DiBenedetto will share his thoughts on and experiences with transforming talent management at the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. As part of this Herculean and far-ranging effort, DiBenedetto built a "SuperCenter of Learning," dubbed Wal-Mart University, for the retailer's more than one million U.S.-based associates.

"Talent management professionals and business executives the world over know how difficult it is to win the war for talent and create a culture that develops great employees," said Don Fowler, SumTotal's chief executive. "Our attendees will have an exciting opportunity to learn first-hand how John DiBenedetto won hard-fought victories to create just such a culture, and on a scale that's hard to fathom."

As part of his keynote address, DiBenedetto will explain what it took to spur change in concert with a sweeping companywide initiative at Wal-Mart to improve operations, processes, and customer satisfaction. Along with DiBendetto's high-powered keynote session, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in a lively Q&A with one of the world's best-known talent-management professionals.

In addition to the former Wal-Mart executive's keynote, TotalConnection 2007 features experts in the fields of talent management, learning, and workplace performance from Adobe, Baker Hughes, GEICO Insurance, GP, JEA, the Los Angeles Police Department, Mayo Clinic, Shell International, Questionmark, Rapid Learning Deployment, Scania, SkillSoft, Trinity Workforce Learning, WebEx, Wells Fargo, and more.

Along with these experts, there will be hundreds of ways for attendees to network with their peers from within and across industries. For example, SumTotal will host
customer roundtables that bring together clients from similar industries to share best practices. This year's interactive program also delivers new learning tracks, platform-specific sessions, partner solutions, and discussions designed to equip attendees with novel ideas, proven practices, and answers to their most-pressing questions.

Attendees will also have the chance to attend pre-conference workshops covering best practices for managing employee performance, analyzing learning, and designing content.