CONTACTATD GLOBALMEMBERS PORTAL

ATD Greater Twin Cities

Joy of Learning

Trew Landis

ATD-GTC New and Prospective Member Welcome – February 2026

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February 13, 2026

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM – Virtual Event

New to ATD Greater Twin Cities or curious about our chapter programming? We’d like to invite you to a new member welcome and orientation so that you can take advantage of everything that our local chapter has to offer.

Spend an hour with us to learn about our various communities of practice, series of events, and ways to get involved so that you can get involved, meet other practitioners, and experience the joy of learning with ATD-GTC!

This program is FREE for all to attend.

Register for the Event

Lead and Learn: Retain and Gain

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February 25, 2026

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM – Good Day Café, 5410 Wayzata Blvd., Golden Valley, MN

This event is limited to 15 people

Retention isn’t just about keeping employees—it’s about creating a workplace where people feel supported and want to grow. In this session, we’ll explore how learning and development can help create that environment.

Whether you’re new to the field or bring years of experience, this interactive session offers a warm, inclusive space to connect and share ideas. We’ll explore key topics in instructional design and talent development, including: 

  • How L&D supports employee belonging and long-term engagement 
  • The organizational value created by strong retention 
  • Retention practices that work—and what L&D can learn from them 

Join us for a semi-structured conversation designed to spark connection, insight and practical ideas you can take back to your role.

This program is FREE for all ATD-GTC members. Members may bring one complimentary, registered guest. 

By registering for this event, you consent to the use of your image and likeness in photographs and videos taken at the event. These images may be used by ATD-GTC for promotional purposes, including but not limited to, social media, website, and printed materials. 

Meet Our Co-Hosts:

Kaydra Weigel, MEd is a Learning Solutions Business Partner at Life Time. She has a diverse array of facilitation and instructional design experience that ranges from education to talent development. In her current role, she develops performance-based learning experiences, partners with cross-functional teams to support organizational development, and recommends and designs targeted learning solutions to address performance challenges. Additionally, she has presented at IUPUI’s Assessment Institute, an event focused on assessment and improvement, and at ATD-GTC’s Unlearning to Drive Change Vision event.

Mary Armstrong is a Verified ATD Master™ Instructional Designer at Aveda Corporation. Her previous 20-year career in journalism included staff jobs at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota Public Radio and The New York Times. She is the secretary of the board for Wilson’s Image College Scholarship, a nonprofit benefiting African-American scholars from North Minneapolis, and a volunteer for the Association for Talent Development–Greater Twin Cities. Mary has journalism and political science degrees from Indiana University and a graduate certificate in instructional design and technology from Florida State University.

Click Here to Register for the Event

Community Of Practice: Change Leadership – February  

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February 27, 2026

9 AM – 10:30 AM -Modernwell

How do you know when change is actually landing, not just launching?

Change leadership is not only about inspiring action. It is about making progress visible, spotting issues early, and using evidence to adjust course. In this member-driven Community of Practice session, we will explore practical ways to measure change, including how people define “success,” what to track (adoption, proficiency, readiness, sentiment, outcomes), and how to connect change activity to business impact without turning measurement into a reporting exercise that nobody trusts.

This will be a highly participatory conversation. Members and guests will shape the discussion through shared examples, questions, and lessons learned. Expect a mix of show-and-tell, peer coaching, and discussion around what works in the real world when data is imperfect, definitions vary, and leaders still want answers.

What we will dig into together

  • How practitioners define change success (adoption vs outcomes, leading vs lagging indicators)
  • Useful measures for adoption, capability, readiness, and reinforcement
  • Setting baselines, targets, and realistic benchmarks – Using metrics to drive decisions and course-correct, not just report status
  • Common pitfalls: vanity metrics, weaponized metrics, and “ROI theater”

Come ready to share Bring one example to contribute, even if it is rough:

  • A dashboard, scorecard, KPI set, pulse survey, or adoption measure
  • A metric you wish you had (and what is blocking it)
  • A measurement lesson learned (what worked, what backfired, what you changed)

Why attend (ATD-TC members and guests)

If you support learning, talent, OD, HR, or change efforts, measurement is where credibility is built. You will leave with practical ideas you can apply immediately, plus a clearer sense of how peers in the Twin Cities are measuring change in ways that leaders can understand and act on.

Modernwell is a members-only coworking space. We are excited to hold our events in their beautiful space, but can not extend access beyond the event time. Once the event ends, all attendees are expected to depart the building OR they can purchase a day pass at a discounted rate of $30 for the remainder of the day. Please stop by the ModernWell front desk before or after the event to purchase your pass.

This program is FREE for all ATD-GTC members. Members may bring one complimentary, registered guest. 

Click Here to Register for the Event

How to Start a Consulting Business from Scratch 

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March 4, 2026

12 PM – 1 PM – Virtual

Retention isn’t just about keeping employees—it’s about creating a workplace where people Starting a consulting business can feel overwhelmed—even for experienced professionals. You may be considering consulting, have had a few clients, or know this is the path you want to pursue, but feel uncertain about where to begin.

How to Start a Consulting Business from Scratch provides clarity, direction, and practical actions to help you build your consulting business with confidence, using a less-is-more approach.

Using real-world examples, this presentation covers:

  • The five pillars of a successful consulting business
  • Three actions that help you begin creating clients right away (without overcomplicating the process)
  • Common mistakes consultants make and how to avoid them

Walk away with a clear understanding of what is needed to be successful, a practical plan you can implement immediately, and tools and resources to support your next steps.

This program is FREE for all ATD-GTC members. Members may bring one complimentary, registered guest. 

By registering for this event, you consent to the use of your image and likeness in photographs and videos taken at the event. These images may be used by ATD-GTC for promotional purposes, including but not limited to, social media, website, and printed materials. 

Meet Our Presenter:

Laura Dallas Burford is a strategic advisor, author, and speaker who helps professionals build successful independent consulting businesses. She begins by clarifying a consultant’s foundation: what they want to be known for, who they serve, and how they deliver value. From there, she helps consultants build a business that creates clients, supports consistent revenue, and delivers high-value work with confidence. She is known for her proprietary framework, The Consultant’s Blueprint©, and her signature program, Consulting Mastery©. Laura is the award-winning author of Project Management for Flat Organizations and brings decades of consulting experience across corporate environments and with independent consulting.

Click Here to Register for the Event

March – ATD Coffee & Conversations

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March 5, 2026

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Virtual

Join us for ATD Coffee & Conversations, a laid-back virtual meet-up where talent development professionals can connect, share ideas, and get to know one another in a relaxed setting.

We’ll break into small groups around a few light discussion topics and rotate breakout rooms so you can meet different people along the way. Bring your coffee, tea, or favorite beverage—and come as you are.

This program is FREE for all ATD-GTC members. Members may bring one complimentary, registered guest.

By registering for this event, you consent to the use of your image and likeness in photographs and videos taken at the event. These images may be used by ATD-GTC for promotional purposes, including but not limited to, social media, website, and printed materials.

Register for the Event

March – Community Of Practice: Small Yet Mighty L&D Teams – Build Your Coaching Muscle with AI—No Gym Membership Required 

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March 12, 2026

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM – Virtual

This event is limited to 28 participants

Want to strengthen your coaching skills without expensive training programs—or awkward role plays that feel like bad cardio?

In this interactive session, you’ll learn how to use AI to create realistic coaching role plays that actually work. Dream Lab CEO, Cherie Anderson will demonstrate the prompts that act like a personal trainer for your coaching conversations, then you’ll team up with classmates to design your own scenarios.

You’ll leave with ready-to-use prompts and role plays you can put into action immediately—no heavy lifting, no spotter, and no monthly fees. Just smarter practice, better reps, and stronger coaching muscles.

Our Presenter

As Dream Lab’s Chief Experience Officer, Cherie Anderson has 15 years of experience creating vibrant communities — including customer service, sales, and corporate organizations, as well as artists, entrepreneurs, authors, and social justice activists — by leading training classes, facilitating large and small groups, designing curricula, coaching learners, and producing events. She’s worked at Dream Lab Theatre (co-artistic director), American Express, Ameriprise Financial, Cray, Inc., and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as with numerous start-ups. She’s also collaborated with several authors and speakers. Formal education matters, too, so she invested in a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Minnesota, and a Masters in Organization Development from Bowling Green State University.

This program is FREE for all ATD-GTC members. Members may bring one complimentary, registered guest. 

By registering for this event, you consent to the use of your image and likeness in photographs and videos taken at the event. These images may be used by ATD-GTC for promotional purposes, including but not limited to, social media, website, and printed materials. 

Register for the Event