The Slow Fade: How L&D Functions Lose Relevance Without Realizing It (16 Jul 2026)

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 21:45:00 GMT

The Slow Fade: How L&D Functions Lose Relevance Without Realizing It

Registration Deadline: July 9

You know the origin story about Reed Hastings launching Netflix and disrupting Blockbuster? It’s a classic business tale of David vs. Goliath.

It’s also wrong.

Blockbuster wasn't killed by Netflix. It slowly eroded, in part because its leaders were focused on continuing to deliver something that its customers quietly began to value less. That distinction isn't just interesting. It's the most important thing L&D professionals need to understand about their own function right now.

Internal talent and training teams face a version of this risk that rarely shows up in budget conversations until it's too late: Value Proposition Erosion (VPE). It's the gap between the value you're delivering and the value your internal clients believe they're receiving. And it widens gradually, without drama, often while engagement scores remain strong.

In this session, we'll unpack the difference between disruption and erosion, then put VPE to work through the lens of L&D. Together we'll examine the forces that may be quietly eroding the value of internal support functions—AI, shifting leadership priorities, and other teams absorbing work you once owned—and ask a more hopeful question too: how might AI actually strengthen what you offer? Through facilitated table discussion and diagnostic prompts adapted from the Strategic Clarity Framework™, you'll leave with three concrete actions and a set of questions to take back to your stakeholders.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

- Distinguish between disruption and erosion as risk patterns, and explain why erosion is the more dangerous threat to internal support functions precisely because it's harder to see—and how it may be affecting their own function.

- Identify the forces that may be eroding their function's value—including AI, shifting leadership priorities, and other functions absorbing work they once owned—and distinguish signals of erosion from normal change.

- Explore how AI, often experienced as a threat, might instead be used to enhance their function's value proposition.

- Leave with three concrete actions and a set of questions to take back to their stakeholders, in order to begin closing the detection gap before erosion becomes visible to leadership.

Register Now!

Presented by:


David Phillips	Steve Grass

David Phillips

Equal parts educator, facilitator, and instigator, David has devoted his professional life to helping people make things better. Prior to founding Faster Glass in 2010, he built his career across the financial services, public accounting, public education, and the U.S. Air Force — worlds that don't usually talk to each other. It's an atypical path, and exactly what makes him effective at helping others connect dots.

Steve Grass

A performance and change enabler at heart, Steve has spent his career helping teams ask a better question before chasing a better answer: not just what to do, but why. Over nearly three decades in the U.S. Marine Corps—leading special operations units, running a Master's-producing military college, and helping stand up Marine Corps special operations—and later guiding change and sustainability initiatives at Wells Fargo, he's learned that lasting improvement starts with understanding the WHY. When he's not enabling change, Steve is a sometime sprint triathlete and an enthusiastic practitioner of destructive gardening.

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Join ATD Charlotte for our monthly chapter meeting. Meet other talent development professionals in the Charlotte area, discover job opportunities and - if you're recruiting - connect with job seekers, hear about the latest chapter news, and participate in a fantastic program.

We are looking forward to seeing you! Remember that in order to allow the caterer to order the correct amount of food and protect your membership dollars, ATD charges a $25 no-show fee. So if something comes up please cancel by Thursday (7 days prior to the event) 12 midnight. Thanks!!!

All times Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Location: NOTE: New Location!!

CPI Security Systems Corporate Office

4300 Sandy Porter Rd, Charlotte, NC 28273

Parking: please park anywhere in the parking lot (EV is for employees only, though).

Enter through the main entrance in the front of the building that faces Sandy Porter Road, please enter 4300 building (not 4200 building).

Check in: 5-6pm

Meeting start time: 5:45pm

Note: For any guests attending (without a guest pass), please select 'Guest-In Person' for your registration; the cost is $25 to cover the meeting and food.

Meeting Schedule:

All times Eastern Time (US & Canada)

5:45pm - Meeting starts
Dinner!
Networking & Job Forum
Chapter Announcements
Presentation
8:00pm - Meeting Concludes

Data and the impact of Learning & Development: Data Awareness, Literacy, and Fluency (20 Aug 2026)

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 21:45:00 GMT

Data and the impact of Learning & Development: Data Awareness, Literacy, and Fluency

Registration Deadline: August 13

Many organizations use dashboards, metrics, KPIs, and data analytics to track processes and make data-informed decisions. Data literacy is a necessary pre-requisite for effective data use; colorful data visualizations are not sufficient on their own. By using data awareness to identify knowledge gaps, L&D professionals can begin building effective learning experiences to increase data literacy or data fluency within their organization.

In this session, participants will explore the concepts of data awareness, data literacy, and data fluency. Participants will review data visualization examples to practice data awareness and to identify organizational learning needs. They will brainstorm additional uses of data awareness within their own organization and explore potential learning experiences appropriate for their needs.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

Define data awareness, data literacy, and data fluency
Use data awareness to identify organizational learning needs
Brainstorm appropriate learning experiences for their environment

Register Now!

Presented by:

Kelly Smith

Educator, talent developer, social justice advocate.
Forensic scientist, institutional researcher, data coach.

Dedicated to helping individuals, groups, and organizations become the best possible version of themselves through the intentional and thoughtful use of data to support decision making.

Register Now!

We are looking forward to seeing you! Remember that in order to allow the caterer to order the correct amount of food and protect your membership dollars, ATD charges a $25 no-show fee. So, if something comes up please cancel by Thursday (7 days prior to the event) 12 midnight. Thanks!!!

All times Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Location: NOTE: New Location!!

CPI Security Systems Corporate Office

4300 Sandy Porter Rd, Charlotte, NC 28273

Parking: please park anywhere in the parking lot (EV is for employees only, though).

Enter through the main entrance in the front of the building that faces Sandy Porter Road, please enter 4300 building (not 4200 building).

Check in: 5-6pm

Meeting start time: 5:45pm

Note: For any guests attending (without a guest pass), please select 'Guest-In Person' for your registration; the cost is $25 to cover the meeting and food.

Meeting Schedule:

All times Eastern Time (US & Canada)

5:45pm - Meeting starts
Dinner!
Networking & Job Forum
Chapter Announcements
Presentation
8:00pm - Meeting Concludes

ATD Charlotte upcoming events

The Slow Fade: How L&D Functions Lose Relevance Without Realizing It (16 Jul 2026)

Data and the impact of Learning & Development: Data Awareness, Literacy, and Fluency (20 Aug 2026)