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We
gathered:
A
brisk spring morning found us at Booz Allen Hamilton's high-rise
headquarters in McLean, VA.
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We
met:
After
brief introductions and a nice breakfast, we settled in for
our first presentation of the day.
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Vince
Gonzalez gave us the big picture of learning and development
at Booz Allen Hamilton.
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Vince
had our attention. "BAH" is a fascinating company.
From left to right, Pat Golden, Wendy Sterndale, Joe Campbell,
Jacqueline Prescott, and Larry McCauley.
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Emily
McCarthy shared Booz Allen Hamilton's Learning Navigator application,
based on a GPS metaphor.
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Jacqueline
Prescott offered two social media presentations - the first
an overview; the second a request for feedback on her company's
methodology and tools.
The Finnegans page she shared could serve as a conversation
starter for a new approach to STEP communications.
Between
JP's two sessions, we had Mike Dickinson on the line from
The SCOOTER Store, sharing their internally developed leadership
survey instrument, methodology, and results.
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Joe
Campbell introduced us to Sun's Wonderland virtual worlds
envirorment before turning the show over to Christy Confetti-Higgins
and members of the Wonderland team (in Colorado and California
I think). BMO Financial's Russ Sharp joined in as well. That's
Russ in the blue shirt at the left.
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Al
Malinchak told the story of ManTech University, a recent start-up
that has grown exponentially (as has the company). Smart decision
making, good negotiating, and dramatic ROI stood out in Al's
presentation.
Al
has commited ManTech to be our newest STEP member company.
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Monday
night's dinner at the Wildfire was superb.
Check out that menu!
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Just
getting settled. From left to right: Pat Golden, Joe Campbell,
Alan Malinchak, Jacqueline Prescott, Gloria Pinger, and Emily
McCarthy.
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Clockwise
from the left: Emily McCarthy, Larry McCauley, Wendy Sterndale,
Vanessa Maddox, Pat Golden, Joe
Campbell, Al Malinchak, Jacqueline Prescott, and Gloria Pinger.
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From
left to right, Vanessa Maddox
of QinetiQ-NA, and our host, Pat Golden.
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Pat
Foye, Larry McCauley, and Wendy Sterndale. |
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Drew
Rabin joined us after testing technology we'd be needing on
Tuesday morning. |
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Bright
and early Tuesday, Charrles Audet gave us a tour of Booz Allen
Hamilton's experimental application of Sun's Wonderland environment
to War Game simulation. |
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Still
early on in their exploration of Virtual Worlds, here's a Natural
History Museum's dinosaur exhibit they mocked up as a means
to try integrating several types of content. |
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They
also created a more conventional conference room modeled after
real-world facilities at Booz Allen Hamilton.
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Next
came Joe Campbell with a description and rationale for Sun's
new Sales University. This led to lots of discussion. |
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Russ
Sharp joined us again from the Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial
Group). He presaented a number of brief topics. This slide illustrated
how they've leveraged virtual classroom designs in support of
retail banking. |
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Here
Russ briefed us on BMO's six strategic priorities for 2009.
Following
Russ, I engaged the group briefly in a discussion of STEP
Communication needs. It's high time we replaced our ancient
web site and YahooGroups listserv with some integrated social
media tools. I've proposed that a small team take on the analysis
task, then select a tool or tools, and find the means to build
a shell.
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Finally,
Drew Rabin surprised us with some samples of out-there social
media applications - think Skittles and Hunch for example. |
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After
a tour of Booz Allen Hamilton's future "Technology Petting
Zoo" (sorry, no cameras allowed), we departed.
For
me, that meant a drive back to chilly Connecticut - but not
before I soaked in some spring!
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Many
thanks to Pat Golden and Booz Allen Hamilton for hosting STEP.
Pat also sent us away with gifts to remember them by: a nice
carry-all bag and pen.
Special
thanks to Gloria Pinger for
meeting logistics and Drew
Rabin for tech support (in addition to his participation in
discussions and presentations).
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