I’m not just a speaker at the upcoming Adobe eLearning Conference in Washington DC on March 13th, 2019, but I’m also an attendee. For those who are unsure if this event is worth your time or the effort to convince your boss, consider the following.

During the previous years events, I met a bunch of people like myself who design eLearning for their living. It’s really great sharing similar experiences with one another, and knowing we are not alone in the challenges we face. More importantly, though, I got to hear other ideas and solutions as to how to solve elearning challenges. As a freelancer, I just don’t get that in my home office. My two office companions are great for other reasons but they don’t offer any suggestions for improving my eLearning designs.

Each Adobe live event offers a glimpse of what eLearning at Adobe will look like in the future. I first learned about virtual reality, fluid box responsive design, and interactive video at past Adobe live events and I’m looking forward to learning about new features this spring.

As I said up front, I’m also an attendee. When I’m not speaking or sitting in on the general sessions, I will be attending my fellow speaker’s sessions. Thanks to them, the effort I put into preparing material to speak about is returned to me tenfold. The creative solutions I’ve learned from my fellow speakers has allowed me to offer a wider range of eLearning solutions to my clients. I’m very thankful for the knowledge my fellow speakers have given me.

A new feature of the last few Adobe live events has been the Adobe Captivate Specialist training. The Adobe Captivate specialist training is a separate registration and requires a fee of $499. A short time before the conference you will get you access to pre-session training material. The pre-session training material is over seven hours of tutorials from Dr. Pooja Jaisingh. If you don’t know Pooja, she is the leading expert in Adobe Captivate and works as a Senior Evangelist for Adobe eLearning.

On the day of the Specialist training, you will register and be assigned to one of several classes. Breakfast is included and then you will begin your Captivate training until it’s time to break for lunch (also included). Later in the afternoon once all the training is concluded you will begin your assessment. You’ll know right away if you are successful and then you’re free to break until the conference the next day, where you will also get your certificate and a digital badge that you can add to your LinkedIn profile that is verifiable by potential employers.

Probably the most important aspect of this conference is the value. The conference itself is completely free, and if you elect to get your Adobe Captivate Specialist designation it’s only going to cost you or your organization the $499. Breakfast and lunch are included for the conference. Sure you have to pay for your transportation and accommodation but that would be true of any conference you decide to attend in 2019. Most eLearning conferences without any certifications are a thousand or more dollars just to register. If you use Adobe Captivate, are switching to Adobe Captivate, or are considering Adobe Captivate this is the conference for you.

I hope to see you in Washington DC on either March 12th, March 13th, or on both days.