18 May 09 Need Some Training? Try Marriott’s Meetings Excellence!

In a time when event planning professionals are either looking for new jobs or piling on second jobs to make ends meet, Marriott International says you can take that time to increase your value instead.

Meetings Excellence! Is a new program offered online to help both the new planner as well as the seasoned professional. The curriculum introduces event planning to new intermediary planning professionals, as well as approaches for planning a successful event. It also covers Marriott’s own offerings to the conference and business meeting planner. Soon the educational units will be offered in other languages, including Turkish, Chinese, and Japanese.

Through Meetings Excellence! Marriott International is restating its obligation to support intermediary partners. Besides the Meetings Excellence! Program, Marriott International has already made great strides in showing it values its partners in its commission structures as well as its website dedicated to group partners. Meetings Excellence is just one more step in the company’s commitment to group meetings professionals.

So what happens when you graduate? Will anyone care? Of course. You will be designated a “Marriott Meeting Professional” and will receive their stamp of approval in the form of certification. They will also offer you their fabulous PlanTastic booking rates, which start at $44. This makes it even easier for event professionals to use Marriott for their meeting needs.

Also, try to see it from the point of view of your clients. Wouldn’t you want someone who has education, training, and experience in the planning industry? You wouldn’t want to work with someone who just graduated from high school and decided on a nice sunny day to advertise her services as a meeting planner. Certification such as this is your clients’ way of being assured of quality.

Even if you are worried about committing time to education during the global economic crisis, remember that it is not only the early bird that gets the worm, but also the big one. Out the time in now so you are ready when the money is flowing more freely.

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