band that led the way to the Innovations in Training (IIT) Test Kitchen.
The excitement and high energy continued over the next two days for the nearly 400 Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who band- ed together to learn in nearly 40 IIT Test Kitchen demos, 50-plus breakout sessions, eight hands-on clinics, two keynotes, a new Facilitate-sponsored series focused on “L&D in the Field, on the Floor, and on the Front Line,” and two pre-conference certificate programs. Premier sponsors Class, D2L, and Panopto each provided high-end prizes for drawings. Co-located events included the Learning Leaders Summit (hosted off-site at Café Reconcile) and GamiCon NOLA.
Guided by “top chefs” (and learning experience designers) Shereene Harford Twum-Barimah and Artrell Williams, the IIT Test Kitchen gave attendees the opportunity to satisfy their hunger for the latest learning technologies and design techniques, and create recipes inspired by their learnings. Patti Vogt and Derrick Glover won the IIT Test Kitchen Recipe Contest.
New for this year were “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) stations, where experts answered questions, shared knowledge, brainstormed challenges, and shared tips and tricks on topics such as AI in L&D, learning development tools, podcasting, gamification, mixed reality, and accessibility. Also new was an opening networking event facilitated by Danielle Watkins that used a structured Ask/Give format to foster meaningful exchanges and build a supportive professional community.
In addition, attendees fostered even deeper connections via activities such as Dine Arounds, special NOLA experiences (ghost and craft cocktail tours and the Creole Queen Riverboat dinner and jazz cruise), and the closing lagniappe with music from local band The Honey Island Swamp Trio.
While the event was chock full of technology (even prompting one attendee to declare: “I’m surprised I’m going home actually willing to give AI a try!”), most seemed to agree that the “people” aspect trumped all. As one attendee noted, “I liked ending the conference on human connection.”
