BASE CAMP: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Explore How Design Thinking Methods Can Strengthen Training Design

September 18th, 2026 | 9am - 3pm | Core Bank, Omaha, NE

At Base Camp:

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore how selected Design Thinking methods can strengthen training design by bringing more action, experimentation, and learner insight into the early stages of a project. Design Thinking is especially useful because it moves teams beyond discussion and into doing: mapping what learners experience, spotting assumptions, reframing challenges, generating options, and prototyping ideas quickly.

Stephanie Hammer is the founder of Hammer Learning Experiences LLC, where she designs, facilitates, and delivers practical learning experiences for professionals in complex business environments. A certified Design Thinking coach through the Hasso Plattner Institute, Stephanie brings together communication strategy, learning design, and hands-on facilitation to help learners apply new skills in real workplace situations. Her approach is structured, collaborative, and action-oriented.

Your Guide

Stephanie Hammer

ANCHOR: LEARNING TECHNOLOGY

Using AI and Learning Technologies to Create Impactful Learning

October 2nd, 2026 | 9am - 3pm | Core Bank, Omaha, NE

For the Anchor:

Today’s learning and enablement teams are being asked to do more than ever and wear more hats while doing it. AI and modern learning technologies can help accelerate productivity, streamline workflows, and make it easier to create impactful learning experiences at scale.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore practical ways to use tools like AI and virtual learning technologies to support real day-to-day work.

Through examples, discussion, and guided working sessions, participants will:

• Explore how modern learning technologies and AI can improve productivity and reshape workflows across learning, enablement, instructional design, and talent development
• Apply practical AI frameworks and prompts to real work challenges from their own roles
• Create usable drafts, frameworks, or assets they can immediately refine and take back to their teams

Alanna Hoffman is a product marketing and go-to-market leader at Sojern, a global digital marketing company, focused on enabling sales teams through sales enablement and product marketing. She has spent over 10 years working across sales enablement and product marketing, helping sales teams ramp faster, win more deals, and adopt new products through clear, practical sales enablement programs.

Carrie Shively is a Training & Development Specialist with over 10 years of experience designing scalable, tech-enabled learning experiences that accelerate initial training and improve long-term performance. Her work at Thrasher Foundation Repair is focused on practical, application-based solutions that drive adoption and consistency across teams. A former teacher, Carrie is passionate about the intersection of learning and technology, and she enjoys leveraging a multitude of tools and facilitation strategies to create engaging, real-world training experiences through high-impact instruction.

Your Guides

Alanna Hoffman and Carrie Shively

SCALE: FACILITATION

Commanding a Room and Creating Connections in Facilitation

October 16th, 2026 | 9am - 3pm | Core Bank, Omaha, NE

On this Scale:

We’ve all sat through a painful presentation. And if we’re honest — we’ve delivered a few too. Great training delivery isn’t just about knowing your content. It’s about commanding a room, creating connection, managing the unexpected, and leaving your audience with something they’ll actually remember. In this high-energy, humor-forward full-day workshop, facilitator and comedian Theresa Hummel-Krallinger takes participants on a candid, laugh-out-loud tour of the most common mistakes presenters and trainers make — and exactly how to fix them. Through peer coaching, checklists, practice triads, and a healthy dose of the Rule of Three, participants leave with concrete tools, sharper instincts, and the confidence to deliver programs that stick.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the most common delivery mistakes that undermine credibility and engagement
• Apply a practical presenters checklist to self-assess and improve their own delivery
• Design and deliver energized openings and powerful closings that frame the learning experience
• Use humor techniques — including the Rule of Three — to increase engagement without sacrificing professionalism
• Apply strategies for managing group dynamics, side conversations, and challenging participants
• Incorporate reinforcement techniques that create lasting learning beyond the training room.

Theresa Hummel-Krallinger is a facilitator, consultant, and — yes — a professional stand-up comedian. That combination isn't accidental. For over 30 years she has helped organizations develop their people through high-energy, humor-forward programs that are as practical as they are memorable.

A proud ATD member and Past President of the Greater Philadelphia ATD Chapter, Theresa has also served as a member of the ATD National Advisors for Chapters (NAC) — so she knows firsthand what it takes to build learning communities that deliver real value to their members. She has been a featured speaker at regional and international ATD conferences, as well as SHRM and the Training Directors Forum.

A graduate of the Wharton CHRO program, she also served on the non-credit faculty at Temple University for 17 years, is a graduate of the Women Unlimited leadership program in NYC, and is a two-time Emmy Award winner for her work on the PBS talk show Counter Culture. She is the author of Make Waves and the founder of High Five Performance, Inc.

When Theresa is in the room, learning happens — and people leave smiling.

Your Guide

Theresa Hummel-Krallinger

SUMMIT: EVALUATING IMPACT

Let Go and Lean In to Build Data-Driven Learning Cultures

October 27th, 2026 | 9am - 3pm | Core Bank, Omaha, NE

At the Summit:

This session blends practical strategy with mindset work: you’ll leave with a simple, actionable roadmap for building a learning culture that speaks the language of business—and a reflection guide to uncover the assumptions you need to release to get there. Whether you lead talent development, team learning, or enterprise-wide training initiatives, you’ll walk away empowered to drive measurable impact and cultivate a learning culture of agility and purpose. Join us if you’re ready to let go of going through the motions—and step into learning that truly transforms.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the key elements of a data-driven learning framework and describe how they can be leveraged to demonstrate the business value of talent development initiatives.
• Evaluate current learning programs to uncover assumptions, legacy practices, or misaligned metrics that may be hindering organizational learning agility.
• Apply a clear, step-by-step roadmap to design or refine a learning culture that integrates data insights, leadership priorities, and measurable impact.
• Practice strategies for “letting go” of outdated learning methods and shifting toward a culture that encourages experimentation, reflection, and continuous growth.
• Develop a personalized action plan to communicate learning outcomes in the language of business, reinforcing credibility and influence within organizational decision-making.

Debbie Petru oversees the learning strategy for over 2000 associates across six states at Heritage Communities. She leads a frontline manager training program and partners with senior leaders on KPIs, addressing skill gaps with outcome-focused development opportunities. She drives frontline engagement through the Heritage Always Learning Academy (HALA). An ATD Nebraska past president, Debbie enjoys family time, the outdoors, reading, movies, and volunteering. She is currently writing her memoir, “Daffodils for My Daughter.”

In today’s fast-paced workplace, the true differentiator isn’t just more training—it’s aligning learning with business impact and being willing to let go of old habits that hold us back. In this breakout session inspired by the insights of Debbie Petru (from her blogs on data-driven learning cultures and the journey of letting go), you’ll explore how to:1. Anchor your learning strategy in a clear, measurable framework, starting with the end in mind, identifying key stakeholders, gathering available data sources and defining meaningful KPIs.2. Embrace a mindset of letting go—of outdated assumptions, irrelevant metrics, and “one-size-fits-all” training—so you can more readily respond to real business needs and shift direction when required.

Your Guide

Debbie Petru