On 4-5 May 2022, Learning Technologies returned with its leading conference and exhibition at ExCeL London. Thank you to everyone that participated in Europe’s leading L&D showcase – it was a privilege to be back in full swing and see the L&D community together in-person again. We are grateful to everyone that attended the free exhibition, including those that took a few minutes of their time to tell us about their experience.

 

Here are some reactions from people attending this year's exhibition. Read on to discover what three featured L&D professionals thought of the Learning Technologies 2022 Exhibition, interviewed on-site at ExCeL London.

 

Bradley Field – Learning & Development Specialist, ASOS

Tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do and what brings you’re here today.

Bradley: I work for ASOS as a Learning & Development Specialist, and I came here today as we’re looking for providers to upgrade our current LMS.

 

How have you found the overall experience exhibition?

Bradley: Every year the stands get better – the basketball hoop game stood out to me. The stands are so different every year so they feel cleaner and fresher.

 

How have you found the communication?

Bradley: I’ve found the communication great – the new InMail is really good and I really like the newsletters; they keep you up-to-date when you’re in-between events which is really useful. Since I signed up for the event I’ve found people are contacting me on LinkedIn but not in a ‘salesy’ way – it’s genuine networking that has been great.

I went to the Access Group’s stand for a product demo, which I found very useful because I found out what I wanted to know before the person pitched the product. This was a good experience because it wasn’t too hard-pitched, I got personality rather than seller, which I prefer.

 

You mentioned that you previously attended the Learning Technologies Exhibition in the past. How does this year compare to previous?

Bradley: The stands are bigger and the overall appearance is much more modern and less dated. I’ve appreciated how digital the event has gone; ASOS is paperless which is great for the environment, and I like seeing this here too.

 

What did you think of the sessions you attended?

Bradley: I attended a session on Artificial Intelligence in workplace learning, which I found fascinating and well-explained despite it being quite a niche topic.

 

Do you have any final thoughts of the Learning Technologies Exhibition to share?

Bradley: The exhibition is not too salesy and really makes you feel welcome, it’s the only L&D event I go to now. It’s only me in attendance this year, but my whole team have got a lot out of the exhibition networking-wise, and we’ll definitely be back as a whole team next year. Overall, there’s been a really friendly team and great layout at this event – I can’t fault it!

 

 

Linda Alange – Learning and Development Consultant / Business Partner Apprentice, British Airways

Tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do and what brings you’re here today.

Linda: I work as a Learning & Development Consultant, looking at quality and compliance, as well as a Business Partner Apprentice for British Airways. Curiosity led me here today – it’s been interesting to see how what other people use to drive L&D in their organisations.

 

Is this your first year at Learning Technologies?

Linda: Yes – I attend today for organisational reasons. It’s been great to see what’s missing in our organisation and the networking has been great.

 

How have you found the communications and layout?

Linda: Communications have been clear and on-point. The navigation around the exhibition is customer-friendly, leading you to different things to experience.

 

What sessions did you attend and how did you find them?

Linda: I went to a talk about the Joules lifestyle brand, which showcased how it used collaborative learning to build culture and drive engagement, and it was really good.

A session that stood out to me was Degreed’s. I thought they had eloquent speakers, sharing a lot of data which I thought was great as it really proved the point they were making. Degreed went into great detail about the design of learning tools which was particularly beneficial. I took notes at all the sessions I attended for retention, so I would remember what I learnt.

 

Do you have any final thoughts of the Learning Technologies Exhibition to share?

Linda: I’ve learnt a lot at my first L&D event, and I’m happy to be going back to British Airways knowing we are on the right track with our learning and development. What was interesting is that today I visited an exhibitor that showcased me a VR product that worked without the need for a headset. This was interesting to me as, it was a challenge to show people around aircraft in order to train them. This would be a great addition to our remote aircraft training programmes. Overall, I’ve felt this exhibition was engaging and showcased a lot that which I’d never seen before.

 

 

Phillip Redford – Technology Enhanced Learning Lead, NHS

Tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do and what brings you’re here today.

Phillip: I work at the Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust as a Technology Enhanced Learning Lead. My focus for the past two years has been developing video content during COVID-19 using our Rapidmooc system. This was the subject of my session I spoke at today.

 

Congratulations on a great session! How did it go?

Phillip: Great – it was very busy, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 

How have you found the exhibition today?

Phillip: It’s been great to see so many companies I work with online finally in-person! I also think the range of learning tools is particularly useful. The overall operational stuff has been good – I attended in 2018 and 2020, and I’ve found 2022 has a similar set-up but has been overall a better exhibition.

 

Do you have any final thoughts of the Learning Technologies Exhibition to share?

Phillip: At the end of my session, I was approached by an old friend that I hadn’t seen in eight years, and we had a great catch-up. I think the main takeaway from this event is how good it is to bring people in L&D together and the exhibition has done very well with that.