Skilling, Scents and Global Slogans

After a day of flights from New York, we are now here and rested in Delhi, India. A few quick impressions:

Skilling & ReSkilling: We were struck by the culture of Skilling and ReSkilling evident at every turn in India:

• From the conversations with our driver about his goal of saving enough money for the proper schooling of his 6 year old girl to have a proper change of rising her position in the world.
• The morning newspaper had a 12 page section just with on-line programs at the graduate, college and vocational level.
• A huge ad saying "When I see a Resume with a HP Certification, the rest go in the Bin"
• Large stories linking the new tax proposed by Obama on Business Process Outsourcing to advice about which degrees would be impacted.

Global Slogans & Elections: Just when we thought the election cycle was over, we have been experiencing the end stage of a very long national campaign here. And, the slogan of one of their parties is " Yes We Can!" The engagement of young people has also mirrored the US 2008 election cycle as well. What makes this interesting is the importance of the parties forming coalitions to be able to have a majority. There is 24 by 7 coverage of the elections on several channels and it feels almost like "deja vu"

Scents: Every time we enter the lobby of our hotel, we are bombarded with new scents and fragrances. Jasmine greeted us at breakfast this morning.

We are off for meetings with Learning colleagues this afternoon and then drinks with folks from the US Embassy this evening.

Learning Questions to Explore in India

While in India, we'll be exploring the following questions with our colleagues:

• Sourcing: What is the status of the Indian "sourcing" or "outsourcing" market?
• TRENDS: How is Social Learning, Mobile Learning and Performance Support being deployed or developed in India?
• Economy: What is the impact of the world economic "slowdown" on the India Learning field?
• Education: What are the key programs to develop Learning Professionals and Learning Leaders in India?
• Learning Styles & Lessons: What are the aspects of the education system (K to Higher Ed) that influence the learning styles in India?

Please add to this list via comments.

2 Weeks in India: Meetings, A Wedding & More

On Saturday, May 9th, Elliott and Cathy Masie are off for a two week, intense journey to India.

We will be mixing professional, personal and learning experiences during this fortnight. We have planned meetings with colleagues and friends in Delhi and Mumbai. We'll be attending a four day wedding of a co-worker. And, visits to many sites around India.

During meetings with fellow learning professionals and CEO's of Learning Companies in India, we will be exploring the changing landscape of global learning. We'll take a close look at the current "sourcing" industry for learning products/services in India. And, we'll explore how learning models and technologies are evolving in that region.

I'd love to have questions to add to our meetings and interviews. Feel free to post them as comments or send me an email to emasie@masie.com