Neil Lasher becomes ASTD UK’s president

Neil Lasher, the UK-based e-learning guru and managing director of Trainer1, has been elected to the post of president of the UK chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)’s Global Network for 2006. He takes over from Neville Pritchard, formerly of Barclays and now of the INL Consultancy, who becomes immediate past president; while Mark Harrison, formerly of Epic but now with the consultancy, Kineo, becomes president-elect.

Lasher begins his ASTD presidency by joining a panel at the Learning Technologies conference, in Olympia, London, on 25th/26th January, to debate ‘what skill does the ideal learning and development manager need?’ Other panel members are David Coleman, global learning manager at Unilever; Marie-Pierre Gouaux, learning and development manager at UK Atos Origin, and Jonathan Kettleborough, managing director of Corollis.

Lasher commented: “As the ASTD’s UK chapter president in 2006, my intention is to forge much stronger links between the ASTD and the British Learning Association (BLA) and the eLearning Network (ELN), the UK’s foremost professional association of users and developers of all forms of e-learning. The memberships of these organisations need to have a greater awareness of the ASTD, its values and aims, as well as the benefits of cross-membership in all these organisations.

“It is important, for the future wellbeing of the learning industry in the UK, that all the relevant professional bodies – including the Institute of IT Training (IITT) – collaborate in promoting the benefits of learning to the wider world of business and commerce,” Lasher added.

Among the ASTD’s UK chapter plans for 2006 is a two day conference, being held at Cambridge University on 14th and 15th March.
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Notes for Editors:

About Trainer1

Trainer1 is one of the UK’s leading independent e-learning specialists, creating sophisticated courseware for learning. It has lengthy experience in computer delivered learning. In particular, Trainer1 develops, supplies and supports:
• Authoring tools - for the creation of content, meeting SCORM, AICC, LRN, XML, and QTI standards.
• Learning and Knowledge Management tools - for the management and distribution of content, including accreditation and reporting of data within existing databases.
• Delivery systems for workflow learning - CSL™.
• Tools and libraries to create multimedia content, including image editors, easy to use Flash production tools, libraries of sound, graphics and animation.
• Specialised training events to assist trainers become self sufficient in e-learning design and production.
• Development services in the creation and maintenance of learning content.

Trainer1’s client list includes international major corporations such as ABN AMRO, Kraft Foods, Deutsche Post (DHL) and Mitsubishi Corporation, along with clients including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the UK, the Department for International Development, and the UK’s Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, along with many municipal authorities.

Trainer1 is privately owned and remains a small, friendly company providing high quality product combined with personal service to Blue Chip Companies, as well as small and medium sized enterprises. Trainer1 is a member of many e-learning organisations, and Neil Lasher, Trainer1’s managing director is a committee member of the ELN and President (in 2006) of the Global Network of ASTD UK. He also works with standards bodies to ensure technology is meeting the needs of users worldwide, as well as the guidelines determined by the governing groups in the e-learning industry.

Further information from:
Neil Lasher, Trainer1, 020 7264 4844
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 01727 860405

www.trainer1.com