With all the Facebook-ing and MySpace-ing and Twitter-ing and other SNS-ing going on out there, it seems the lowly personal blog has taken quite a beating. My own turf here on the net is no exception, as I see it’s been a solid ten months since my last posting. Putting aside the “does anyone care?” question, I suppose this is as good a time as any to ask if any-thing’s changed with me during these past ten months? Well, let’s see…

I have a new job! After eight years at Cardean Learning Group (initially UNext), I moved on to a new position at Alpine Access, a company that specializes in providing outsourced customer care using a very cool work-at-home employee model. Specifically, I’m President of a new strategic initiative called Alpine Access University (AAU), an effort to define and develop a new type of online corporate university. I can’t say how excited I am about the opportunity — everything about the company is incredible, from the idea from which the idea sprung, to the CEO and his commitment to create AAU, to the people who make it all happen. I really the stars have aligned to make this a once in a lifetime event. Of course, all that’s left now is to make the vision a reality. But then, that’s exactly the type of challenge that drives me, so it should make for a great ride!

I’ll have a lot more to say on this new undertaking, but for now here’s a snippet of a company-wide email I recently sent out announcing the launch of Alpine Access University:

Team,

Over the past four months, I have been working with Chris Carrington, members of the Executive Leadership Team, our current Training Department, and individuals from across the company to craft a vision and plan for Alpine Access University (AAU). At February’s board meeting, I presented this plan to our Board of Directors for their input and approval. I’m very excited to tell you that with Chris, Rob and the Board’s enthusiastic encouragement, we are officially launching Alpine Access University. While I will formally introduce AAU to the team at tomorrow’s Third Thursday, I’d like to take some time here to highlight a few elements of our plan.

First, our mission: Alpine Access University will develop a new best-in-class breed of Customer Care Professionals (CCPs), and will do this by marrying the latest in adult and social constructivist learning theories with our current industry-leading training proficiency. In addition to training and developing the best CCPs in the industry, AAU will begin a new line of business by providing consulting, development, and delivery services to businesses looking to outsource their training needs. But perhaps the most ambitious goal of AAU is that we will develop and bring to the market consumer-facing certificates and programs in Customer Care. Soon, individuals seeking to enter the customer care arena or advance their careers will be able to enroll in any of a number of AAU programs: from basic programs in customer care, soft skills, and technical fluency to advanced programs in sales, leadership and management. Our goal is to make the AAU brand be the recognized warranty of achievement in the marketplace, the gold standard by which others are judged!

To help us achieve these ambitious goals, we are organizing ourselves around three operating units: Learning Technology, Learning Design and Development, and Learning Community Services. As seen in the chart below, members of today’s current Training Department are being deployed across these three new units, and over the coming months we will be adding key new staff. Let me briefly outline each unit’s responsibility and the larger staffing plan.

The Learning Community Services group is responsible for all “delivery” aspects of the AAU operation, including course scheduling and staffing, student records, instruction (our trainers), and our larger learning community (our “student body”).

The Learning Design and Development group handles all aspects of defining, designing, developing, and maintaining our courses and programs.

The Learning Technology group provides all the enabling software and technology services used by AAU. Recognizing the breadth and complexity of the solutions needed to succeed, we will build our learning platform using a “best of breed” integration approach augmented with focused software development.

Over the coming months, the AAU team will envision, pilot and bring to market a range of new courses and programs rooted in a highly social and active “learn by doing” instructional model. We plan to have our first pilot program running in the second half of this year, with our production platform and processes fully operational by the start of 2009.

In their book “Built to Last,” James Collins and Jerry Porras found that successful companies progressed by embracing monumental changes they called “BHAGs” – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Clearly, Alpine Access University’s BHAGs involve a paradigm shift in our current training product and services. However, thanks to Chris, Rob, and the Board’s visionary leadership, along with what is our greatest asset – Alpine’s human capital – I am confident that Alpine Access University will not only achieve the goals we’ve laid out, but will do so in a way that defines a new type of online corporate university. I invite you all to join me in celebrating the launch of Alpine Access University, and I look forward to working together to make our vision a reality.

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