Hopefully 2010 will be better economically. We've all had to cut back over the past few years. Make sure that you find ways to stay current in your field. Don't let your education lapse because of economics. Here are some things we've done recently...

1. I perused websites in my department's fields for online classes. One even had an "end of the year half-price sale," and it made it affordable enough so we could each take a class. We did a knowledge share at the end so that we all got the highlights of all the classes.

2. Look for websites, blogs, Twitter feeds of others in your discipline. Use these for Q&A or knowledge shares.

3. Look at websites and publications from professional organizations. Many have free parts to their sites. Membership is often affordable. My professional membership offers some white papers and access to its library.

4. If you can't travel to conferences, check to see if you can buy the conference notes. These have a lot of good information in them from the sessions.

5. Look for training consortiums in your area. Our training coordinator has a knack for finding open slots in low-cost classes that are sponsored  by other business or community colleges.

Keep learning! Don't stagnate because the money's not available for training or travel. Sometimes, you just have to be a little creative.