Call for Workshops is Closed
Important Dates:
Call for Workshops: December 18, 2023 — January 29, 2024
Workshop Review Period: February 6, 2024 – March 6, 2024
Workshop Selections Announced: March 15, 2024
Date & Time of Selected Workshops Announced: March 29, 2024
Workshop Location Assignment: May 24, 2024
Workshops, Labs & Tech Demos Presented: June 11–12, 2024
Questions about the workshop submission process, need help with submitting your application, or have other questions, chat with or email us.
2024 Guidelines
Review these guidelines carefully.
- New for 2024: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) workshops! Indicate if attendees need to bring a device. Availability is limited; non-selected BYOD proposals should be ready for a standard workshop setup.
- Workshops must be educational, not commercial or promotional.
- Focus on relevant life sciences topics, engaging methods, adult learning principles, active learning, skilled facilitation, effective technology use, and inclusivity.
- Workshop locations will be decided closer to the conference date, based on attendee interest.
- Provide detailed speaker information in the proposal, as this often serves as a deciding factor in workshop selection.
Proposal Components
The description and learning objectives are essential elements of your proposal, as they guide conference attendees in selecting sessions.
- Title: Should be creative and attention-grabbing.
- Description: Clear and concise, outlining session benefits.
- Learning Objectives: Concise with clear, achievable goals.
Guidelines for Training Partners, Consultants and Sponsors
- Partners and solution providers may submit up to two 60- or 90-minute workshops. Learning Labs, Learning Tech Demos and Sponsored Workshops do not count toward the limit.
- Workshops that are presented with clients (learning professionals employed by a pharma/biotech/medical company) are given preference by the reviewers.
- We do not allow promotional or overly commercial content during the workshops. Attendees expect to leave with actionable takeaways and tools. Let your expertise shine through your content and presentation.
- Secure Learning Lab, Learning Tech Demo, or Sponsored Workshop spots with Gregg Haunroth BEFORE submitting.
- LTEN staff will provide your Lab, Demo and Sponsored Workshop logistics details separately.
Session Formats
You will select one of the following formats:
- Learning Labs: 20-minute micro-sessions in the Learning Village Exhibit Hall. These are sponsored sessions. See the guidelines under the Training Partners section.
- Learning Technology Demos: 30-minute demonstrations. These are sponsored sessions and are promotional. See the guidelines under the Training Partners section.
- Workshops: 60- or 90-minute sessions and fall into the following categories.
- Interactive Discussion: Sessions should be interactive, providing innovative content without the excessive use of PowerPoint or lecture-style format. Sessions should provide in-depth coverage of a particular topic rather than trying to cover too much general material.
- Skills Development: Sessions provide the “nuts and bolts” on a variety of issues in learning. The format may incorporate hands-on learning or be discussion-focused.
- Case Study: Pharma, bio, device, and diagnostic companies share their first-person accounts of strategies and programs that work.
- Thought Leader Panel: Experts and practitioners offer similar and opposing views on relevant topics in training. Includes meaningful Q&A time.
All accepted workshop presenters must register for the LTEN Annual Conference.
- Each content leader must register for the conference and may use the discount code for $200 off the price of registration, which will be provided upon notification of selection.
- Those registered at the time of selection will not be eligible for a refund for the speaker’s discount.
- Presenters will be responsible for all individual travel and lodging costs. In the event of exceptions (such as Exhibitor staff) registration may be handled differently.
This year, hundreds of training professionals and leaders will attend workshops and Learning Labs with the hopes of finding smart, proven strategies to bring back to their own classrooms.
A Glance at LTEN Members
Titles/Positions of Members
- Field Trainer – 4%
- Sales or Commercial Training Manager – 23%
- Sales or Commercial Trainer — 7%
- Director/VP of Training – 36%
- Medical Science Liaison or Medical Affairs — 1%
- Training Partner — 10%
- Other Life Science Company Training Professional (e.g., instructional designer, LMS admin, etc.) – 7.35%
- Other – 4%
Areas of Focus
- Medical Device or Diagnostics – 17%
- Pharmaceutical or Biotech – 83%
Years in Training
- 0–1 years – 4%
- 2–5 years – 24%
- 6–10 years – 18%
- 11–15 years – 22%
- 16–20+ — 32%
Training Team Sizes
- 5 or fewer – 56%
- 6–15 – 22%
- 16–30 – 14%
- 31–45 – 1%
- 46 or more – 3%
- Other – 4%
Five Decades Life Sciences Training Excellence
June 10–13, 2024
Gaylord Palms
Kissimmee, FL
The LTEN Annual Conference is a valued industry gathering, where event participants craft their personalized learning journeys with content-specific learning tracks, micro-Learning Labs, keynotes, LTEN Talks, an exhibit hall with top training partners and countless opportunities to connect with other life sciences L&D practitioners from across the globe.
- Wide Range of Workshops & Learning Labs: Over 120 options for attendees to tailor their learning experience.
- Top Solution Providers: Access to industry partners and learning technologies in the Learning Village Exhibit Hall.
- Networking Opportunities: Includes special meet-ups, topic tables, breakfast power-ups, parties, happy hours, and networking breaks.
- Keynote Sessions: Daily keynotes featuring learning luminaries and leadership legends.
- Diverse Attendees: Professionals from over 140 pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics organizations.
- Interactive Formats: Including TEDTalk-inspired LTEN Talks and micro-learning labs.
- Special Events: Community-building charity events and training excellence awards.
Five Decades Life Sciences Training Excellence
LTEN — Advancing Global Life Sciences Learning
The Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (www.L-TEN.org) is the only global 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization specializing in meeting the needs of life sciences learning professionals. LTEN shares the knowledge of industry leaders, provides insight into new technologies, offers innovative solutions and communities of practice that grow careers and organizational capabilities.
Founded in 1971 , LTEN (originally the National Society for Pharmaceutical Sales Trainers, NSPST for short) has grown to more than 3,500 individual members who work in pharmaceutical, biotech, biopharma, medical device and diagnostic companies, and industry partners who support the life sciences training departments.
LTEN also serves a growing community of professionals in non-commercial disciplines including clinical, manufacturing, compliance, regulatory, quality and GxP training roles.
Learning Content Tracks
Career Success
What do you want to be when you grow up? Are your ambitions clear – and do you know how to get there? This track will cover the fundamentals of advancing your career, from the art of persuasion to networking, to personal branding. This track will also address topics like engaging in a matrix environment, mentorships, skill building and work-life balance. Take this opportunity to step back from thinking about your immediate professional demands and make sure you have the clarity and skills to achieve career goals.
Customer Engagement & Selling in a Matrix Environment
Sales models are constantly changing, and external factors such as managed care, accountable care organizations (ACOs), and a compliance-driven environment complicate business-as-usual approaches. How do you reach and engage your customer in this multi-faceted environment? What new selling skills are needed? This track will explore engaging with your first line leaders to create an effective partnership to pull through your training initiatives. This track will help you move forward with confidence – without missing a beat when it comes to sales productivity.
Field Training
Are you a high performer on a development path to expand your skills as a field trainer? If so, join us in this track to develop your training skills, optimize training in the field, learn coaching and mentoring techniques, and discover new ways to lead without authority. Whether you are a field-based trainer full or part time, or you work with field-based trainers on execution, this track is for you.
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
This track empowers trainers to explore nuanced perspectives, fostering a deep understanding of diversity issues within the life sciences industry. With a focus on practical strategies and interactive discussions, participants will acquire the tools to develop inclusive training programs, ensuring a positive impact on workplace culture and fostering a sense of belonging within their respective pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostic companies.
Healthcare Reform and Marketplace Access
In this workshop series, you will have an opportunity to learn about the ever-changing marketplace access, including recent policy changes and proposals. Examine how these changes impact the life science industry from the physician’s and payor’s perspective.
Impact & Measurement
Demonstrating a return on investment can be a trainer’s biggest challenge – yet, done well it can be a trainer’s best friend. Measuring impact and effectiveness is central to the justification of budget and programming and will help define just how meaningful learning and development is within your organization. This track will cover topics including process methodology, data and analytics through a learning and performance impact lens amid a technology-driven culture.
Instructional Design & Delivery
How do you make your learning courses engage trainees? How do you transfer new knowledge and skills to the field? What is the right blend of media? This track offers tips, skills, and strategies for curriculum development, classroom management, and course evaluation – and everything in between.
Management & Leadership Development
In this workshop series, you will find the keys to developing great managers, but also great leaders. Starting with understanding effective leadership behaviors, you will focus on coaching techniques and how to empower and inspire others as well as interviewing skills, engagement, and emotional intelligence. This track is a must if you want to master the “lead by example” part while also developing others to go beyond the basics of their role and on to a path of professional refinement and aspiration.
Medical Device & Diagnostics Training
The Medical Device & Diagnostic track will focus on the training methods, strategies and skills needed for success in the ever-changing life science landscape. Best practices, tools and tactics that address the unique challenges of the MD&D training professional will be included. We will also explore new and evolving technology and the latest trends that make training more efficient and effective.
Partner Sponsored
At LTEN, we are fortunate to have so many amazing training partners who specialize in training solutions for the life sciences. In these sessions, they lend their expertise and share with you insights on a wide range of topics.
Quality, Research & Development, Medical (QRDM) Training
If you work includes developing, delivering or sourcing training for R&D, clinical, manufacturing, quality, regulatory or compliance personnel, then this track is tailor-made for you. Explore sessions on program development, identifying & qualifying trainers, correcting human error, GxPs, (cGMP, GLP, GTP, GDP, etc.), product submissions, regulatory compliance, audit readiness risk, and more!
Strategic Account Management
If your team has Key Account Managers, this is the training track you need! Focusing on the business of strategic selling skills in healthcare, this track includes essential topics such as critical thinking, business acumen, strategic business planning, selling in a matrix team, influencing the C-Suite, and other similar topics to help equip your Key Account Managers with the advanced skills senior sales professionals need. While sometimes confused with Market Access, this track focuses on training to drive sales performance from your Key Account Manager teams and their leaders.
Virtual Learning, Tools, Techniques & Technologies
Mobile, digital, and distance learning is no longer new, or revolutionary. But training departments continue to be embroiled in figuring out how to evaluate the various and constantly changing options as well as how to best integrate new applications.
Technology is so pervasive and fast-moving in every aspect of daily life and in business that we had to give this a completely separate track. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the newest tech out there and how your peers are using it new ways.
Wellbeing, Community & Culture
This track empowers trainers to explore nuanced perspectives, fostering a deep understanding of diversity issues within the life sciences industry. With a focus on practical strategies and interactive discussions, participants will acquire the tools to develop inclusive training programs, ensuring a positive impact on workplace culture and fostering a sense of belonging within their respective pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostic companies.