December is the time for year-end calculations about the success of the previous 12 months along with predictions and resolutions for the upcoming year. The season's first snow on trees and streets is like a clean slate, a reminder of the fresh start we are given from which to begin anew. For what? Planning for training in '08! The Training 2008 Conference and Expo in February might be one way to charge your training batteries and get your staff members to sharpen or learn new skills. Hands-on certification programs that look interesting include Measuring the ROI of Training Certificate and Performance Consultant Certificate: Moving From Training to Improved Performance (in the Business Performance/Consulting Track) and Training Manager Certificate (in the Training Manager/Supervisor Track) and Senior Training Professional Certificate: Training Finishing School (in the Senior Trainer Track). Keynote speakers include Stephen Dubner, Co-author, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Joseph Grenny, Co-author, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, among other interesting people from the educational and business world. What else will Baby New Year bring? IPOs. Initial public offerings, once thought of as pre-dot-bomb events, are now being discussed in the world of tech stocks, according to Wired magazine. The difference between now and the early 1990's? Growth being privately funded for one thing. So, what companies are we talking about here? Software maker NetSuite and also Classmates.com -- a social networking site for people who want to catch up with old friends. I got spammed quite a bit from Classmates before succumbing to submitting a few details about myself, but Classmates doesn't allow you to post web sites and stopped allowing people to e-mail for free and so I don't even go to the site anymore and wonder who is even using it when you can post the same information on MySpace, Facebook or any of the other sites that are better built and free. Betsy Schiffman, a writer for Wired, agrees."We're not billionaire investors here, but we'd rather buy a $12 hot dog than a share of Classmates.com," she writes, calllng "Facebook" the Google of social networking sites. Others throwing their hats in the IPO ring include Arcsight, network-security software maker. Should make for an interesting new year for tech stock companies and their investors. In closing, I'd like to add that although some economy writers are sounding a bit dismal about the economy, training managers should not take this as a sign to cut training budgets. The U.S. economy, like a boat without a rudder, can go in surprising directions. And if it doesn't I suggest training managers tighten their belts and make better use of the money they have allocated for non-essential expenses. Training is ESSENTIAL. Investing in your employees and their continuing education is the best thing a company can do. That often means investing in the best Learning Management System (LMS) to keep your training business on track. Invest now in your people and you won't have to count the numbers of dollars being wasted by researching, interviewing and hiring new employees. Keep the ones you have by enabling them to do their best work. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!