Make sure to register by August 5th to join your fellow talent development professionals for an evening of connection, conversation, and world-class brews at our 2026 Annual Summer Networking Social!

This year, we’re taking the celebration to a Milwaukee icon: Molson Coors. We’ll be gathering at their historic campus—the perfect backdrop to toast to our community's growth and enjoy a classic Milwaukee summer evening. Catch up with colleagues, forge new partnerships, and unwind in an atmosphere where tradition meets innovation.

Event Details

• When: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
  **Please register by August 5th to make sure you are included in the final count for seating and refreshments
• Where: Molson Coors (Milwaukee Campus) 3939 W. Highland Blvd
• Kickoff: Organizers will be on-site starting at 4:30 PM to start the happy hour.
• Dinner: A buffet-style spread will be served starting at 5:00 PM.

What’s Included

• Complimentary Drinks: Valid for a selection of Molson Coors favorites. Water and soda will also be available. 
• Networking: Quality time with the brightest minds in Southeastern Wisconsin’s Talent Development space.

Note: Last year’s event was a hit, with the conversation flowing long after the first round! Don't miss out on our biggest social event of the season.

Registration

To ensure we have enough refreshments and seating, registration closes one week in advance on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

Watch Out For This Hybrid Team Bias

By: Matthew Meuleners

Most leaders with hybrid teams will tell you they treat their remote and in-person employees the same. And most of them mean it. The problem is that intention and habit are not the same thing, and one particular habit — shaped by physical proximity — has a way of quietly undermining equity on hybrid teams without anyone noticing until the damage is done.

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By Dana Vogelmeier, Senior Instructional Designer

Emotional intelligence is an essential driver that shapes effective work relationships. It begins with self-awareness and self-management, expands to understanding the emotions of others, and ultimately shapes how we navigate relationships—with family, friends, colleagues, and customers.

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MRA also has job openings. Click here for more details!

Each year, the leaders of  SEWI-ATD and our Professional Development Networks (PDNs) create more than 20 learning and networking events for our members. At the heart of every SEWI-ATD event is a commitment to growth. Whether it’s a workshop, panel discussion, or facilitated learning session, these experiences create space for professionals to exchange insights, explore new ideas, and challenge their thinking.

Why do in-person events still matter? 

The answer is simple yet powerful—it’s about creating real connections and being part of something bigger. Virtual platforms have made professional development more accessible than ever. Yet, they often fall short in cultivating the authentic relationships that emerge when people share a physical space. Conversations and ideas spark organically, and connections become lasting professional relationships.

Why host an in-person SEWI-ATD event? 

Hosting an in-person SEWI-ATD creates a unique opportunity to bring people together in a meaningful way – positioning your workplace as a hub for connection, collaboration, and innovation.

What is needed:

• Seating for 35-60 people, preferably in small table groups, though not required
• Sufficient parking
• LCD projector and screen
• Coffee and water
• A table for food and drink set-up
• If you want to additionally sponsor the breakfast or light dinner, we’ll be happy to accept and give you acknowledgement!

What you receive:

• Up to 5 of your employees may participate free of charge (beyond any members already attending free)
• Two-minute introduction before the program for you to explain what your organization does
• If you want to showcase your business physically, we will include in our advertising a tour before or after the program
• Exposure to our chapter members
• An opportunity to “test drive” the group to see if it is a fit for you
• Goodwill and advertising of your location with program announcements

To further discuss this partnership, please contact programming@sewi-atd.org.

By Sara Strohschein

A 2025 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) report provided data, gathered in January 2025, regarding the status and perception of mental health in the workplace. Results indicate that workers continue to experience burnout, and women, caregivers, and LGBTQ+ employees are the most vulnerable to mental health issues and the associated stigma. Additionally, a third of employees polled indicated they had taken time off from work for mental or physical health-related reasons (the two are inextricably tied), while an equal amount reported supporting a coworker going through a mental health crisis.

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Congratulations to our Bob Van Der Linn Outstanding Volunteer Service Award Winner - Nathan Sheets

Nathan was recognized for his strong commitment to our chapter and service to our members. He is currently a leader of the Talent Development PDN and served on the SEWI-ATD Board as Vice President of Membership for over three years.

Nathan is the Claims Training Manager at West Bend Mutual, where he leads a team of designers and trainers in building a high-impact training function. He is a talent development leader with 15+ years of experience driving leadership growth, engagement, and strategic learning—turning challenges into opportunities. He shares his knowledge and experience with our members to help them develop and polish their skills.

Thank you, Nathan, for sharing your time and talents with SEWI-ATD! We appreciate you!

Ready to make an impact in the Southeastern Wisconsin talent development community? Join us for a casual Coffee Talk to explore upcoming Board and volunteer opportunities.

Event Details

• When: Tuesday, June 9th | 8:30 am – 10:00 am

• Where: Ally’s Bistro - Menomonee Falls

• Perks: Complimentary coffee and breakfast provided!

Why Join the Board?

Serving as a leader in our chapter is a powerful way to give back while leveling up your own career.

• Grow Your Network: Build invaluable connections within the SEWI talent community.

• Lead the Industry: Stay ahead of emerging trends and help shape our member-led organization.

• Develop Skills: Strengthen your leadership, strategic planning, and collaboration muscles.

• Time Commitment: Typically 10–15 hours per month.

What to Expect

Whether you are ready to step into a role now or are just curious about the future, this is a low-pressure environment to:

1. Meet current board members.

2. Hear firsthand about their experiences.

3. Learn how these roles drive the success of our chapter.

Can’t make it on June 9th? We’d still love to hear from you! Please reach out to our President-Elect, Melissa Braun, to express your interest or ask questions.

Written by: Gina Arinyanontakoon

As a leader, how often do you hear, “How can we get our employees productively quickly and keep them performing at their best?” It’s a question that keeps coming up, and for good reason. One way to address this is to align your content development function – technical writing and learning & development – to work collaboratively. After all, technical writing is a form of documenting knowledge.

Understanding how these disciplines complement each other can transform your approach to employee development and performance while delivering measurable business results.

Let’s take a deeper look at how this works.

Supporting Learning in the Flow of Work

According to Forbes, 41% of employees say they don’t have time for learning. That’s a real challenge.

So rather than requiring employees to step away from their tasks to attend training or dig around for information, properly integrated documentation allows them to access what they need without breaking their workflow.

Embedded help systems, contextual tooltips, and searchable knowledge bases let employees find answers in seconds rather than minutes or hours. AI-powered search capabilities are making this even more effective. Employees can now ask questions in natural language and the relevant documentation appears instantly! This immediate access not only saves time but can increase the likelihood that employees will actually use the resources available to them.

Keep in mind, AI-enhanced access only highlights the importance of high-quality, human-authored documentation. While AI can help employees find information faster, well-crafted technical writing develops the critical thinking and judgement employees need to apply that information effectively. Clear explanations, thoughtful examples, and properly contextualized procedures help employees understand not just what to do, but why and when. That’s how you build authentic human skills that can’t be automated.

Accelerating Time to Productivity

When you have the right documentation strategically integrated with learning initiatives, you can reduce the time it takes for employees to become fully productive. When learning programs incorporate well-crafted documentation, employees don’t just learn concepts in a classroom or via an eLearning module; they have immediate access to practical references they can use on the job.

This integration means employees spend less time searching for answers and more time applying what they’ve learned. A technical writer who understands learning principles creates documentation that reinforces training objectives, using consistent terminology and examples that mirror the learning experience. This leads to a seamless transition from learning to doing.

Streamline Onboarding and Knowledge Transfer

For new hires, the combination of structured learning and comprehensive documentation can make a difference between a smooth onboarding experience or a frustrating one.

Documentation serves multiple critical functions during onboarding:

• Reduces repetitive questions: New employees can reference standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies as they learn their role, reducing the burden on managers and colleagues who would otherwise need to answer the same questions repeatedly. This frees up experienced team members to focus on higher-value mentoring activities rather than basic information sharing.
• Captures institutional knowledge: Documentation preserves knowledge that might otherwise exist only in the minds of long-term employees. When that  knowledge is documented, it becomes transferable and sustainable. New hires gain access to collective wisdom of the organization, not just the individual who happens to be training them.
• Creates consistency and self-paced learning: Building documentation into the onboarding process creates a consistent experience for all new hires while allowing them to learn at their own pace. They can revisit complex procedures as many times as needed without feeling embarrassed about asking the same question twice.
• Improves retention and culture: A well-thought out onboarding process doesn’t just improve productivity; it can also impact retention and organizational culture. When employees feel supported from day one, they’re more likely to stay, align with company goals, and contribute to profitability.

Documentation as Performance Support

Technical writing is not just about creating user manuals or work instructions that sits on a “virtual shelf” within your intranet. Modern documentation serves as essential performance support tools that employees can access whenever they need, for just-in-time learning. 

These tools include:

• Job aids that provide quick, at-a-glance guidance for specific tasks
• User manuals offering comprehensive product or system information
• SOPs that ensure consistency and quality
• Policies and procedures that clarify organizational expectations
• Online help systems integrating directly into software applications
• Knowledge articles that provide institutional knowledge
• Quick reference guides for frequently performed tasks
• Process flowcharts that visualize complex workflows
• Video tutorials demonstrating step-by-step procedures
• FAQs addressing common questions and troubleshooting

Each of these resources serves as just-in-time learning tools, available on-demand when employees need answers in the moment.

Documentation as the Foundation for Learning Assets

Learning and development professionals know they don’t need to create every resource from scratch. High-quality documentation serves as excellent foundation for building learning assets:

• User manuals can be repurposed into technical or product training modules
• SOPs form the basis for onboarding curricula and process training
• Job aids become quick reference materials and course supplements
• Process documentation can be transformed into interactive simulations
• Troubleshooting guides support problem-solving exercises and scenarios

This approach no only saves time but also ensures consistency between what employees learn in training and what they reference on the job. When the same core content informs both learning and performance support, employees develop stronger mental models and retain information more effectively.

Technical writers and instructional designers working together can identify which content works best as formal training and which serves better as reference material. This collaboration ensures that neither group duplicates effort and that all resources work together cohesively.

Measuring Real Business Impact

The integration of technical writing and learning delivers benefits that extend beyond traditional training metrics like completion rates.

For example:

• Reduced time-to-productivity: New hires who have access to integrated learning and documentation reach full productivity weeks or even months faster than those relying on informal knowledge transfer alone.
• Decreased support costs: When employees can find answers in well-organized, searchable documentation, support ticket volumes decline. Each resolved question represents time saved for both the employee and the support team.
• Improved quality and compliance: Clear SOPs and procedures reduce errors and ensure consistent adherence to quality standards and regulatory requirements. Fewer mistakes mean less rework, lower costs, and reduced risk.
• Higher retention rates: Employees who feel supported with accessible resources and clear guidance experience less frustration and greater confidence. This contributes to improved job satisfaction and lower turnover.
• Increased sales and performance: For customer-facing roles, quick access to product documentation and troubleshooting guides during customer interactions lead to faster problem resolution, higher customer satisfaction, and increased sales conversion.

By tracking these metrics, you can demonstrate ROI of investing in quality technical writing and its integration with learning initiatives. The shift from measuring training completion to measuring business outcomes reveals the true value of this strategic partnership.

Creating a Synergistic Approach

The integration of technical writing and learning isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about creating a better employee experience. When these functions work in isolation, gaps emerge. Training might teach concepts that aren’t reinforced in documentation. Documentation might use different terminology than training materials. Employees get confused and frustrated trying to reconcile conflicting information.

When technical writing and learning work together right from the beginning, you create a unified ecosystem of support. Employees know where to find information. Content is consistent across all touchpoints. Learning objectives align with the realities of job performance and business goals. The result is faster onboarding, higher productivity, better employee satisfaction, and measurable business outcomes.

Ready to Optimize Your Documentation and Learning Strategy?

Integrating technical writing with your learning and development initiatives can transform how quickly your employees get up to speed and how effectively they perform once they’re there. By ensuring your documentation is designed with both learning and performance support in mind, you create resources that deliver real business value for years to come.

If you’re looking for a partner to help ensure your documentation is ready to leverage for learning, get in touch. We have solutions you need to give your employees the support they need, right at their fingertips.

Are you seeking a meaningful leadership opportunity and a way to make a greater impact within SEWI-ATD? This board position focuses on nurturing relationships with our current sponsors while proactively identifying new opportunities for strategic partnerships in the talent development community.

The vision of SEWI-ATD is to build a skilled, competitive Southeastern Wisconsin workforce. Our mission is to empower local talent development professionals by providing hometown opportunities to expand their knowledge, skills, and abilities, helping them reach their full potential. Our board is made up of 10 dedicated volunteer professionals in talent development, supporting one of the largest and most successful chapters in the nation.

The VP of Sponsorship collaborates with the board and an Associate VP to enhance sponsor engagement, design sponsorship packages, identify potential partners, and foster relationships that create mutual value for both sponsors and chapter members. We seek a candidate who exemplifies leadership, excels at building relationships, and has been a member of our organization for over a year.

This role is currently in the 2nd year of its term, meaning the selected individual would serve through the remainder of the year and have the option for re-election in the fall. As an added benefit, board members receive membership in the national ATD organization.

If you or someone you know is interested in this position, please contact any board member or reach out to me directly.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Kari Bogdan, President of the Board of Directors

Thanks to everyone who voted for our new members for the Board of Directors last fall.  This year has already gotten off to an incredible start. I am excited about the group of people who will continue developing and executing a strategy that will achieve our vision and mission this year:

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest association dedicated to those who develop talent in organizations. Our Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides local talent development professionals with hometown opportunities to gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities to help them achieve their full potential. 

Our vision: Create a skilled and competitive Southeastern Wisconsin workforce.

Our mission: Partner with individuals and organizations we serve to develop highly skilled and talented professionals.

Here are 2026 Board of Directors:

• Kari Bogdan, President
• Melissa Braun, President Elect
• Michelle Dable, Past President
• Nicholas Nook, VP of Finance
• Megan Cardenas, VP of Membership
• Kati Schuda, VP of Marketing and Communication
• Katerina Ekonomou, VP of Professional Development
• Valarie Bartelme, VP of Professional Development
• Kayla Thompsen, VP of Community Relations
• Christine Haas, Board Advisor

Click here if you would like to learn more about this talented group of individuals. We look forward to serving you,

Kari Bogdan, Board President