Sometimes gifts come from unusual places. Sometimes they are found when you least expect them.

Our business has developed over the last 20 years by word-of-mouth and referrals, so the clients who know us, know us very well. But we have never formally announced our company to the HR community. We decided this year that it was time to have a trade show experience with our peers in the training industry. We were a little uncertain about what this experience would be like, having heard mixed reviews about trade shows…

Several e! team members manned our booth at the CSTD Trade Show at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto December 3 rd and 4 th . We met delegates and exhibitors from all over Canada and the US, made some new friends, reconnected with some old friends, gained insight into a variety of learning approaches and thoroughly enjoyed our first-ever tradeshow encounter.

We noticed a pattern developing at the show as delegates stopped by our booth. Often our conversations would begin with the delegate's comment: “What a fabulous booth!” And that statement was quickly followed by: “What exactly do you DO?”

The CSTD Trade Show provided a forum for us to talk about what is so integral to our core belief system: that people learn by doing. Over the years, we have—with our clients—created experiences and simulations that have really made a difference. It was such a pleasure to share our story with delegates and to hear their stories as well. We had some wonderful discussions about how experiential solutions can help with their important initiatives.

It was also interesting to talk with others in the learning field, finding out what is important to them and how they approach their businesses. It's an exciting time in the training and development industry; there is a lot going on. There are many challenges and great opportunities for forward thinking, practical solutions and meaningful results.

If you happened by our booth—or even if you didn't—please check out our website. We are undergoing a bit of renovation and we're excited about the changes. We have received many really nice comments about our website and we appreciate all of them. We want to make it an even better user experience and take our site to the next level. We hope you like it.