Gardian of the Month: Ben Kotenberg

Q & A with Ben Kotenberg, Instructional Designer for Event Garde

Learn: Q: Let’s say you’re helping your child or friend with some homework. What’s your strategy for helping them learn a difficult topic?

A: My first step is to find out what the person is interested in. Relating the topic back to something they care about, whether horseback riding, skateboarding, theater or Super Mario Bros, being able to connect the concepts back to something they are interested in and care about allows me to help them understand the big picture.

Network: Q: What’s your No. 1 networking trick?

A: My favorite question to ask people is, “What are you reading right now?” in professional and personal settings. This fosters conversation about the same book or article if you’ve also read it. If not, the person you are connecting with can give you a brief synopsis of what they are reading. This shows off your listening skills and gives you a talking point to come back to the next time you run into the other person.

Transfer: Q: Think about a topic in which you feel you’re quite knowledgeable. How would you use this knowledge to better your industry? 

A: One of the areas I’ve always been interested in and did my master’s thesis on was crisis communication. Often, non-profit organizations and associations find themselves in situations that are crises for their members and customers and forget the basics of proactive communication. As such, they end up being on the defensive when they could have turned a negative into a positive. Good crisis communication comes back to knowing your audience, which is the foundation of good education and instructional design.

Q. Please share with us a must-have resource and why you just can’t live without it.

A: I check into Reddit’s e-learning forum daily because it is filled with tips and tricks from people doing e-learning design every day. The people who share knowledge in this space are some of the smartest and brightest in the industry and are able to go above and beyond the constraints of traditional e-learning software. I’m always amazed at the level of support and willingness to help everyone has on this forum.

Q: Looking ahead, what do you hope for 2017?

A: I hope on Dec. 31, we all look back and say, “I did everything I could to help others, spend time with family and friends and take care of my health.”