Look, up in the Hammersmith sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope… it’s a Growth Engineering  Superhero!

Assembling at #LT17UK to save the L&D industry from dull online learning, Growth Engineering’s mighty avengers win top five places in four of our most wanted #LTexitpoll categories this year.

Welcome to the Learning Texhnologies exit poll V.2017 🙂

If you’re new to our Exit Poll, here’s the skinny:

Armed with no more than a clipboard, a pen and a ‘happy’ attitude, our team of talented pollsters is let loose on the streets of West Kensington to track down and question hundreds of LT17 attendees just as they exit the building.

Before the ink is dry on our questionnaires, we high-tail it back to our Chiswick base and crunch the numbers.

Now, less than 24 hours after the doors closed on Learning Technologies 2017: for your delight and entertainment, we present this year’s headline highlights from our Learning Technologies 2017 exit poll.

We asked: “When you planned your Learning Technologies 2017 visit, which company was on top of your must see list before visiting the show today?”

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The best L&D people are always the busiest, so if you want to get them on your stand on the day it’s vital to get the buzz building well before the doors open.

For the first time in the eight years we’ve been running this poll, articulate takes the top spot here. Close on the tails of the learning designer’s favorite software package, new exhibitor instinct goes straight in at number two, followed by Cornerstone (last year’s winner in this category), Leo and Kallidus.

We asked: “In terms of visual impact, which company really looked fresh and stood out for you at the show today?”

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The caped crusaders at Growth Engineering certainly had everyone exclaiming. The strong visual theme coupled with the team’s commitment to “suit up” on the day made heroes of all of them, and LT17UK visitors loved it.

Meanwhile… LEO Learning‘s distinctive black and yellow branding gets the nod from enough visitors to make spot number two in this category and Video Arts‘ Hollywood style film set takes the spotlight in third place.

Last year’s top two “visual impact” winners slip down to spots four and five this year: Kallidus moving from two to four, Fuse moving from one to five. Clearly shocking pink is less shocking this year round.

We asked: “Without looking at any of the literature you’ve come away with today, can you name one of the event’s official sponsors?”

The top five responses were:

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LEO Learning roared to the top spot in this category by making a king of the jungle like impression on visitors. Also gaining attention were articulate and Cornerstone.  In the final two places we find longstanding sponsors Kineo and Towards Maturity.

We asked: “In terms of engagement, which company do you think you had the most profitable conversation with?”

The top five most popular answers from our respondents were:

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The brightest stands aren’t always where you’ll find the brightest people. Take away the special effects and the tantalizing freebies and most visitors tell you that what they’re really after is insightful conversations that help them make important budget decisions.

Leading the pack in this category is Cornerstone, followed by LEO Learning. Both appeared to be at the forefront of visitor’s minds when they recalled their best conversations with vendors.

Growth Engineering  scores well here too, and new exhibitor instinct proved it could talk the talk by jumping in at number four. Learning Tech show regular Acteon rounds off our top five most engaging companies hot list.

We asked: “Did you download the official Learning Technologies app?”

LT17UK visitors said: Yes 40% | Yes (but didn’t work) 7% | No 53%

Freebies, teasers and giveaways: We asked: “As you walked around LT17, which companies had freebies or giveaways that stood out or looked interesting to you?” The top responses were:

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Candies, pens, stress balls, USB sticks…whatever.

Our aim with this category is to discover what promotional items actually help prospects connect to a brand.

This year, NetDimensions takes the top spot in our “best freebie” category by giving away something that LT17UK visitors actually found really useful.  Their branded mobile phone charger looked slick (and expensive) and was generally thought to be something worth keeping. Pluralsight‘s earbud headphones were a winner for the same reason.

Free food and snacks always go down well, but show visitors usually leave the exhibition with little to know idea who is actually giving away what. Our pollsters are routinely told that someone was giving away really expensive chocolate or champagne or whatever, but it’s rare for visitors to recall which company offered up these goodies. With a little extra effort and creativity Cornerstone overcame this by serving up freshly made crepes to whoever wanted one. It’s a sweet idea that serves up a third place spot for this long established Learning Technologies exhibitor.

Phones are ubiquitous so, taking up spot four, Clear Lessons have the right idea with their helpful little phone stand which is clearly labelled with their name. And last but not least, the Fuse phone cover rounds off our top five.

We asked; “Without looking please name one company’s case study, brochure material or other information that you can remember putting in your show bag?” 

The top five most popular answers from our respondents were:

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We asked; “Of all the literature you’ve come away with today, what do you think you’ll be reading on the Tube home?”

The top five most popular answers from our respondents were:

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We’re seeing an interesting shift in the answers we get for this category. Back in the day, three or four years ago, visitors usually mentioned established industry magazines (like e.learning age or HR Director). Now they’re much more likely to be studying the marketing materials they pick up at the show. Note that while the The Economist got several mentions in this category, it didn’t make the top five. Other companies worth a mention just outside the top five include Acteon and Glad.

One to watch! We asked; “During your show visit, did you see any new business or businesses previously unknown to you that looked interesting?” The top five most popular answers from our respondents were:

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It used to be called Floream, but the recent rebrand to Avado has put this learning business (that works in partnership with the CIPD and Google) at the top of this year’s “new businesses to watch” list.

Still a relatively new name on the scene, Olive‘s relocated and enlarged stand puts the business at number two, with US operation Degreed hot on its heels in third spot. Docebo has been around for a while, but the Italian based brand has so far been a bigger name in the US than in the UK. The company’s breakthrough into the “one to watch” list tells us that’s all about to change. Just edging it ahead of AKD Solutions, Junction 18 and Learning Heroes, Page Tiger takes spot number five.

We asked: “When you studied the free seminar series, which presentations held most appeal for you?” The top five most popular answers from our respondents were:

1. Using Data to Drive Learning & Development Decisions, Patrick King, Head of Learning Insights, LinkedIn Learning
2. Gamification RIP: 2017 is the year of gameful design, Joshua Roberts, Senior Instructional Designer, Kallidus
3. Transforming formal learning – the why, the what and the how, Mike Collins, Head of Learning Solutions, Developing People Globally (DPG)
4. Global English – enabling effective global communication, Katherine Brumer, Sales Manager, Spain & Portugal, Global English
5. Train more with less: industry best practice, Thomas Kugel, International Sales Manager, Training Orchestra

More:

Why do we do all this researchy stuff?

Now|Comms is a digital content marketing company focused on the L&D sector. We help companies develop profile, nurture leads and convert prospects into customers.

The more we know the better equipped we are to help and advise sales & marketing people working in eLearning, L&D and HR, so we routinely ask this industry’s professionals to share their thoughts and insights with us. As a result we’re able to advise clients better when they ask us to help them connect with customers and nurture leads.

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