If there are any travel professionals reading this, you might want to check out the 14th Annual Retailer Salary & Compensation Survey. Among the findings:

Certified Travel Counselors beat the survey average for income by more than $3,000, with an average compensation of $35,555.

Specialization also continues to be a key factor in shaping retailer earning power. Retailers who focused on one or more sales specializations in addition to general travel sales increased their earnings by $2,088 over 2003.

Eighty-six percent of respondents said they were happy in their current positions, a 7 percent increase from 2003, and 87% said they plan to remain in the travel industry for the rest of their careers. Education is also on the upswing. Ninety-two percent of retailers participated in some type of educational activity in 2004, up 5 percent from 2003, including 60 percent of respondents who participated in a formal certification program. The most popular options for education and training included FAMS, supplier and/or destination sponsored seminars, travel industry conferences and trade shows and in-print education in an industry publication.

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Meeting Professionals International has been busy lately. MPI’s Global Corporate Circle of Excellence just released a position paper on procurement and strategic meetings management. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet (still working on those 1,000+ e-mails), but it sounds like a must-read for anyone dealing with procurement and all that these days. They also have a toolkit to go along with it that includes sample business plans, budget templates, and other handy reference items.

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This “letter,” which has been floating around the ‘net for while, still cracks me up.

Dear Meeting Planner:

I am a convention services manager. I have unlimited resources at my

disposal. I always keep at least ten meeting rooms under my desk and it is a policy here to automatically make reservations and tee times for your Board of Directors when you sign a contract.

I can make any of my meeting rooms larger or smaller, depending on your needs. I will naturally remove any supporting pillars from your meeting space and will install windows in every room as needed.