Sam was honored by the editors of Training+Development in 2001 as one of "Training's New Guard" for his groundbreaking work in online learning design and interactivity. In announcing Sam's selection, the Editors said:

It’s sure not hard to spot and be affected by his enthusiasm for e-learning. He’s witty, he’s engaging, and there are those descriptive analogies!

For example, Shmikler compares the evolution of e-learning to the evolution of cinematography: “Industry-wide, there needs to be consistency in organizing and presenting e-learning content. I liken it to the film industry in 1905 when a motion picture was made by putting a camera atop a tripod and filming a stage production. But by 1915, a universally recognized film language had developed that ultimately became the rule for all filmmakers—regardless of the language, topic, or category of a particular film. That’s where e-learning is headed, and I’m thrilled to be among the people defining it.”

This historical and critical juncture is challenging e-learning’s best and brightest. Is e-learning a sustainable solution for organizations, or is it the technology du jour? Shmikler says that for sustainability, a lot of assumptions about training need rethinking. “For one, the individual craftsperson model—in which subject matter expertise resides in one or several people and drips down onto learners—is dysfunctional in the age of the Internet. That model presupposes a stability of content and needs, and that the audience can wait for completion of a program.”

Shmikler, who has garnered experience as a senior training manager at Sybase, Sun Microsystems, and the Pacific Group, knows his way around organizational culture and adult learning. That knowledge augments his super-techie, e-learning design skills. Early on, he was convinced that traditional classroom learning wasn’t necessarily what his audience needed in order to perform.

Sam Shmikler devotes considerable time to preparing "next generation" change and organizational leaders. He has served as a adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, UCLA, UC-Santa Cruz, Florida International University, and at his alma mater, the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.

Sam served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Ithaca College from 1992-2002, alongside his fellow alumni, Disney CEO, Bob Iger.