TICE 2025 proved why it keeps drawing L&D professionals back to Raleigh year after year. The three days at the Sheraton Imperial this June delivered exactly what people came for—fresh ideas, cutting-edge solutions, and that sense of being around people who get the challenges you’re facing.
What also stood out was how the organizers designed the conference. Take the closing session—instead of the usual polite wrap-up, they opened the floor for real conversation. Attendees and sponsors could share what they wanted to see in future sessions and discuss what matters most in their L&D work.
It felt genuine, not scripted.
Shapiro Negotiations Institute (SNI) was thrilled to sponsor and be part of both the sessions and expo hall conversations. But honestly, the best part was seeing how hungry people were for practical skills—especially around negotiation and influence—that they could take back and use immediately.
The whole event reminded us that L&D is changing fast, and the professionals who are thriving are the ones focusing on human skills that drive real engagement and lasting change.
Where the Real Learning Happened: Booth #9
The energy around negotiation and influence strategies created a constant buzz of activity at our booth throughout the conference: Booth #9.
Our team spent the entire conference in one-on-one conversations with attendees who wanted to understand how these skills tangibly work in practice. We had the chance to show people how SNI’s programs combine techniques you can use immediately with the research that backs them up.
The conversations were all over the map, which made them so enjoyable. New learning leaders stopped by wanting to learn how to weave negotiation skills into their leadership development programs. Seasoned L&D professionals came looking for fresh approaches to influence the stakeholders who always seem to resist their initiatives.
What struck us was how ready people were to have honest discussions about their challenges. These were meaningful connections—the kind where someone walks away with specific ideas they can try next week, and we learn something about what’s happening in their organizations.
Mastering the Art of Negotiation — SNI’s Session Highlights
One of the standout moments for us was the session led by SNI’s own Evan Carroll. His negotiation session drew L&D practitioners, organizational leaders, and consultants—all hungry to sharpen a skill that too many training programs completely skip over.
Evan walked everyone through the fundamentals, but the room came alive because of how people responded. This crowd came ready to engage. Questions kept coming, people challenged his examples, and someone was always ready with a real situation that got everyone talking.
Evan was also sure to challenge the audience and get them thinking about their own daily challenges. How does negotiation show up when you’re managing stakeholders? What about those tough conversations around learning budgets? You could see people making connections between what they were hearing and the situations they deal with all the time.
The session was supposed to end, but people stuck around to keep the conversation going— always a great sign. The topic clearly struck a chord with this group; they were already thinking about using these skills back at work.
What Else Had People Talking: Other Standout Moments from TICE 2025
Between our booth conversations and Evan’s session, we kept hearing about other sessions that hit home with attendees. Three topics kept coming up again and again—and for good reason.
- AI Gets Real About Training Intake: Someone finally tackled the elephant in the room—how AI can help L&D teams stop being order-takers and start being strategic. The session showed people how to use AI tools to make training intake processes smarter so they can focus on what matters most instead of just saying yes to every random request that lands on their desk.
- Assessment Design Focus: A hands-on workshop that many attendees called the most practical session of the week. People walked away knowing how to build assessments that measure real outcomes instead of just checking compliance boxes. Finally, someone showed them how to prove their programs work.
- The COM-B Framework for Real Behavior Change: Behavioral Science appeared with a session that outlined how to create L&D initiatives that stick. The COM-B model gave attendees concrete tools they could use right away—no psychology degree required.
The Real Takeaway
TICE 2025 confirmed what we’ve long known: tech tools come and go, but the L&D professionals who get real results are the ones who can influence people and drive change- the skills that move the needle most are deeply human at their core.
We left Raleigh genuinely excited about continuing to help L&D teams who want to build these skills and step up their game.
