360training e-learning training weblog

What do people do on online?

In April, the majority of the time that people spent online was to review content, according to The Internet Activity Index. The Internet Activity Index (IAI) describes content to be comprised of “web sites and Internet applications that are designed primarily to provide news, information and entertainment.”

Four topics were indexed: Commerce, Communications, Content and Search. Content was up 1.3% from the previous month to 46.5% of online usage in March. Communications - 33.2%, commerce - 15.6% and search finished at 4.8% of time spent online for the month of April. 665 content pages on average were viewed by those that were tracked by index.

Bernanke and Online Training

The Federal Reserve Boards Chairman Ben S. Bernanke recently gave a speech on Embracing the Challenge of Free Trade: Competing and Prospering in a Global Economy. Bernanke remarked that "investing in education and training would help young people entering the labor force as well as those already in mid-career to better manage the ever-changing demands of the workforce". The Chairman stated that workforce skills can be improved not only through K‑12 education, college, and graduate work but also through: on-the-job training, coursework at community colleges and vocational schools, extension courses and online training. Bernanke added "an eclectic, market-responsive approach to increasing workforce skills is the most likely to be successful." Online training and content may be the answer; custom tailored courses can ensure workers are presented with the most up to date information in a convenient format.

360training.com, Inc. adds new Vice Presidents

Mike Hall recently began his new role as VP of Occupational Training. Mike’s business background includes over eleven years at a training technologies firm where his business acumen helped him to lead sales, marketing and product development efforts of their e-learning training products. He also had the unique opportunity to oversee training solutions on a domestic and global level. Mike is an active member of: American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), National Safety Council (NSC), and the e-learning Guild.

Angelique Harkin is our new VP of Real Estate and has jumped right into the challenge. Her business background includes leading a nationally known real estate companies’ educational services division to nearly $7 million dollars in revenue. Angelique has created and delivered educational products and services to support real estate agents. She was also responsible for packaging and distribution of over one hundred product SKUs. Angelique received her MBA from St. Edward’s University after receiving her undergrad degree from the University of Texas.

We are pleased to have both Mike and Angelique join the team!

Great Job Award Recipients

Congratulations to Mo Katchi, Marri Jayne Nielsen, Ahmed Qureshi and Hammad Javed for receiving a Great Job Award this past week at our All Hands Meeting. Mo, Marri Jayne and Ahmed are located in our Austin office and Hammad is in our Karachi office. The entire staff at 360training.com, Inc. is involved in the awards process and appreciates the extra effort the four of you have made for the entire company. The Great Job Award is awarded to those employees who have demonstrated outstanding performance and who embody the 360training.com, Inc. attitude.

Those with a 360training.com, Inc. attitude:

• Are deadline-centric
• Are willing to go beyond their job and assist others no matter the department
• Have a sense of urgency
• Are willing to learn new skills and knowledge

All Hands Meeting A Success!

Yesterday at 360training.com we held our quarterly “All Hands Meeting,” a review of the previous quarter and a status review for the entire company. These meetings provide an opportunity for all 360training employees to learn about the other divisions and ask questions of the executives. It was exciting to hear how as a company we have met our goals and also to hear how the e-learning industry has grown.

The staff at 360training.com had a chance to reflect upon our professional goals and how we should continue to move towards them everyday. Ed Sattar, CEO of 360training.com, mentioned that he reviews his goals daily for a few minutes which helps him stay focused. One of my professional goals is to develop a deeper understanding of my field, therefore I will complete one online training course a week in Health, Safety and Environmental training at www.OshaCampus.com.

What are your professional goals?
Will additional workforce knowledge be amongst them? Best wishes on meeting your goals and feel free to share your goals with us through the comments section and how you plan on attaining them.

Does Your Company Provide Enough Training and Development Opportunities?

According to a recent article this week, three-quarters of employed adults (76%) agree that today's U.S. employers do not invest enough in training and development to keep the U.S. workforce competitive with those in other countries.

At 360training.com, we are lucky to be a part of the 24%, as we have at our disposal over 3,000 course titles. At a very low cost, we can learn how to deal with conflict and confrontation, business writing, and even study to become real estate agents! Many companies are becoming more like 360training.com in that they allow educational reimbursement for training and development; or they have partnered with a company to provide "in-house" education. Even if your company hasn’t made the commitment to providing training, you should try it out. A few places to visit include: Agent Campus for Real Estate CE, OSHA Campus for Construction and Occupational Safety Training and Learn2Serve for Food and Alcohol Server Training.

360training.com, Inc. pioneered the model of providing comprehensive private label online learning solutions for a variety of applications. A full range of health, safety, industrial skills, power, defensive driving, electrician, and HR educational programs and services are available. Visit 360training.com, for more information.

What Does Dotcom Mean?

Today it was announced that Softech International Inc. has been approved by the secretary of state to operate as 360training.com, Inc. Founded as Softech International Inc. in 1997, 360training.com, Inc. is an Austin, Texas based employee owned multi-national e-learning pioneer.

This approval made me wonder, what does dotcom mean?  Now, I am not talking about the technical term that dotcom definition found on About.com. Rather, what does dotcom really mean for a business in today’s society? Does it mean that the company gives all of its' employees' perks such as sushi and sake in the cafeteria, and spa services each Friday? Perhaps dotcom means that everyone is waiting for the IPO so that they can retire rich at the age of 25? It would be interesting to find out – what do you envision when you think dotcom? Make sure to leave your comments below and check back often to see what others think.

Most certainly we all will agree that dotcom in the year 2007 brings to mind an image that is very different than that held in 2001. For a business to survive the downturn in the internet economy and flourish most probably means that the business understands the needs of the e-commerce consumer, has a surefire way of delivering the goods and provides superior customer service. For the past ten years, 360training.com, Inc. has not only survived, but thrived; and by all accounts will continue doing so for quite some time.  Superior guidance has pushed the company’s growth 3829% in the last four years and has earned 360training.com a spot on the much coveted Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list. For more information visit:  www.360training.com.

Chief Executive Officer of 360training Nominated for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Each year Ernst & Young recognizes entrepreneurs who are leading their business - their dream to the next level. Over the past twenty years the award has become one of the flagship awards that a business owner can be affiliated with.  We at 360training are proud to announce that Ed Sattar, CEO of 360training has been nominated for the award. According to Ernst & Young this recognition is for those men and women who create and build leading businesses, contribute to the strength of their communities and the economy, and help raise the bar of business excellence.

All who are familiar with Ed and his contributions to compliance and workforce training initiatives are confident that his nomination continues the tradition of excellence exemplified by the award. A long line of equally prominent and successful business people have led the way in receiving the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year honor including Joe Lee with Darden Restaurants; Kevin Plank with Under Armour and Patrick Lo with NetGear. The list also includes Austin alumni Michael Dell of Dell Corporation and John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market. 

Ed’s background has uniquely qualified him for the position he holds at 360training as Chief Executive Officer and also for the nomination of Entrepreneur of the Year. A few of his achievements include studying Electrical Engineering and Finance at the University of Texas at Austin, authoring a book and starting a $20 million investment operation in 1990 with a portfolio of investments that included FDIC, REO and Tax foreclosed assets. This was no easy task considering that not since June of 1990 has the Austin real estate market seen an inventory at a high of ten months!

Ernst & Young will present winners in ten different categories. The Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year is named from one of these categories: Distribution/Manufacturing/Security; Emerging; Energy, Chemicals & Mining; Financial Services; Health Sciences, Media/Entertainment/Communications; Real Estate/Hospitality/Construction; Retail & Consumer Products; Services and Technology. One of these ten winners will be chosen to be the 2007 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year Award Recipient. The awards will be presented at the 21st Annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Event on November 21st in Palm Springs.

What IS That Sound?

This is a phrase that will no longer be uttered at 360training after completion of our professional recording booths. The booths were incorporated into the new Austin headquarters layout to ensure that we can continue to provide our customer client base with award winning sound while they complete our online content training courses. The booths have also given our professional recording staff the ability to record on site for a multitude of projects in both English and in Spanish -- all in "record" time. We are sure the professional recording booths will open up the door for future offerings in additional languages.

We are very excited about our new booths, but we are sure no one is as happy as the guy who sits in the sound insulated i.e. (padded 8x8) room for 10 hours a day. Here's to you and thanks - we really like that sound!

Deloitte Fast 50 Recognition 2006 Mid-Point

Yesterday was an exciting day for the folks here at 360training, having learned that the company made the cut on the annual Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 program, highlighting 360training as the 6th fastest growing in Texas.

We joined a list of 18 other fellow Austin-based tech organizations who ranged from network performance management guru NetQoS to non-profit fundraising and constituent relationship management champion, Convio.

Experiencing a 2001-2005, 5 year growth rate of 3,829 percent has presented both a challenge on the path to getting there and gives us an opportunity to recognize the employees of 360training who have been the key drivers behind this feat. As company CEO Ed Sattar has said before and says again, “It’s all about having the right people on the right seat on the right bus, being yourself and taking risks - no role play. Without that mindset, no business model or product, no matter how great, will reach full potential”.

Passing the mid-point of 2006 brings numerous emerging activities for the 360training including a major expansion into the healthcare education market for industries including dental, physical therapy, respitory therapy, nutrition and nursing. Additionally, the company finds itself in one of the best positions to help strengthen one of our most endearing resources, our strategic partners as we seek to expand our content product offerings by two-fold and embark upon the next release of our LMS platform, that will incorporate over 50 new features including e-marketing, ILT management, CRM, assessment management and more.