Inspiration. That single word sums up my experience at DevLearn 2011. I was inspired by the passion of the attending audience. I was inspired by the general consensus of the vendors truly working hard to bring us the services, tools, and technologies we need. I was inspired by all the really smart people in one place willing to share their knowledge. I was inspired by the Elearning Guild for their commitment and dedication to this industry. And I was inspired by the architecture of the Aria Hotel & Casino.

What does inspiration really mean?

If served a great meal while out to dinner, you might be inspired to recreate the dish in your own kitchen. If a local charity is hosting a project that you believe in, you might be inspired to join in the effort. If you meet someone excited about their profession, you might be inspired to kick your game up a notch. Or, if you’re like me you get inspired by just observing everything around you. For a creative person, that can result in extreme lack of sleep!

Inspiration and  Creativity. Now there’s two peas in a pod! As embedded in the elearning industry as I like to think I am, I always feel like I’m just scratching the surface. There are so many layers and so much to learn. In the end though, it’s all about the learner experience and that experience drives their performance to new heights. Aside from authoring tools and the latest technology, creativity is still at the center of learning.

While staying at the Aria, I was inspired by the whole guest experience. Like most casino hotels, the distance from the front desk to an elevator usually results in a winding path through the casino floor, however walking through the Aria I noticed immediately the lack of slot machine noise. The constant dinging was absent. The next thing I noticed was two people having a conversation at normal levels as I walked by. Generally that’s not odd, but on a casino floor when I can touch a row of slot machines on my left and shake a fellas hand on my right without moving? THAT my friends is the inspiration and creativity I speak of.

Inspiration is everywhere if we take the time to pause and notice. Many times during my stay last week I often thought of the design team who built the Aria and their design thinking meetings. Can you just imagine the level of brainstorming and creative debating in those meetings?!

Like most, I took a lot of photos. Below are just sample of the ones I did take. Notice they are not of the event, the city, or people, rather they are photos that capture the texture of my visit. If you were at DevLearn you may recognize them…if you were paying attention.

Interactive section of this post

Again, if you attended DevLearn you may recognize some of the textures. See if you can guess where they were taken. If you give up, click on each of the thumbnail images below to reveal their location.