A mountain of selfies and even more hugs

What do you think about when preparing to go to the Learning Technologies Conference and Exhibition? The vendors you’ll visit? The speakers you’ll see? The free seminars? Who’s going to have the best merch? Or maybe which clients you can cram in a quick meeting over a brew?

Kim Ellis reflects over the 2025 event.

A few people have asked me whether it’s worth attending these expos as a freelancer (or self-employed professional, business owner…add your preferred title here). After all, we aren’t likely to buy anything from the vendors. And a lot of the free seminar talks are geared towards people from organisations — and let’s face it, they’re often a bit of a sales pitch.

But here’s the thing: even though we’re not the vendors’ main audience, it doesn’t mean there aren’t oodles of opportunities for us… and I’m not just talking about the merch.

This year was my first Learning Technologies since before the pandemic where I wasn’t exhibiting with the Learning Network — so I was there as an attendee.

My first thought? How can I catch up with other Free Spirits?

Being from Yorkshire, there was only one logical answer: afternoon tea with biscuits.

Both days, I headed over to the Costa by the S2 hall, grabbed a brew, and waited to see who would join me. And I’m so glad people came along — members, non-members, old friends, new faces — all to chill out, network, and natter. After a long day on my feet, it was lovely to do it all in a relaxed way.

How do I approach an expo as a freelancer?

Apart from hosting afternoon tea, I made a list of vendors I wanted to visit. Over the years, I’ve got to know quite a few exhibitors, so I always make a point of checking in with them (and letting them have a rummage in my bag for biscuits or sweets).

Here’s a golden rule if you’re a freelancer visiting an expo: Remember it’s their business. Exhibitors are there to get leads as well as catching up with clients. 

If you’re not buying, only pop in for a chat when their stand isn’t busy. And don’t take it personally if they cut off the conversation to talk to a passer-by — that’s just good business sense.

When I talk to new vendors, I’m always upfront: “I’m a freelancer, here to find out what’s happening in case my clients need something you offer.” It usually leads to a more genuine conversation because they switch out of sales mode and into collaboration mode. But always, always step aside if a potential buyer comes along.

Where have all the recruiters gone?

While scanning the vendor list, I noticed something…quite a few familiar faces weren’t exhibiting this year — and there was a real lack of recruiters. Shout-out to the Instinct crew, though — I managed a quick catch-up with them!

It’s a trend I spotted at World of Learning too.

It used to be you’d see 4–5 recruitment agencies exhibiting, and it was great as a freelancer to check in and have a catch up with them. I did manage to catch up with Sam Dyde from RE:find too — and even talked him into a spin on the glam cam with me!

Make sure you’re capturing the moments that matter

This year, I made it my mission to get as many selfies with people as possible — and catch up with everyone I could.

Of course, I missed a few snapping opportunities (because chatting always wins over posing), but I still managed to pull together a reel of the wonderful faces I met along the way.

Because at the end of the day, the real value of these events isn’t just the stands or the swag — it’s the conversations, the laughter, and the hugs.

One seminar left a bad taste for me

I scouted out the seminar schedule and bookmarked the ones I fancied through the event app. One of the talks had an interesting title which reeled me in — maybe a bit of unintentional clickbait for freelancers — but within 15 minutes, the presenter (nope, not naming names) managed to:

• Claim instructional designers are “gatekeepers” of content.
• Announce that their AI tool could let anyone design materials.

If I’m honest it felt a little like he was belittling what I do, and I’m not sure that’s the best selling tactic in an expo which has a bunch of ID’s attending. (Also, he mentioned learning styles. I’m not even opening that can of worms.)

I ended up not getting to as many of the talks as I wanted to, sometimes because I was too busy schmoozing and others because I was too late to bag a seat. But from what I heard many of the talks were fantastic and inspiring and others were half hour sales pitches with a little case study in there.

AI isn’t replacing humans anytime soon

While AI still dominated the conversations, there was a noticeable shift this year. Inna Horvath summed it up beautifully during her Panopto and elai talk:

AI can work fast, but it doesn’t replace an instructional designer.

And the StoryTagger badge nailed it too:

AI can’t fake me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of AI. I use it daily to bounce ideas around and polish up my work — heck, even this blog post had a little AI refinement.

But it will never replace how I think, or what I have to say.

If you’ve got thoughts on whether AI is changing the role of instructional designers (or not!), I’d love to hear them. Come and join the conversation over on LinkedIn.

To round off our reflections, let’s see what it’s like being on the Social Media team

Our Podcast Wizard, Mark Gilroy was covering the conference as part of the official social media team. Here are his reflections from a pretty cracking event:

I’ve got a confession. I’m absolutely rubbish at reflective practice. It’s a bit like exercise — I know I should do it, and I always feel better when I do it, but my brain always finds a million other things to do before I get round to it.

Which is why I’m always pleased to be invited to cover events like the recent Learning Technologies conference. It’s my second time being on the social media team, and it’s a brilliant way of having access to the full conference experience in exchange for agreeing to cover what’s happening on your preferred social network.

In my case — video summaries on LinkedIn and quick tips/insights on BlueSky. And crucially, my reflective practice took place as part of the package!

Capturing and consolidating insights, soundbites and takeaways is a brilliant way to assimilate new knowledge and consider what it all means.

Almost by accident, I found myself making connections between sessions, resources and ideas.

If you get a chance to be on the social media team for any of these events — say yes, you’ll be glad you did! Plus if you’re like me, you might be able to log some bonus reflective practice too.