On Saturday, November 9, ASTD-Los Angeles hosted its annual Leadership Involvement Day. This half-day workshop is a great opportunity for our members to actively participate in the leadership of the chapter.

President Ellen Krause welcomed the attendees and 2014 president Jeff O’Dell introduced the 2014 Board of Directors.

This year, the attendees enjoyed trying out lateral thinking techniques that facilitators Bill Bellows and Tim Higgins previously introduced at our April Chapter Meeting.

In a group exercise, our members generated ideas on how ASTD-LA can better cater to the needs of different target groups, such as external consultants or non-profits.

In using the “Random-Word-Technique,” the attendees had to use a specific word, for example “soap,” to generate ideas on a certain topic.

For example, one member associated soap with the word “bar.” Immediately somebody connected the dots and said, “We should have more opportunities to socialize at ASTD. Why not have some chapter meetings at a bar?”

In the second part of the workshop, the attendees discussed ASTD-LA’s value proposition. Does our current value proposition “Driving Learning – Leading Innovation- Building Community” still represent ASTD-LA? If not, how would you change it?

Our board members left the workshop with a wealth of valuable ideas. As a next step, our members will receive a survey in which they can vote on their favorite ideas for the chapter, as well as on ASTD-LA’s updated value proposition.