With each passing year, as new learning technologies are developed, an increasing number of exposition conferences are held – more and more of the best leaders, minds, and ideas come together to troubleshoot, map out and plan for the future.

For those who want to keep up with latest training and development technologies, conferences are the perfect chance to find new ways of training a workforce and increasing a company’s profitability.

What were some of the best eLearning conferences of 2015

…and what did they present to help move things forward?

Below are five conferences from last year that we considered to be key for the world of eLearning, whether you’re a Chief Learning Officer, a developer, or just wanted to learn more about options are available to help your company’s employees be better informed and more competitive.

CLO Magazine Chief Learning Officers’ Symposium 15:

Spring/Fall CLO Symposiums, Miami, FL, and Austin, TX – April 13 – 15, and October 12 – 14

Affectionately known as the “Godfather” of all Chief Learning Officer conferences, the CLO Symposiumhas become increasingly progressive in its approach to digital and online learning.

Among learning sessions involving how to adjust to factors that are reshaping the modern workplace, and an ever-increasing need for learning, other highlights including the “Breakfast With the Champions” networking sessions, and a “CLO Learning Elite GALA”.

Trivantis LUC 2015:

Lectora User Conference, Nashville, TN – April 27 – May 1, 2015

Trivantis’ Lectora User Conference, aptly titled “Find the Future,” was a presentation of new ideas and updates for eLearners.  Primarily for users of Lectora and CourseMill eLearning solutions, in networking and learning sessions with the Trivantis development team and other experts, one big reveal was Trivantis’ new Lectora Inspire 12.1 authoring solution.  This version of the software features an eLearning Brothers template library as well as more cutouts for templates and an interaction builder.

Keynote speakers Donald H. Taylor (Learning & Performance Institute), speaker and strategy advisor Ross Dawson, and author/eLearning specialist Shelly Sanchez Terrell shared their own insights and experiences –  there was also an “Ask the Experts” panel, and one-on-one sessions for users to interact and get questions answered with Trivantis developers.

The eLearning Guild mLearnCon 2015:

Co-Located with the Performance Support Symposium, Austin, TX – June 10 – 12, 2015

Mobile learning is still considered to be a burgeoning concept, still somewhat in its infancy, but this has been no handicap in presenting this learning conference, which focuses primarily on mobile learning – this past year was mLearnCon’s fourth annual appearance.

Holding the conference in the “Live Music Capital of the World” fed in well to the conference’s concert-driven theme (complete with “stages,” “headliners,” and “jam (learning) sessions”), with certification sessions made available, as well as focus on development, instructional design, performance support, tools, and other aspects of mobile learning.

General Session speakers included Ken Jennings (Jeopardy! champion), technology/marketing expert Allison Cerra, and the Experts Panel stationed by Megan McKee (Rent-a-Center), Frank Nguyen (Sears Holding Corporation), Allison Rosett (Allison Rossett & Associates), Geoff Stead (QualComm) and David Kelly (eLearning Guild).

Learning DevCamp 2015:

University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City, UT – June 23 – 25, 2015

Learning DevCamp is an annual learning conference dedicated to the collaboration between both corporate and public educators in creating online learning content and programs.

Though a smaller conference, it is considered the most hands-on comprehensive training that eLearning developers can get.  Its focus is on practical skills that help with accelerated and more efficient production in order to create better online learning experiences.

Its highlights involve hands-on classes for learning needed skills to create and manage eLearning, mLearning, and online instruction.

The eLearning Guild DevLearn 2015:

Co-Located with the Adobe Learning Summit, Las Vegas, NV – September 30 – October 2, 2015

The eLearning Guild returned this past fall with another conference, the 2015 DevLearn conference, the self-proclaimed “best eLearning conference, hands-down.”  DevLearn featured its signature mix of training, networking, interaction with vendors, speakers, and learning as well as certification sessions.

Featured keynote speakers at last year’s DevLearn included Adam Savage (Mythbusters), Natalie Panek (MDA Robotics & Automation), David Pogue (Yahoo! Tech), and Connie Yowell (MacArthur Foundation).

Learning sessions focused on such areas as strategy, emerging technologies to watch for, development, management, instructional design, social learning, and games/gamification in learning.

One topic of discussion that surfaced among these conferences was the proliferation of eLearning throughout developing countries, including many in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

2016 promises to offer a solid lineup of follow ups to the above conferences and much, much more.
Did you attend a conference that we didn’t mention? Are you attending any great conferences this year? Let us know if the comments below!