The annual ATD (Association for Talent Development) conference is a highly anticipated event for professionals in the training and development field. In addition to the diverse range of workshops and sessions, the expo floor is always one of the biggest highlights of the show, especially coming off the pandemic. While the show ran last year, this year was different. There was a buzz. There was energy. There was pent-up demand for new and innovative ways to learn in the new normal of work. It was back to the traditional size of nearly 10,000 people who were ready to explore.

As part of Advantexe’s presentation at our trade show booth, we hosted an engaging business simulation challenge for conference participants. The Advantexe Paws and Claws Simulation Challenge was a micro business simulation designed to be completed within 15 minutes. It allowed participants to experience the flexibility of our simulations while emphasizing the importance of developing business acumen skills.

For many marketers, this is tradeshow season and thousands of vendors will be packing up their booths while thousands of prospects and clients are walking up and down the aisles searching for that next new thing that will change their world. From an ROI perspective, opinions about the effectiveness of tradeshows are mixed and often divided – you either love them or hate them. For some, tradeshows are seen as a necessary evil; a box to be checked to avoid giving a negative impression to customers and the market that “you are not there.” For others, it is part of an integrated omnichannel marketing approach that is critical to a marketing and sales strategy.

Regardless of which way you look at a tradeshow, it does come with its challenges. The CFO complains about the cost, while the CEO expresses frustration over the lack of closed deals. The sales team, meanwhile, grumbles about spending 3 days away from the field generating leads only to have to hand them off to other salespeople who manage that account or territory.

Over the past several months, Advantexe has been requested by seven clients to conduct an end-to-end data security audit that focuses on examining our information technology systems, simulation backend infrastructure, and organizational data policies and practices to assess compliance with established data security standards, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. Although Advantexe has invested in an ISO27001 certification to demonstrate our commitment to managing and protecting sensitive information, the process has become more complex, demanding, and frequent.

Traditional eLearning, video-based training, and facilitated learning are valuable tools in the market that provide the “what things are.” However, business simulations are now playing a critical role in talent development. They provide learners with the hands-on experience of “how things actually work.”

Let’s take business acumen training and the concept of “revenue” as an example. Advantexe offers an asynchronous learning program called the Foundations of Business Acumen. The program combines short video lessons that introduce the topics and an interactive simulation that allows learners to “try them” in real-world settings.

The eLearning portion utilizes animated videos to define how revenue is derived. “Revenue is created by multiplying the number of units sold with the price.” This is great. Yes, revenue is units sold multiplied by price, but what is driving the generation of that revenue? How is revenue actually created? As an individual contributor, manager, or leader in a company, what could you be doing to impact that revenue? How can learners do their job more effectively in support of more and higher quality revenue?

The Great Resignation has hit Santa’s Workshop!

Elf turnover is increasing due to a reprioritization of their work-life balance, working too many hours, and a growing desire to work remotely in a warmer climate.

Santa needs your help to right the sled!

Advantexe, world leaders in business simulations has created the Great Elves Resignation Business Simulation. This business simulation is designed to help illustrate the effects that the Great Resignation can have on the effectiveness and metrics of Santa’s Workshop.