One thing you will surely never overhear at an ASTD International Conference & EXPO is, “There just isn’t enough for me to do here!”

If you attended in Denver last year or any previous ASTD conference, you already know this is one event where there is truly something for everyone. ASTD 2013 in Dallas promises to be just as fully loaded as ever, with thought-provoking, action-inspiring sessions for various professional interests. Here are a few stand-out themes within the Designing & Facilitating Learning track that sound pretty exciting to me.

Music and Facilitation: On Monday, May 20, check out session M318, Making Meaning: Looking to the Worlds of Narrative and Music to Generate Shared Learning with speaker David Hutchens. In this session, you’ll learn how stories, music, and collaboration can become tools of engagement—not only one classroom at a time, but across whole organizations. If this sounds good to you, you may also want to attend TU100, Sweet Caroline! A Super Set List for Sensational Learning Sessions! In this session, Rick Lozano presents the concept of the “set list” and will reveal ways that learning facilitators—much like musicians—can create a full set list of activities and engagement techniques that work, no matter how tough your crowd.

Storytelling: The art of telling a great story is one that does not come naturally for everyone, but it can be learned. Stories can change minds and behaviors over the long term, which is why no learning facilitator or designer should be without an arsenal of techniques. Check out session W100, Telling Stories, Getting Results: The Power of Storytelling in E-Learning, where presenter Diane Senffner will share techniques for weaving story-based design into e-learning, helping you create relevant programs that put your learners first. And if storytelling is what you’re looking for, don’t miss Sunday’s Innogizer session SU315, Capturing Mindshare With Story Theater: The Science of the Art of Storytelling for Trainers, with Doug Stevenson.

Video for L&D Professionals: Okay, so the word “tape” has been out of the common parlance for a while now. Fair enough. But don’t let that stop you from checking out Jonathan Halls’ session SU217, Video for Learning Professionals That's Fabulous, Fast, and Affordable. The author of the excellent book Rapid Video Development for Trainers will share techniques for capturing video to drive engagement and more. And if you think you need a huge budget and tons of technical training to shoot and use video in your organization, Halls is here to prove you wrong.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in Dallas! In the meantime, be sure to visit the conference website and browse the ASTD 2013 Education Program to learn about sessions, workshops, certificate programs, and more.