Now in its fourth year, here – based on nothing more than experience and prejudice – are the new lists of the ‘Top Ten’ most influential people in the corporate e-learning sector, in the World, Europe, the UK and Asia-Pacific.

Again, there has been increasingly keen debate among the judges as to who genuinely warrants a place on these ‘top tables’ of the great, good and seriously influential in online learning. Perhaps this indicates that, after some four years, these lists are being taken more seriously.

Please bear in mind that these lists are compiled, from a corporate online learning perspective, on the basis of a person’s perceived current influence on the online learning industry – as a practitioner, commentator, facilitator and/or thought leader. It’s unlikely that readers will agree with all – or even any – of the judges’ decisions. However, these lists represent what a number of people think about the personalities who lead the corporate online learning world.

World List

1. 1.    Elliott Masie. Head of The MASIE Center, a Saratoga Springs, New York, think-tank focused on how organisations can support learning and knowledge within the workforce. (Position last year: 1)
2. 2.    Jay Cross. A writer, commentator and speaker. He was the first to coin the term ‘e-learning’ many years ago and continues to promote informal learning. (Position last year: 2)
3. 3.    Tom Kuhlmann. One of the world’s best known e-learning designers. (Position last year: 6)
4. 4.    Craig Weiss. An e-learning analyst, expert, author, speaker and thought leader who is CEO of E-Learning 24/7. (New entry for 2013)
5. 5.    Cathy Moore. A well-known blogger about e-learning. (Position last year: 4)
6. 6.    Steve Rayson, of Kineo, now a worldwide player in the corporate online learning sector and recently acquired by City & Guilds. (New entry for 2013)
7. 7.    Roger Schank. A long-established thought leader in this sector. He is president and CEO of Socratic Arts. (Position last year: 5)
8. 8.    Amit Garg – Co-founder of Upside Learning, m-learning evangelist, international speaker and contributor to the Upside Learning Blog. (New entry for 2013)
9. 9.    Harold Jarche, the Canada-based ‘thought catalyst’, writer and blogger. (New entry for 2013, having been ‘bubbling under’ in 2012)
10. 10.  Vikas Joshi. Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Harbinger Knowledge Products (based in the USA as well as India) and a thought leader in the field of interactivity. (New entry for 2013)

‘Bubbling under’

Others who just missed out on making this year’s list included:

• Sahana Chattopadhyay – Enterprise Community Manager at Thoughtworks and writer of the ID and Other Reflections blog.
• Jerry Roche, Editorial director, Elearning! and Government Elearning! magazines.
• Charles Jennings. A conference speaker and thought leader.
• Clark Quinn, learning technology consultant, writer and blogger based in California.
• Armin Hopp. Founder and President of digital publishing AG/ Speexx and a member of ELIG.

Europe List

1. 1.    Richard Straub. The Secretary General of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG), overseeing ELIG’s role as advisor to the EU on all things to do with e-learning. (Position last year: 2)
2. 2.    Armin Hopp. Founder and President of digital publishing AG/ Speexx and a member of ELIG. (Position last year: 7)
3. 3.    Fabrizio Cardinali. Chair of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) and Senior Vice President of eXact learning solutions’ Global Business Development. (Position last year: 1)
4. 4.    Thea Payome. Editor of the Germany-based CheckPoint eLearning ezine and website. (Position last year: 3)
5. 5.    Helge Scherlund, the Denmark-based writer and blogger on e-learning topics. (Position last year: 9)
6. 6.    Christophe Ferrandou, the Paris-based founder and CEO of goFLUENT, an award-winning producer of business English training. (Position last year: 5)
7. 7.    Steve Rayson, of Kineo – a UK-based company which continues to expand its interests. (New entry, having been ‘bubbling under’ in 2012)
8. 8.    Pascal Debordes. Head of Cegos‘s international partner network. (Re-entry from the 2011 Europe list)
9. 9.    Sally Ann Moore. An events management and online learning consultancy specialist, based in Switzerland, who organises a number of events around Europe and the rest of the world that are related to online learning. (New entry for 2013)
10. 10.  Dr Ladislava (‘Vlad’ka’) Knihova. A key champion, user and publisher of e-learning applications within the corporate and academic sectors in the Czech Republic. (Position last year: 4)

‘Bubbling under’

Others who just missed out on making this year’s list included:

• Jane Hart. Founder and CEO of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and a well-known blogger. (Position last year: 6)
• Carles Fernàndez Barrera. A specialist in e-learning projects related to the use of serious games and virtual worlds, video and interactive TV, music and quizzes and other resources as learning tools.
• Piers Lea. A member of ELIG and CEO of LINE Communications.
• Athanasios Papagelis. CTO and co-founder of Epignosis Ltd, the vendor of eFront e-Learning and TalentLMS.
• Rumen Mihaylov, Learning designer at IKEA, in Sweden, with particular specialisms in online and mobile learning.

UK List

1. 1.    Donald H Taylor. The power behind the success of the Learning Technologies conference and Chairman of the Institute of Learning and Performance. (Position last year: 1)
2. 2.    Laura Overton. A member of ELIG and Managing Director of Towards Maturity, a not-for-profit community interest company that provides research and online resources to help organisations deliver effective learning interventions at work. (Position last year: 3)
3. 3.    Steve Rayson, of Kineo, now a worldwide player in the corporate online learning sector and recently acquired by City & Guilds. (Position last year: 4)
4. 4.    Jane Hart. Founder and CEO of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies – and a well-known blogger. (Position last year: 2)
5. 5.    Clive Shepherd. A writer and commentator on the online learning scene. (Position last year: 6)
6. 6.    Piers Lea. A member of ELIG and CEO of LINE Communications. (Position last year: 7)
7. 7.    Martin Baker. Founder and CEO of the Charity Learning Consortium (CLC), comprising over 100 member organisations and supplying e-learning and resources for over 150,000 Third Sector staff and volunteers. (Position last year: 9)
8. 8.    Julie Wedgwood. She has been described as the trainer’s trainer and an advocate of free tools (Position last year: 5)
9. 9.    Charles Jennings, A conference speaker and thought leader. (Re-entry from the 2010 UK list)
10. 10.  Phil Green, of Onlignment – a human performance consultant and educator, with particular skills in online communication and learning. (Re-entry from the 2010 UK list)

‘Bubbling under’

Others who just missed out on making this year’s list included:

• Ben Betts. Managing Director of HT2 and a specialist in collaborative and game-based learning principles, focusing on engaging learners in online collaborative learning. (Position last year: 9)
• Donald Clark. A long-established speaker and commentator on e-learning. (Position last year: 10)
• Clive Snell. The publisher of E-Learning Age magazine and the man behind the E-Learning Awards.
• Nick Shackleton-Jones. Head of online and informal at BP and a well-known writer and speaker.
• Elizabeth Eyre, the editor of Training Journal
• Steve Wheeler, author of ‘The Digital Classroom’, speaker, avid tweeter and blogger.
• Kenneth Fee, a specialist in evaluation, talent development, work-based learning, leadership and management development, who is a director of the Stirling-based company, Airthrey Ltd.

Asia-Pacific list

1. 1.    Amit Garg – Co-founder of Upside Learning, m-learning evangelist, international speaker and contributor to the Upside Learning Blog. (Position last year: eight)
2. 2.    Sahana Chattopadhyay – Enterprise Community Manager at Thoughtworks and writer of the ID and Other Reflections blog. (Position last year: 2)
3. 3.    Abtar Kaur – Professor of education and languages at Open University Malaysia, Programme Head for Master of Instructional Design and Technology and Programme Coordinator for Bachelor of Teaching (Science), international speaker, consultant and award winner. (New entry for 2013)
4. 4.    Manish Mohan – Senior Vice President at NIIT, mentor at e3cube, extensive corporate career, award winner and writer of the Learn and Lead blog. (New entry for 2013)
5. 5.    Sumeet Moghe – Training Manager at Thoughtworks, avid tweeter and writer of the The Learning Generalist blog. (Position last year: 3)
6. 6.    Joyce Seitzinger – Lecturer of blended learning at Deakin University, author of Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers, international speaker and writer of the Cat’s Pyjamas blog. (Position last year: 5)
7. 7.    Anne Bartlett-Bragg – Managing Director Asia-Pacific of the Ripple Effect Group, Executive Director of the Learning Technologies User Group, Lecturer of e-learning at the University of Technology Sydney and contributor to the Ripple Effect Group blog. (Position last year: 7)
8. 8.    Rob Wilkins – Head of Learning & Development at Aussie Home Loans, extensive corporate career, avid tweeter and writer of the Ruminations of a Learning and Development Professional blog. (Position last year: ‘bubbling under’)
9. 9.    Ryan Tracey – E-Learning Manager at AMP, Advisory Board Member at eLearn Magazine, Reviewer at the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, author of magazine articles and writer of the E-Learning Provocateur blog. (Position last year: 10)
10. 10.  Zaid Ali Alsagoff – E-Learning Manager at the International Medical University, avid tweeter and writer of several blogs including ZaidLearn and e-Learning In Malaysia. (New entry for 2013)

‘Bubbling under’

Others who just missed out on making this year’s list included:

• Anne Forster (Forster and Gibson), one of Australia’s foremost independent e-learning consultants. (Position last year: 1)

• Sue Waters Support Manager at Edublogs, lecturer, documentation writer, author of the ‘Sue Waters Blog’. Editor and co-author of ‘The Edublogger’ blog. (position last year: 4)
• Zoraini Wati Abas Teacher, consultant and author of the ‘Eye on Learning’ and ‘Research in Education’ blogs.
• Jeevan Joshi Principal Consultant & Founder of KnowledgeWorking, Producer & Community Manager at The Learning Cafe, speaker, author of the ‘KnowledgeWorking’ blog and co-author of ‘The Learning Cafe’ blog.

• Vikas Joshi. Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Harbinger Knowledge Products (based in India as well as the USA) and a thought leader in the field of interactivity.

Of the 38 names on the four lists (27 men and 11 women), those appearing on more than one list are

• Steve Rayson (World, Europe & UK)
• Amit Garg (World & Asia-Pacific)

This is the same number of people who appeared in more than one list last year – but, last year, those names were Fabrizio Cardinali and Jane Hart.

Elliott Masie and Donald H Taylor have remained top of their respective lists since the lists were first published, in 2010. In the European list, Richard Straub returns to the top position which he last held in 2011; while Amit Garg makes a dramatic rise to the top spot in the Asia-Pacific list – a rise which also sees him enter the World list for the first time.

Garg’s is the most dramatic rise this year, although Craig Weiss also has reason to be pleased with his entry into the World list at number four. Steve Rayson makes impressive entries into the World and European lists while consolidating his position in the UK list chiefly on the impressive global performance of Kineo, which was recently acquired by City & Guilds.

Increasingly, commentators – especially bloggers – are featuring in the lists. This confirms the growing influence of social media, not just within the corporate online learning sector but in all aspects of community life.