World training expert signs up for NZ conference One of the world's leading thinkers in training and evaluation has been signed up as a keynote speaker at the Agribusiness Conference, to be held in Christchurch in March 2007. Dr Robert Brinkerhoff, a Professor Emeritus at Western Michigan University and a senior consultant to industry leaders in America, is an expert on helping organisations make sure their learning investments pay. More than ever, organisations today must quickly adapt to changing work conditions, and driving performance through learning is vital, says Dr Brinkerhoff. "Yet organisations can and do spend millions on learning and get no return on investment.  The challenge is to leverage every ounce of performance and business impact out of every dollar spent on learning and training." At the conference Dr Brinkerhoff will provide a conceptual framework and practical methods for business leaders to measure the effectiveness of their training initiatives. He is the best-selling author of several books - Telling Training's Story, The Success Case Method and High Impact Learning. Kevin Bryant is Chief Executive of Agriculture Industry Training Organisation, one of the conference host organisations. Organisers were delighted to have a keynote speaker of the calibre of Dr Brinkerhoff, says Kevin Bryant. "The Agribusiness conference will focus on shaping our future workforce in the agriculture industry. "We have come a long way in building a training culture in the agriculture industry but we must be able to demonstrate the benefits of training with evidence, with hard data. Dr Brinkerhoff's visit is very timely as the industry faces up to the challenge of developing a skilled and motivated workforce." A second keynote speaker at the conference will be Peter Sheahan.  Peter is an acclaimed presenter and recognised Australian expert on Generation Y and future workforce trends. Understanding Generation Y - the generation born between 1978 and 1994 - is the key to being able to attract and retain them as employees and customers, says Peter. Registrations are now open for the conference which promises to be a landmark event, says Kevin Bryant. "As well as the international speakers, there will be a host of leading practitioners and thinkers from the New Zealand agriculture sector at the conference. This is an ideal learning opportunity for agriculture business managers and owners, HR managers, providers and anyone with a stake in the future of the industry. " This is the first conference of its type and I am sure it will be a fantastic learning opportunity.  It offers the chance to hear from leading thinkers but there will also be no shortage of practical ideas that participants will be able to apply to their farm or business." For a conference timetable and full list of speakers, visit www.agricultureito.ac.nz/conference