Acknowledgments

The first edition of this book was a first for both of us, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of many people. The same is true for this second edition, so we want to thank everyone involved in both.

First, a big thank you to everyone who has participated in and produced Kassy’s online train-the-trainer, train-the-designer, and train-the-producer programs for the last two decades. These experiences have provided the bulk of the activities we are sharing in this book, and we appreciate your interaction, feedback, and ideas over the years.

When Hunter Gilliam said to Kassy, “You do it, you’re the actor. Just make it sound great, like you’re on the radio!” he inspired her to make her first virtual training in 1999 engaging, rather than worrying so much about the technology. So, thank you, Hunter.

Without Cindy Huggett’s support, guidance, and cheerleading, the first edition of this book would never have gotten out of Kassy’s head and into print. Thank you, Cindy, for your ongoing support and friendship.

Thank you to Nanette Miner, “The Training Doctor,” for inspiring Kassy to be a better trainer. Your masterful instructional design showed her how much more she could get out of training if she followed a well-designed trainer manual.

The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), where Tom is a senior research analyst, deserves thanks for letting us use data from the October 2021 survey that we helped them craft on trends in virtual classroom training. Such data and findings are usually reserved for paying i4cp member organizations, so we appreciate being allowed to include some of it in this book’s second edition.

And finally, we want to thank the team at ATD for their assistance and support, most notably Justin Brusino and Jack Harlow for the first edition, and Alexandria Clapp, Kathryn Stafford, and Melissa Jones for the second edition. There are many others, of course, who helped with design elements, marketing and promotion, the ATD conferences, and more, and we sincerely thank you all.