*Click here to watch video of this presentation. 

This past week, Todd was one of the three keynote speakers at a tremendous learning event held by HR/NY, the New York chapter of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management).

Sponsored by the organization's fast-growing Career Planning & Profesional Development SIG, and attended by an enthuiastic group of approximately 75 attendees, Todd's interactive and engaging talk was entitled, "10 Top Training Tips for HR Professionals: A Wild, 30-Minute Roller Coaster Ride!"...and that it was!

In response to participant questions about where and how to find relevant and impactful (and free) visual images to create more effective powerpoint presentations, Steve was on hand to jump into the discussion and contribute his expertise in this area.

Also in attendance to lend their support and encouragement were a few of BigBlueGumball's best friends, fans, partners, and clients, including our great friend, the Queen of Networking, Andrea Nierenberg (http://www.nierenberggroup.com/); Camille Gargiso, the head of HR for NASFT; and Karin Sibrava-Cherches, BigBlueGumball's #1 fan and supporter.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the 10 Top Tips, each of which were brought to life in the course of this fun, visual, and interactive presentation, were these:

1.Do not read your slides word-for-word.

2. Decide what to leave out.

3. Open strong.

 4. Be creative, innovative, interactive, and fun!

5. Focus equally on content, design & delivery.

6. It’s all about your participants.

7. Remember the 3 E’s: Educate, Entertain & Excite. TM

8. Satisfy all 3 Learning Styles.

9. Use Visuals & Storytelling.

10. Practice, practice, practice.

11. Exceed expectations!

Despite the 5 or 50 (or is it 500?) feet of snow we've had in NYC so far this winter (and January isn't even over yet!), BigBlueGumball has had an incredibly busy month to kick off the year.

Among the highlights: Todd's NYU graduate program (mentioned in the previous post) held it's first two sessions the week of January 24th and is off to a flying start.

We're excited about our new website (the one you're reading right now)... and would love to hear your thoughts if you have any. (And, yes, we will be adding more photos and visuals soon!)

Steve and I look forward to re-connecting with all of BigBlueGumball's existing clients during the first quarter of 2011, and look forward to building some great new client relationships over the course of the year. 

Counting the days til the spring thaw and the start of baseball and softball season...

The New Year is upon us, and BigBlueGumball is looking forward to a great year.  Lots of exciting happenings coming up this year, and we look forward to telling you about everything.  For now, we'll keep it brief...

For starters, Todd will be delivering a presentation entitled, "Top 10 Training Tips for HR Professionals: A Wild 30-Minute Roller Coaster Ride" at this Wednesday's sold-out SHRM-HR/NY event.

Steve's VizThink NYC kicks off in 2011 with a mini-event on "Visual Business Planning."  For more info, go to http://vizthink.com/events/?event_id=20

Todd recently joined the faculty of NYU where he will be delivering a 12-session graduate program entitled, “Transformational Leadership & Teambuilding” for their Leadership and Human Capital Management master’s program (http://ho.io/todd-nyu-leadership).

Plenty more to come.  Feel free to get in touch for more info...

The Cherches brothers want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday as we start to say goodbye to 2010...!  But we're also excited about what lies ahead in the new year (which some have dubbed the year of the BigBlueGumball)...!

New Years is a time not only to reflect on the past, but look towards the future and all the good things that the future will bring.  We thank our friends, families, clients, and everyone who has made the past year a great one...!

And, we look forward to 2011 as BigBlueGumball continues to Educate, Entertain, & Excite... and hopefully make the world a better place in our own small way.

Happy Holiday to all, and thank you... Todd and Steve