Free networking for L&D professionals.
On the first Wednesday of every month Lyndal Box from LB Learning Solutions hosts a free online event called Learning Meetup. The event has been running since August 2019 and is open to instructional designers, content developers, eLearning professionals, f2f facilitators, blended learning experts, and any one else who creates learning anywhere in Australia. The purpose of the event is to collaborate and share ideas once a month for one hour.
Originally the group met face to face at a Geelong cafe and was very much a local get-together. This changed in early 2020 with the onset of Covid-19 lockdowns. The group moved online temporarily and has never looked back. “The plan was always to return to face to face meetups, but with a national spread of members I can’t imagine going back to face to face now.”
The approach
The approach to Learning Meetup is decided by group consensus and evaluated at the end of each calendar year. Here is the current format:
- Event commences for welcome and networking 5 minutes before scheduled start time
- On commencement, attendees add learning topics (or issues / problems) for discussion to the virtual board – voluntary participation
- The preferred order of topics / issues / problems for discussion is decided by popular vote
- Each topic is allocated approximately 5 minutes
- The owner of the topic introduces the context, then we all have an opportunity to contribute our ideas, thoughts, opinions, advice, observations or learnings
- If you can’t get a word in, raise your hand visually or virtually
- At the end of the 5 minutes we may add extra time if the conversation is rich
- We do our best to always finish on time
The conversation
It’s up to you! Bring an idea. Ask a tricky question. Or wait until you know who is in the room for topic inspiration to strike. There is no need to prepare at all.
Who attends?
The wonderful thing about this group is you never know who will be there. We have regular attendees from all over Australia who drop in depending on availability and commitments. We come from education, government, business / industry and not-for-profit organisations. Some of us are employees, some are self-employed and some run their own businesses. Essentially, we welcome everyone who is interested in contributing to our learning discussion. Does this sound like something you would like to be part of?
More info
The first Learning Meetup for 2024 is Wednesday 7th February, 8:00 – 9:00am. For more information about this event and others visit Learning Meetup. The event is free but we ask you to register first. This helps to prevent unwelcome intruders.
LB Learning Solutions is committed to providing accessible and inclusive events.
Learning Meetup is hosted via zoom. Accessibility details for the event are available on the Learning Meetup page.
Your input and feedback is welcome and encouraged. Please contact Lyndal if you have any questions, or would like assistance to access the event.