The American Society for Training & Development 2012 International Conference & Exposition is coming up next month in Denver, Colorado (May 6 to 9), and the schedule of events is packed with interesting speakers, workshops, exhibitors and learning sessions.

Before you head to Denver, take some time to plan what you want to accomplish so you can take advantage of as many learning and development opportunities as possible.

ASTD 2012 Resources

1. Conference schedule 

Print out your own copy of the daily schedule so you can keep track of sessions you are interested in attending and speakers you want to hear.

2. Speaker information

Be sure to attend the talks given by the three keynote speakers:

Jim Collins
Jim Collins is a researcher and bestselling author who has written or co-written ome of the most fascinating business books in recent years, including Built to Last, Good to Great and his latest, Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (co-authored with Morten Hansen). Great by Choice is based on nine years of research, and Financial Times praised it as, “a sensible, well-timed and precisely targeted message for companies shaken by macroeconomic crises.”

John Kao
A graduate of Yale College, Yale Medical School and Harvard Business School, John Kao is a thought leader on innovation, organizational transformation and technology. He has been dubbed everything from “Mr. Creativity” to “the innovation sherpa” and has advised the governments of Finland and Singapore on their innovation strategies, as well as large companies including Nike and Intel. He is the chairman and founder of the Institute for Large Scale Innovation and has published two books and three e-books.

Heidi Grant Halvorson
Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD, is a social psychologist, educational consultant and assistant professor of psychology at Lehigh University. She is a leading expert on motivation and achievement, and her research studies how people respond to challenges and obstacles and how personal goals can have an effect on self-regulation, perception, persuasion, achievement and well-being. She co-edited the academic handbook The Psychology of Goals and has been published in numerous academic journals and publications, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Harvard Business Review and Fast Company.

Be sure to make time for the other featured speakers who have expertise in topics including innovation, leadership and learning and development.

3. Build your own conference
Design your ideal experience for the ASTD 2012 conference. Select the sessions that interest you the most, attend pre-conference workshops or choose from eight content tracks or three industry tracks.

4. Sign up 
Register for the ASTD 2012 conference.