Looking to begin a career or boost your current career in instructional design or e-learning? These six conferences may just be what you need to give you the jump start you’re looking for!

The future looks bright for instructional design professionals, who can look forward to a busy year of conferences and expos featuring incredible speakers, exciting new ELearning technologies, and opportunities to share with colleagues and peers, all designed to develop the ever-changing art of workplace training and development.

Training 2018 Conference Expo

February 12 – 14, 2018

Atlanta, Georgia

This long-running “train-the-trainer” conference & exposition, hosted by Training Magazine and Lakewood Media Group, LLC., offers inspiration to training professionals in both the private and public sector, and invites them to try out new ELearning technologies, as well as reexamine instructor-led methods. Expect a diverse group of learning experts, such as government trainers and healthcare professionals, and the chance to explore the newest big ideas, techniques, and technology.

CLO Symposium 2018

March 26 – 28, 2018

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

This symposium is specifically for Chief Learning Officers, the highest-ranking position in corporate learning, and typically hosts several hundred attendees. The event focuses on big picture ideas and concepts, larger visions, and new directions in training, with a focus on reexamining, revisiting, and reimagining the “content, context, and mechanisms” of workplace learning. With keynote speakers well-known in the industry, the three day event takes place at a luxurious beach resort and spa.

Learning Solutions 2018 Conference & Expo

March 27 – 29, 2018

Orlando, Florida

This fun and social conference from the ELearning Guild focuses on the newest technology bringing innovation to the world of training and design. There is a unique focus on tech from around the world, as well as over a hundred sessions that include industry-specific learning design, foundations for new Instructional Designers, and workshops for senior level professionals.

ATD 2018 International Conference & Exposition

May 6 – 9, 2018

San Diego, California

This is the world’s largest conference and expo for training professionals, with over ten thousand attendees and hundreds of speakers. It is hosted by one of the largest associations in the field, the Association for Talent Development (ATD). Over four days, Instructional Designers and learning professionals from diverse backgrounds explore hundreds of sessions and a huge expo floor. The conference honors new techniques as well as tried-and-true practices. This year, at the seventy fifth anniversary of the conference, President Barack Obama is the keynote speaker.

Realities360 Conference

June 26 – 28, 2018

San Jose, California

From the hosts of the Learning Solutions Conference, ELearning Guild, this new conference for learning design professionals focuses solely on technologies utilizing virtual reality, augmented reality, alternative reality, and simulations. Attendees get exciting opportunities to try the newest technologies first hand, and attend workshops and sessions that explore ways these tools can be used in the context of learning and training. 

DevLearn Conference & Expo

October 24 – 26, 2018

Las Vegas, Nevada

The third conference on this list from the ELearning Guild, this event focuses on the future of learning design, and the newest cutting-edge technologies available in the industry. DevLearn focuses on the big pictures issues of the industry, as well as offering opportunities in development in specific technological knowledge and skill.