Philadelphia Training and Development Professionals Save Time, Money, and the Environment by Holding Annual Conference Online

  
    
  
  
    
      The American Society of Training & Development Greater Philadelphia 
      Chapter (ASTD-GPC) hosted its first-ever full-day online conference, and 
      turned to iLinc (AMEX:ILC), a leading provider of web 
      conferencing software and online collaboration solutions, to power 
      the web conference and provide results on carbon emissions and travel 
      costs saved as a result.
    
    
      “With travel budgets tightening even further in organizations across the 
      U.S., now more than ever the number of companies training employees, 
      meeting with clients, and prospecting via web conferencing is growing in 
      record numbers,” said James Powers, President and CEO of iLinc. “And 
      now, informational full-day conferences that normally bring together 
      groups in one place for education and professional development are going 
      online too.”
    
    
      The ASTD-GPC “Go Green” Online Training Conference consisted of a 
      keynote presentation by synchronous learning expert, Jennifer Hofmann, 
      followed by three concurrent tracks—Holding Successful Webinars, Using 
      Web 2.0 Technologies, and Creating First-Rate Training—with three 
      sessions in each track. All 10 sessions were recorded so attendees could 
      review sessions they attended as well as hear sessions they were unable 
      to attend after the web conference ended.
    
    
      “While most of our presenters and attendees were from the Philadelphia 
      area, we had two presenters from Connecticut and one from Arizona, and 
      attendees from as far away as Utah,” said Frank Felsburg, President of 
      ASTD-GPC. “These people wouldn’t have been able to participate if this 
      conference were held at a hotel in Philadelphia.”
    
    
      Using the iLinc Green Meter, an embedded feature inside iLinc web 
      conferencing, ASTD-GPC was able to track the carbon emissions and 
      gallons of fuel that they saved by holding the conference online instead 
      of in-person: 106,000 pounds of carbon emissions and 5,300 gallons of 
      fuel.
    
    
      The iLinc 
      Green Meter™ is a patent-pending feature that tracks the carbon 
      emissions, cost, and travel reductions accrued with every online 
      meeting. By using a mathematical algorithm to detect the locations of 
      the people that are attending a web conference via IP address and 
      measure the distance between the meeting participants and the meeting 
      leader the iLinc Green Meter calculates the exact amount of travel that 
      is eliminated. The tool recognizes what means of travel would commonly 
      be used for the distance (such as car, small aircraft, large aircraft, 
      etc.) and keeps a running tab of the carbon emissions savings and 
      financial costs such as fuel, miles traveled and employee productivity 
      gains.
    
    
      “If we held this conference in downtown Philadelphia, presenters and 
      attendees would have spent hours in their cars travelling from cities in 
      Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to attend the conference,” said 
      Felsburg. “And they also would have also spent money on gas, tolls, and 
      parking. By holding the conference online, we were able to keep the 
      costs low for everyone, and we felt good that we were able to do our 
      part to help save the environment.”
    
    
      Links: See a demo of how the iLinc Green Meter works http://www.ilinc.com/greenmeter/demo.php
    
    
      About American Society of Training & Development Greater Philadelphia 
      Chapter
    
    
      The ASTD 
      Greater Philadelphia Chapter (ASTD-GPC) is one of 134 chapters of 
      ASTD and has more than 300 active members. ASTD-GPC supports the 
      professional and career development of those who are responsible for 
      linking workplace learning to improved organizational performance and 
      provides its members with a professional development network, cutting 
      edge programs, and opportunities for lifelong learning.
    
    
      About iLinc
    
    
      iLinc is a recognized leader in providing Web conferencing software and 
      collaboration solutions for highly secure and cost-effective online 
      meetings, presentations, webinars and virtual 
      classroom training and support sessions. The company's technology 
      allows people in diverse locations to communicate and collaborate online 
      while avoiding the expense, environmental damage, and productivity 
      losses associated with travel. iLinc provides an award-winning, 
      enterprise-wide suite of Web, audio and video conferencing solutions 
      that can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of any size 
      organization. Offering the industry's most flexible pricing models, 
      iLinc gives organizations the power to choose an on-premise installed, 
      on-demand hosted, or hybrid web conferencing solution—whichever model 
      delivers the highest ROI for the customer. iLinc is headquartered in 
      Phoenix, Arizona. For more, visit www.ilinc.com/investors.
    
    
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