Jul 24, 2026 · 12 min · 8 segments
Recorded live at the 2026 Workforce Technology Conference in Monterey, California, this special episode of the **VOScast Podcast** features thought leaders from across workforce development…
Damon WellerGuest
Ginger CarringtonHostSo tell me what inspired you to bring so many people to this conference? What do you see? What value are you getting here?
The last few years we've tried to ensure we've got a large contingency because there's so many great learning opportunities at this conference that we wanted to make sure that we've got enough to be able to cover all the bases.
I think quite a few years back there was only about two or three of us that were coming and then we were finding out that we don't have enough capacity to cover all of the various learning opportunities.
so we want to bring make sure that we've got a good cross-section of individuals we've got individuals from the employment services side from the lmi side from the reporting side and then also from business services and so we want to ensure that we've had a good cross-section and it's given us the opportunity to make sure that we've got somebody that can attend almost every session that's going on and then we come back and we debrief to learn about well what did you hear in your session what did you hear in your session And then from there, be able to kind of get a great overview of how the whole conference went, not just from the sessions we were, quote unquote, able to be able to attend.
So you're learning things in these sessions about not only how the system works, but maybe, excuse me, how other states are doing things.
Tell me a little bit about how y'all maybe network here and what you get, what you gain out of.
Every year that we're able to attend this, we come away with different contacts for different states, and it's been immeasurable in allowing us to move forward.
We've got great contacts with Tennessee, for instance, and we've been working with them on how to move forward with industry-driven skills, a training fund grant that both of us were awarded.
Michael Hoskins from North Carolina, he and I met at a conference a couple years back, and we've gotten together multiple times now to talk about how they're using a VOS reader or various components of the system.
So it allows us to network, to connect with states or other entities to be able to talk about how they're using the product.
but then also that starts to dive into policies, procedures that, sure, the product helps us to uphold, but it's also just about the workforce in general.
So this conference has been a catalyst for Georgia to be able to meet various states and be able to work with them.
Great, and that's the whole point of us doing that, not only for you to learn more about how the system works, what else is available out there, But for you to connect with other states that are using it and learn best practices.
So tell me what inspired you to bring so many people to this conference? What do you see? What value are you getting here?
The last few years we've tried to ensure we've got a large contingency because there's so many great learning opportunities at this conference that we wanted to make sure that we've got enough to be able to cover all the bases.
I think quite a few years back there was only about two or three of us that were coming and then we were finding out that we don't have enough capacity to cover all of the various learning opportunities.
so we want to bring make sure that we've got a good cross-section of individuals we've got individuals from the employment services side from the lmi side from the reporting side and then also from business services and so we want to ensure that we've had a good cross-section and it's given us the opportunity to make sure that we've got somebody that can attend almost every session that's going on and then we come back and we debrief to learn about well what did you hear in your session what did you hear in your session And then from there, be able to kind of get a great overview of how the whole conference went, not just from the sessions we were, quote unquote, able to be able to attend.
So you're learning things in these sessions about not only how the system works, but maybe, excuse me, how other states are doing things.
Tell me a little bit about how y'all maybe network here and what you get, what you gain out of.
Every year that we're able to attend this, we come away with different contacts for different states, and it's been immeasurable in allowing us to move forward.
We've got great contacts with Tennessee, for instance, and we've been working with them on how to move forward with industry-driven skills, a training fund grant that both of us were awarded.
Michael Hoskins from North Carolina, he and I met at a conference a couple years back, and we've gotten together multiple times now to talk about how they're using a VOS reader or various components of the system.
So it allows us to network, to connect with states or other entities to be able to talk about how they're using the product.
but then also that starts to dive into policies, procedures that, sure, the product helps us to uphold, but it's also just about the workforce in general.
So this conference has been a catalyst for Georgia to be able to meet various states and be able to work with them.
Great, and that's the whole point of us doing that, not only for you to learn more about how the system works, what else is available out there, But for you to connect with other states that are using it and learn best practices.
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