For our industry to thrive, we must keep up with its progress and step up as leaders. By Susan Radojevic, Nov/Dec 2007
After spending the day with my seven-year-old niece a while back, I had one of those ‘aha’ moments. We’d been in the park, and she told me that when she grew up, she was going to be the president of her own company. I reminded her that she’d need to get some experience first, and her response was, “Why? I’ll learn everything in school.” And it dawned on me that there’s a new breed of meeting professional out there.
We veterans of the industry typically started out in entry-level positions at a hotel or travel company. Or we were corporate admins who were arbitrarily assigned to plan the annual party. The main focus of our jobs was planning, and we learned by experience, making, breaking and rewriting the rules as we went. We should be proud of our accomplishments. Over the past couple of decades, we’ve moved the business of meetings from a sideline chore to a multi-billion-dollar, professional industry.
But gaining status as a meeting professional in today’s world requires more than experience, survival and logistics skills. More often, the ability to understand, appreciate and contribute to an organization’s business and marketing strategy defines the role of meeting professional. Who is more likely to be able to meet this growing demand? You guessed it – those new, freshly-schooled young guns.
EDUCATION
Historian and writer Will Durant observed, “Education is the transmission of civilization.” The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook observes that the proportion of meeting professionals “with a bachelor’s degree is increasing because the work and responsibilities are becoming more complex, causing employers to prefer workers with more formal education.”
The throngs of emergent young meeting professionals have an enormous advantage that we veterans never had – access to a formal education that teaches the breadth of knowledge necessary to succeed in the meetings industry. University-level programmes like Ryerson’s Event Management certificate allow students to jump-start their careers. The programme offers logistics training, but concentrates on developing a rounded, strategic knowledge base. One course, in event-management best practices, includes instruction on how to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and feasibility study, identify and prioritize event goals and objectives and integrate corporate events within the client’s marketing strategy. Clearly, this generation doesn’t plan on spending much of their careers on the lower rungs of the ladder of success.
WISDOM
But a good education provides knowledge, not wisdom. And that’s where those of us with age and experience come in. If we want our industry to continue to thrive, we need to keep up with its progress and step up as mentors and leaders. Meeting Professionals International (MPI) offers a Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) that complements the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation. The CMM is designed for tenured members of the meeting industry and focuses on strategic initiatives and executive decision-making, increasingly vital elements in the future of meeting professionals.
As success guru Ben Sweetland states, “We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.” Initiatives like Society of Incentive Travel Executives’ (SITE) Young Leaders Program offer excellent opportunities to both mentor and continue to learn. The SITE programme provides education and networking opportunities for younger people, and the mission is to bridge the generation gap and create strong future leaders. Internships, such as those required in the Ryerson programme, offer additional opportunities for seasoned veterans to provide leadership. According to MPI, students represent the fastest-growing segment of MPI membership – 48 per cent in 2006/2007 – making this a crucial industry demographic in the coming years.
The upstarts of today are the pros of tomorrow. If the experienced generation holds its torches high enough and lights the way for the new one, the outlook for our industry is very bright.
This is my final installment of Last Word. It has been great fun and I truly appreciate having the privilege of sharing my observations and viewpoints with you. And thank you for sharing yours with me!
– Susan Radojevic is president of meeting consolidation strategists The Peregrine Agency Ltd.
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