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Training Magazine and Conferences shutting down
In sad news, Training Magazine will cease publication with the March 2010 issue. In addition, all future conferences will be canceled. The upcoming Training Leadership Summit 2010 may still be held if a sponsor can be found. Otherwise, it too will be canceled.
As frequent readers of this column are aware, this Examiner has reported on the January 2010 Training conference (Meetings matter and should be encouraged and 2010 Training Conference takes place next week), and presented Life By PowerPoint at the conference.
That conference looked under attended and under funded. Around 35 vendors instead or the advertised 75 were present, there was no daily report literature, the bookstore location moved each day, the conference was squeezed in between other conferences, and attendance seemed to be small.
Training Magazine was widely respected in the learning industry. Its annual well-respected list of best companies for training, the Training Top 125, was a benchmark.
The owner, Nielsen Co. is exiting the trade publishing business. It has also sold Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter to e5 Global Media. As a result of the closing, eleven positions have been eliminated.
Comments
The marketplace has changed with Tele-Conferencing and Web Casting along with smaller budgets for attending and sponsoring conferences. What I have observed is conferences that are more focused on delivering knowledge and less about trade shows and sponsorships. Technology has changed the marketplace and when publications embrace a more holistic approach there is a greater likelihood of success.
I attended a training conference in San Diego in 2003 as an exhibitor and felt totally and completely "ripped off." Access to the attendees was extremely limited. We were buried in the basement, while their store took premium space and was open during the entire conference. The program were mediocre at best. Perhaps these might be some of the reasons they are being forced out of the market!
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