The following year, a group of 15 professionals met for the first board meeting of the American Society for Training Directors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
At the 1946 convention, ASTD adopted a constitution with the goals of: raising awareness on the standards and prestige of the industrial training profession and furthering the professional's education and development.
[4] ASTD retained these points as their official mission,[5] even as the profession evolved and the business world changed.
Its mission statement is “Create a world that works better.” On May 6, 2014, in order "to better meet the needs and represent the work of this dynamic profession," the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) was rebranded to the Association for Talent Development (ATD).
These include: International Conference & Exposition,[9] ATD TechKnowledge Conference and EXPO,[10] Core 4,[11] TalentNext,[12] SELL,[13] Learn from the BEST,[14] ATD-Yale Foundations of Management Excellence,[15] LearnNow workshops,[16] and summits in China, Japan, Korea, and Mexico.
The full conference features numerous breakout sessions from individuals in the learning and development field from around the country and a keynote speech from the president of ATD, Tony Bingham.