Being an expert in managing
attendees isn’t enough; a meeting planner needs to be a
jack of all other trades. Likewise, getting a Certified Meeting
Planner credential shouldn’t be the end-all in a planner’s quest to
learn; a well-rounded business education is crucial for upper-level
advancement.
“Our business is really about understanding, leading and
managing humans,” says Janet Sperstad, CMP, who spearheaded the
first meeting- and event-management associate degree in the United
States, at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wis., in
addition to running Madison-based Meeting Expectations Inc.
“Acquiring skills that help you do that will make you go from good
to great.”
Read on for 10 courses that meeting planners should take,
subjects that don’t concern meeting planning per se but are key to
professional development. Check local universities and community
colleges for these offerings, and especially if time is precious
don’t forget to look online.
For web-based courses, check out World Wide Learn (www.worldwidelearn.com), a company that lists
e-learning programs offered by institutions from all over the
country. Another option is the American Management Association (www.amanet.org),
which administers about 160 online business programs. For those
without extra cash, try the U.S. government’s Small Business
Training Network (www.sba.gov/training), which offers free online
courses.
1. Business management
Meetings can be for-profit enterprises if run with an eye on the
bottom line, notes Brian Landers, executive vice president of
housing and registration for ConferenceDirect, based in Los
Angeles. A general course on running all aspects of a business can
tighten the financial ship and impress company executives.
2. Business writing
Communicating effectively is much faster and easier if your writing
skills are up to snuff. Intelligent, succinct writing will help
prevent misunderstandings, excite attendees and let upper
management know just how smart you are. “There are some occasions
when the appropriate thing to do is send a letter,” notes Mary
Power, president of the Convention Industry Council, based in
McLean, Va.
3. Creative thinking/strategic planning
This is not a fluffy dream session it’s a course of study that
helps students learn to solve problems in unique ways and to make
short-term plans that intelligently guide a project’s progress in
the context of a company’s focus. These tools will add vigor to
everyday planning and prove essential for on-your-toes, high-level
meeting management.
4. Customer service
“If you treat people with respect, you’ll always get a
good product out of them,” says George Wiessel, managing partner of
Meeting Minds LLC, based in Mount Laurel, N.J. For independent
planners, customer service also works to help build relationships
for repeat business.
5. Ethics
No organization is safe from scandal, which is why it is essential
that anyone with control over the meetings budget be versed in how
to maintain a spotless ethical appearance. “Especially with what’s
going on in today’s business world, everyone should be taking
ethics classes,” says Martin Balough, director of meetings and
travel for the Chicago-based American Bar Association.
6. Finance
Looking at meetings through the lens of a financial manager is the
first step to slimming the budget or reworking schedules to keep
meetings financially viable. Knowing the ins and outs of cash flow
also will make return-on-investment calculations much easier. A
word of caution: For courses in such a broad field, read the
syllabus carefully to make sure they can apply to your job.
7. Leadership
When doling out promotions, upper management looks for
those who demonstrate leadership abilities. Even those who aren’t
born leaders can improve interactions with subordinate employees
and practice behaviors that will garner respect. The Disney
Institute, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., which offers one such
training program over three and a half days (it can be stripped
down to as little as 90 minutes), uses the current heads of Walt
Disney theme parks as models for managerial success.
8. Marketing
“I don’t think enough planners have what it takes to sell
themselves, their meetings or their ideas,” says Laurel Coote, CMP,
CMM, president of the Laureli Group Inc., in Torrance, Calif.
Indeed, the success of a meeting often comes down to who’s heard
about it. Applications of a course in marketing extend further than
that, including how to tailor a meeting to its audience, how to
brand an event to support the company’s communications efforts, and
how to use the web effectively.
9. Negotiation
Perhaps the simplest way to cut costs and add value is to
work out a better contract in the first place. A course in
negotiation will help you hone the techniques you may already
intuitively use and cultivate a better grasp of when to show which
cards to accrue the maximum benefit.
10. Project management
Given that planning a meeting can take years, planners should
develop organizational skills to avoid a rush toward the meeting
date with dwindling resources. A project management course will
help bring the entire meeting into view and divide up the
overwhelming undertaking of planning into doable tasks. As Janet
Sperstad says, “It’s helpful to gather everything in one place to
help articulate the status of where things are and where we need to
go.”