Where are they now: catching up with some alumni from the first five years of Training's New Guard

T+D, May, 2004 by Jennifer J. Salopek

Sixteen months later, 9/11 happened. "We were sitting here in shock, thinking the world was ending," Paul says. "The telephones didn't ring for a month. Starwood was a major client, but the travel industry was being decimated. We couldn't imagine that people might want to do fun, multimedia training stuff ever again; the mood was so somber." At the end of October, however, Royal Caribbean cruise lines came calling, wanting to develop an intranet-based program to teach its 15,000 employees how to give guests the perfect cruise experience. Shortly thereafter, Starwood, whose stock had declined 42 percent in three days after 9/11, hired Cosmic Blender to develop interactive training to introduce the concepts of Six Sigma throughout the organization.

"These were companies that had to make an economic turnaround," says Paul. "Fortunately, they had visionary people who understood what a vital role training could play." Further, as the post-terrorism world cut business travel dramatically, e-learning began to make even more sense. "When the world seemed to end, our unique positioning helped clients understand that they could still get training out to people. It was an ironic, positive turn of events."

Despite these successes, Paul was seriously considering leaving CB in mid-2002. "I really wanted to concentrate on helping Pete to take FableVision to the next level--to make the most of all of his talents, and to really focus on children." Three days after Paul notified his partners of his intentions, they received a buyout offer from Incepta Group, a U.K.-based, global marketing, communications, and public relations firm. In shopping for U.S. locations, Incepta particularly sought expertise in innovative e-learning in major urban centers, and ended up on Cosmic Blender's Boston doorstep. The purchase was finalized in November 2002, but little has changed. Now called Broad Street Boston, the firm has retained CB's office space, its culture, and virtually all of its employees.

Meanwhile, FableVision remained a separate company, and is now where the brothers expend their considerable energies. Peter is CEO and creative director, while Paul, as president, focuses on operations. Paul also serves Broad Street as a consultant on select e-learning projects, such as the recent $2 million effort for Cisco. "I want to work with the clients who are visionary. I have no interest in doing the boring stuff," he says.

There's no boring stuff at FableVision. The firm has just launched a media-rich, interactive kids' Website for Verizon called SuperThinkers.com, which teaches problem solving, literacy, and logic as children navigate through the virtual town of Clutterbuck Valley. Visitors solve mysteries as they move though the site, which is populated by Peter's original characters, called Peetniks.

An animated television series for preschoolers is in development at Noggin. Called "Sugarloaf," it's about a four-year-old girl who learns science concepts by hanging out with her grandmother while her parents are at work. FableVision also developed an animated film for Carnegie Hall, called "Visual Overture," that teaches kids about the famed venue's 100-year history. Peter writes and illustrates the series of Judy Moody books, which has sold more than 2 million copies.