eLearning User Forum

Expert Advice, Peer Insights

By Erica Rascón on Jul 25, 2016 in News

Each month, Yardi hosts the critically acclaimed Yardi eLearning ® User Forum. These interactive webinars give users valuable insights into product functionality, updates, and troubleshooting.

Engaging. Practical. Smart.

Each webinar focuses on topics selected by Yardi users, guaranteeing insights that are relevant and practical.  Sample Webinar Topics Include:

• Drive Student Focus to Training that Matters
• How to Partner with Your Yardi Voyager Account Manager
• Make a Great First Impression & Keep It Fresh All Year
• eLearning Fair Housing Release and Focus Group
• Hot to Get Management in Your Training Program

Facilitators model User Forums after realistic conversations with clients. Co-hosts role-play as tech support specialists and clients. This arrangement creates a fun and informative atmosphere for attendees.

Amy McKelvy, Software Implementation Coordinator at Holland Partner Group, attended her first User Forum this year. “The forum I attended was at the end of the second day, so the atmosphere was upbeat and exciting,” she begins. “Forums can be hit or miss, I’ve learned, and some clients use the forum to air grievances, but this one was not that at all. I think Patty [Evans] set the right tone at the start, and led to a very successful sharing time.”

Sharing is one key to eLearning User Forum success. Rather than simply lecturing on these topics, facilitators showcase examples from Yardi clients’ eLearning Universities to illustrate each idea. Attendees receive real-life strategies from peers.

This client-to-client interaction fosters a sense of community and networking among the Yardi eLearning training community.

“I love to provide help and ideas as well as feedback to the eLearning team and other clients. The forum is a perfect opportunity to not only give help, but get other ideas as well,” says McKelvy.

Solutions for the Real World

In each meeting, facilitators highlight clients who have found creative solutions on the topic of interest, such as department rollout plans, fantastic branding, creative university logos and exciting login pages.

McKelvy recalls, “One client shared that they do a weekly event that allows for anyone in the organization to hop on a webinar and ask any question they want and get answers and ideas from others in the organization. An internal forum, if you will.  We will be implementing that here at Holland, and look forward to the feedback our associates share.”

During a recent eLearning User Forum, The Holland Partners shared its strategic and thorough roll out plan for eLearning.  The organization collaborated up with the eLearning team to create a roll out strategy focused on user buy-in.

McKelvy explains, “We presented a plan to the ownership that tied Holland University into every one of the culture statements.  We created a custom icon and started branding Holland University well before we launched. We started building out material in February, and once we had at least some material for every business line, we started launching in person at every location.”

“We are using the resource bins as FAQ and asked each business group and our IT team to provide FAQs that we had in place before we launched. We provided swag bags for every learner that included a backpack, a water bottle, a pack of Post-it® notes, a pen, and a stress ball.  Those were well received. The excitement we were able to show during the in-person launch meeting added to the adoption.”

The results have been rewarding. “Three weeks in, we’ve had over 40 percent of our associates already log in and 25 percent of courses completed. We still have 225 associates to meet and get credentials to. The initial feedback has been amazing!” says McKelvy.

Learn More. Win Big!

Yardi experts are available during every User Forum to answer questions about the software, best practices, and more.

“Having the eLearning team there to show and fix things on the fly was extremely effective and I think that the few more skeptical folks in the room were turned into excited folks by the end,” McKelvy says.

To thank clients for their participation, User Forums feature exciting giveaways that help attendees get more from the software. Previous giveaways include exclusive custom letters or icons; quick and easy setup instructions and trainings; early releases of documents and features; and the occasional fun yet functional prize.

“I liked the thumb drive slap bracelet,” smiles McKelvy.

To learn more, contact [email protected].