I was thumbing through the latest edition of ASTD’s Training and Development magazine recently and a report on a “new frontier” for learning professionals caught my eye. In essence it described this new frontier as being about “connecting, collaborating and learning in different ways” due to changing "technologies, learning styles, demographics and economic needs". Now this contention is nothing new. What is different is that is becoming part of the mainstream discourse regarding the effective management of the learning and development function.