Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase 2026: Full Schedule

Many learning and development professionals are carrying silent questions into every room: Do my skills still matter? Is this field leaving me behind? Where do I even start?In this keynote session, Dr. Myra Roldan will create space for those questions and answer them with truth, clarity, and practical direction. Instead of offering recycled advice or abstract encouragement, Myra will give you a...
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Speakers

Myra Roldan

Founder & CEO, UnDesto AI®

Myra Roldan is considered a visionary in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, including quantum, blockchain, mixed reality, and digital transformation. She has master’s and doctorate’s degrees in business administration and is a certified chief AI officer (CAIO... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 9:15am - 10:00am CDT
101A/B/C NIU Conference Center

General Session, AI

Device No Device Needed
Level Beginner
Category Keynote

10:00am CDT

Snack & Beverage Break, Visit Our Sponsors & Exhibitors

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:00am - 10:15am CDT

Atrium

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:00am - 10:15am CDT
Atrium

10:15am CDT

From Vanity Metrics to Performance Intelligence

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

265

Learning and development teams have more data than ever before, from completion rates and satisfaction scores to engagement dashboards and learning analytics. Yet many organizations still struggle to answer one critical question: Did learning actually improve performance? In this interactive session, Vanessa Milara Alzate explores how to move beyond vanity metrics such as attendance,...
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Speakers

Vanessa Milara Alzate

Owner & CEO, Kirkpatrick Partners

Vanessa Milara Alzate is the Owner and CEO of Kirkpatrick Partners and Founder and CEO of Anchored Training. With more than 15 years of experience, she has advised organizations across industries, including life sciences, the federal government, and the Department of Defense. She... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
265 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy

Device No Device Needed
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

10:15am CDT

Stop Taking Training Orders: How AI Turns L&D Into a Performance Intelligence Team

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

266

Most L&D teams still respond to stakeholder requests by building courses. The real problem is never “we need training”—it’s an undiagnosed performance gap hiding in workflow breakdowns, missing tools, or management blind spots. This session introduces the Human-Machine Performance Analyst framework—a practical model for shifting from content order-taker to AI-augmented diagnostician....
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Speakers

Josh Cavalier

CEO, JoshCavalier.ai

Josh Cavalier is the founder and CEO of JoshCavalier.ai. He helps L&D professionals harness AI to transform human-machine performance. He has 30+ years’ experience in education technology, is a trainer and speaker, and hosts the show Brainpower. His book, Applying AI in Learnin... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
266 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy, AI

Device No Device Needed
Level Beginner
Category Concurrent Session

10:15am CDT

Why Your eLearning Doesn’t Stick—And How to Fix It in 5 Brain-Based Moves

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

260

Most elearning courses look polished and interactive, yet learners forget them quickly and struggle to apply them on the job. This session explores why many courses fail to improve performance and introduces a practical redesign method built on five brain-based learning mechanisms: attention, prior knowledge activation, active engagement, reinforcement, and contextual application. You will...
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Speakers

Brian Richardson

Founder & CEO, Richardson Consulting Group, Inc.

Brian Richardson is Founder and CEO of Richardson Consulting Group (RCG). RCG helps organizations unlock their hidden human potential. Using insights from neuroscience, RCG creates brain-friendly experiences that result in sticky learning and lasting behavior change. Brian has been... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
260 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device Laptop or Mobile Device
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

10:15am CDT

Give Your Course a Glow-Up: A Storyline 360 Makeover

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT

261

Is your elearning course due for a refresh? This session explores how to transform outdated, text-heavy content into visually engaging and interactive learning experiences using Articulate Storyline 360. You will learn modern design principles that improve layout, typography, color use, and white space to create cleaner, more effective courses. The session also focuses on building meaningful...
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Speakers

Elizabeth Kuhlmann

Training Team Lead, Yukon Learning

Elizabeth Kuhlmann is a training team lead at Yukon Learning. She has a diverse background in sales, customer success, and training facilitation at organizations ranging from small startups to Fortune 500 companies. She loves to make learning simple and enjoyable when developing courses... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
261 NIU Conference Center

Development

Device No Device Needed
Level Beginner
Category Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

From 15% to 90%+: How We Achieved Global AI Adoption in 18 Months

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

265

Most AI training programs are built the wrong way. They teach people about AI through static elearning and then expect them to use AI effectively in dynamic workflows. The result is low adoption, surface-level usage, and learning investments that fail to improve performance. Using Golin’s global AI transformation as a live case study, this session explores how a 1,700-person communications...
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Speakers

Joe Leslie

Global AI L&D Lead, Golin

Joe Leslie is VP of Global AI Learning & Development at Golin, where he leads the transformation into a fully AI-integrated global communications agency. In under a year, he helped increase AI adoption from 15% to more than 90% across 1,700 employees worldwide. He has 20 years of... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
265 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy, AI

Device No Device Needed
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

Low-Friction Learning: Using Your Instructional Technology Stack to Reach Busy Learners

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

266

Many learning teams struggle to support audiences who value education but lack time for long courses or crowded LMS environments. These audiences need fast access to credible, practical learning that fits demanding schedules. This session explores how the American Academy of Dermatology uses instructional technology to make digital learning more accessible and easier to consume. You will examine a...
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Speakers

Dustin Herlich

Senior Manager, Learning Experience, American Academy of Dermatology

Dustin Herlich is the Senior Manager of Learning Experience at the American Academy of Dermatology, where he specializes in purposeful, technology-driven learning solutions. An Association for Talent Development (ATD) Master Instructional Designer and doctoral student at the American... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
266 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device Laptop or Mobile Device
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

The Story Factor: Mind-blowing eLearning Activities

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

260

You’ve taken the course a million times...maybe even developed it: Title slide. Click next. Stock photo with text. Click next. AI-generated video. Click next. Tabs. Click next. Drag and drop. Click next. The clicking and dragging and dropping quickly become rote. The course feels like a content dump chunked into clever, but mindless, activities. Your brain turns off. You pass the test with...
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Speakers

Rance Greene

Story Designer, School of Story Design

Rance Greene formed the School of Story Design for instructional designers who struggle to humanize training. His methodology—Instructional Story Design—equips IDs with a systematic and creative way to discover, design, and deliver story-based training. Rance is the author of... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
260 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device No Device Needed
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

11:30am CDT

Leveraging Your Existing Course Development Resources to Create an eBook-Style Learning Experience

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT

261

In this session, learn how to leverage Articulate 360’s Rise to create an ebook accessible from a learning management system. In the context of a case study, Chris Zahn and Lauren Hamm will discuss the pros and cons of various document formats. They will also describe how they arrived at the decision to use Rise to solve a particular publishing problem for their organization. They will...
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Speakers

Chris Zahn

Senior Developmental Editor, Emergency Nurses Association

Chris Zahn, PhD, is a senior developmental editor for the Emergency Nurses Association. He has extensive experience in the publishing industry and worked at Pearson Education for over 18 years. Also an educator and researcher, Chris served as a professor at Cleveland State University... Read More →

Lauren Hamm

Senior Instructional Designer, Emergency Nurses Association

Lauren Hamm received an MS in Biomedical Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012 and a BFA in Medical Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2009. Although her educational background is in medical illustration, her work history involves mostly... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
261 NIU Conference Center

Development

Device Laptop
Level Beginner
Category Concurrent Session

12:30pm CDT

Lunch, Prize Drawings, Visit Our Sponsors & Exhibitors

Tuesday August 18, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm CDT

101A/B/C

Tuesday August 18, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm CDT
101A/B/C NIU Conference Center

1:45pm CDT

The AI Implementation Canvas: Get the Big Picture

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT

265

AI isn’t a one-and-done transformation. It’s a series of evolving projects layered across teams, systems, and strategies. In this session, you will explore the AI Implementation Canvas: a practical tool for navigating the complexity of AI adoption with clarity, care, and confidence. The Canvas helps you ask the right questions, include the right people, and plan for both business value and...
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Speakers

Megan Torrance

CEO, TorranceLearning

Megan Torrance is the CEO and founder of TorranceLearning, where she leads a team focused on reimagining workplace learning through learner-centered and data-informed design. For more than two decades, her firm has supported Fortune 1000 companies, major research universities, professional... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT
265 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy, AI

Device No Device Needed
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

1:45pm CDT

Fixing the Forgettable Webinar: How to Turn eLearning Presentations Into Experiences That Stick

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT

260

Even the most well-designed elearning program can fail if the delivery falls flat. Too many virtual trainings, webinars, and digital learning experiences suffer from disengaged audiences, information overload, and presenters who struggle to translate instructional design into compelling delivery. In this highly interactive session, Bridgett McGowen will diagnose the most common problems that...
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Speakers

Bridgett McGowen

Owner & The Presentation Fixer™, BMH Companies

Bridgett McGowen is The Presentation Fixer™. She can watch you present for 3 to 5 minutes and tell you what’s working, what’s not, and how to fix it. Since 2001, she has shared stages with figures including Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, and Venus Williams. Bridgett... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT
260 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device Laptop or Mobile Device
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

1:45pm CDT

Reducing Cognitive Friction: A Practical Framework for Better eLearning Design

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT

266

Ever built a course where the content was solid—but learners still struggled to get through it? Digital learning often fails not because content is wrong, but because design creates friction. In this session, you will explore a practical, 3-part framework for reducing cognitive friction across working memory, attention, and task initiation. Through real-world examples, you will identify common...
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Speakers

Ramona Meyer

Senior Instructional Designer and Founder of NILL, Wheels and NeuroInclusive Learning Lab (NILL)

Ramona Meyer is an instructional designer at Wheels and founder of the NeuroInclusive Learning Lab. With over 13 years of experience, she creates neuroinclusive learning experiences grounded in executive function science, accessibility, and real-world performance. She specializes... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT
266 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device Laptop
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

1:45pm CDT

From Prompt to Prototype: Vibe Coding in L&D

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT

261

Learning teams want better elearning experiences, but many instructional designers get stuck between rigid authoring tools and full custom development. In this session, Destery Hildenbrand will show you how to build lightweight interactive experiences faster using a practical prompt-and-revise workflow. You will move from problem to prototype and explore where AI helps most with repetitive build...
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Speakers

Destery Hildenbrand

Learning Technology Consultant, Destery1Kenobi LLC

Destery Hildenbrand is a learning technology consultant, instructional designer, and speaker with 25 years of experience in learning and development. He helps organizations use AI, immersive technology, and practical design strategies to create engaging learning experiences. Destery... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT
261 NIU Conference Center

Development, AI

Device Laptop
Level Beginner
Category Concurrent Session

2:45pm CDT

Snack & Beverage Break, Visit Our Sponsors & Exhibitors

Tuesday August 18, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

Atrium

Tuesday August 18, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
Atrium

3:15pm CDT

Best Practices for Performance Support Content Strategy & Creation During the Age of AI

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

266

AI can generate content in seconds. That’s the good news. The bad news is that organizations are drowning in auto-generated articles, chat responses, SOP summaries, and micro-courses that are technically correct but unusable at the moment of need. Frontline workers need the right answer instantly, in context, and without friction. The challenge is building performance support systems that are...
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Speakers

Chad Udell

CEO, SparkLearn

Chad Udell is cofounder and co-CEO of SparkLearn. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies and government agencies to create digital learning experiences for 25 years. Chad is an expert in mobile design and learning and speaks globally at industry events. He is author of Learning... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
266 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy, AI

Device No Device Needed
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

3:15pm CDT

Diagnose Smarter, Build Faster: AI Workflows for L&D

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

265

It’s Monday morning, and you check your email to see, “There’s something wrong with the onboarding process. People don’t know what they need to know after it’s done. The training needs to be revised.” But here’s the issue: you’re working with one person’s assumptions and no time to figure out what’s actually broken. This session shows you how to stop guessing. Using a...
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Speakers

Shannon Tipton

Owner & Founder, Learning Rebels LLC

“No one comes to work to fail,” and Shannon Tipton ensures training doesn’t set them up to. As founder of Learning Rebels, she transforms outdated learning models into practical, performance-driven solutions. Shannon has deep expertise in microlearning, reinforcement strategies... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
265 NIU Conference Center

Analysis & Strategy, AI

Device Laptop
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

3:15pm CDT

Maximize Your Microlearning Designs Using These Seven Principles

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

260

Your design toolkit is about to get a microlearning upgrade. You already apply design principles to your elearning, so what happens when you add principles built specifically for microlearning? Microlearning-specific design principles are a valuable complement to the elearning design knowledge you already have. This session unpacks the seven microlearning design principles and the learning science...
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Speakers

Robyn A. Defelice

Learning Systems Strategist, RADLearning

Robyn A. Defelice, PhD, has spent 25 years supporting L&D professionals in becoming more competent and confident in their craft. As a consultant, author, and practitioner, she brings practical, evidence-based approaches to real workplace challenges. Robyn is the co-author of Micr... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
260 NIU Conference Center

Design

Device Mobile Device
Level Beginner
Category Concurrent Session

3:15pm CDT

Animating With Impact

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

261

In this workshop, Ron Price will lead you in exploring several simple yet creative ways to bring your slides to life through animation. Animation remains a challenge for many elearning developers. Some overuse it or apply it in ways that distract learners, while others avoid it altogether. In this session, you will examine creative techniques for using animation with purpose, clarity, and impact....
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Speakers

Ron Price

Chief Learning Officer, Yukon Learning

Ron Price is the Chief Learning Officer, a training facilitator, and an elearning designer at Yukon Learning. He has more than 40 years of experience in organizational effectiveness, leadership coaching, instructional design, and experiential learning. He has supported clients ranging... Read More →

Tuesday August 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
261 NIU Conference Center

Development

Device Laptop
Level Intermediate
Category Concurrent Session

4:30pm CDT

Closing Session

Tuesday August 18, 2026 4:30pm - 5:00pm CDT

101A/B/C

Speakers

Hadiya Nuriddin

President, Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase

Tuesday August 18, 2026 4:30pm - 5:00pm CDT
101A/B/C NIU Conference Center

General Session

Device No Device Needed

8:00am CDT

8:45am CDT

9:15am CDT

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10:15am CDT

10:15am CDT

10:15am CDT

11:30am CDT

11:30am CDT

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11:30am CDT

12:30pm CDT

1:45pm CDT

1:45pm CDT

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1:45pm CDT

2:45pm CDT

3:15pm CDT

3:15pm CDT

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3:15pm CDT

4:30pm CDT

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