At ATD Dallas's first community event, a joint happy hour with ATD Mid Cities chapter, I met a number of people who work in some very niche industries within our field:
- A new member of our chapter who focuses on technical training for trade skills.
- I met a woman who works for a company that provides training strictly for the mortgage industry.
- Then there's Davide, whose expertise is training engineers on soft skills. Talk about niche!
- The board of the North Texas chapter of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) was there representing a subset of talent development that stands on its own.
Each of us comes to this industry with a unique experience to offer one another. In attendance at the happy hour were professionals who come to our field from a wide range of backgrounds and experience: finance, teaching, engineering, ministry, multi-media, writing, programming, military career, the list goes on. This tapestry of experience means that our field is rich with unique solutions to business problems. And, no matter how diverse business becomes, there is a diverse talent development pool ready to produce a compelling, engaging experience to meet the changing needs of organizations. The movement of professionals transitioning from other fields and entering talent development doesn't show signs of stopping…and that's good. There's room for all of us. This is why I tell students of instructional design, organizational development or other talent development studies to nurture a second discipline. We are growing as an industry addressing a growing number of business challenges. And Dallas is leading the way.
The board of ATD Dallas is committed to connecting you with our value proposition of Access, Recognition and Expertise. Check out this month's opportunities to connect with us. We hope you'll join us…there's room for you in our community.
Our Volunteer Summit on Feb 1 was electric. Imagine some of the best talent development professionals in Dallas coming together for 4 1/2 hours to execute on our strategy to make the member experience greater than ever. Our year is off to a rocking start! If you want to get in on the fun, complete this volunteer form and we'll connect you to an area that suits your interests and goals.
If you are new to our community or just haven't plugged in yet, I invite you to join me and other board members for an informal meet up at I Love Pho on Forest Ln and 75 at 11:30. I look forward to connecting with you! I think you'll find that there's plenty of room for you contribute to our vision of making Dallas the Talent Development Capital of the World.
#DallasKnowsTalent
Rance Greene
President 2019-2020
