Surprise, surprise, surprise–while most association execs saw their salary rise over the past two years, expositions/tradeshow manager saw a decline in total compensation (this on top of decreases from 2001 to 2002). Not a good trend, folks. For the full press release, click on “continue reading” below.

Update: This article from Meeting News has some more of the numbers.

I got an interesting note from a friend recently who was musing over what may turn into a trend for industry attorneys: Combining law degrees with the CMP certification. She now knows of five people who are either CMP-bearing planners going into the law, or lawyers who want to learn more about the meetings industry and have pursued the CMP designation.

I know, five people does not a trend make, but I thought it was interesting, and, as my friend noted, a commentary on the meetings industry–that we need more lawyers who understand the business.

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If you’re thinking about going back to school to enhance your career potential, this site lists links to 120 colleges that offer hospitality-related curricula.

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Save the date: 2pm-3pm ET (11am-Noon PT), Thursday, October 14, 2004

OnVantage (which was recently created in the merger of Plansoft and seeUthere) is sponsoring a free webinar for corporate travel and meeting executives called “Best Practices: Managing Corporate Meeting Spend.”

Jay Roseman, Vice President of American Express Corporate Meeting Solutions, North America, Debbie Boschee, CMP, Director, Conference & Meeting Services of Prudential Financial, and Sharon Marsh, CMP, Team Lead, Event Marketing, PeopleSoft, Inc., will review the latest industry trends from the just-released survey, “The Meetings Group: Corporate Meeting Spend Survey 2004.” Topics include tips and best practices on visibility, process control, and cost reduction.

If you are trying to get a handle on increasing meeting expenses, figure out how to implement a preferred-provider strategy, or develop an understanding of your company’s total meeting expenditures, the webinar will help you learn what other corporations include and mandate in their meeting policies and find out if your company is ahead or behind the curve, in terms of collecting and leveraging meeting spending data. This Webinar is based on a benchmark survey conducted in September 2004, exclusively for Corporate Meetings & Incentive, Insurance Conference Planner and Medical Meetings magazines, and published by The Meetings Group, a Primedia Business Group of Publications.

OK, so maybe I have a vested interest in this one since my group did the research it’s based on, but I read the Benchmark Survey, and am looking forward to learning more about how all this works in the real world. Plus, it’s FREE!

Click here to register.

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Interesting thoughts on personal and professional risk-taking atView from a Corner Office, based on a women’s leadership meeting the author attended.

I particularly liked this bit:

If there was one thread running among all three [of the panelists], I’d say it was the firm belief that passion and conviction are absolutely critical to accepting and managing risk. That, and the need to simultaneously plan yet also leave yourself open to unexpected opportunities.

That’s a pretty tall order! Fortunately, the author also provides some more hands-on advice on both taking risks yourself, and handling risk that involves others.

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Just in time for fall—a Web site that links to 119 schools that offer hospitality and/or meeting planning programs.

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A guest blog from Tom Carrier, in response to this post on industry associations’ non-collaboration on their various core competency projects (a shortened version also was published in this week’s MeetingsNet Extra):

How very curious that all of these meeting professional organizations are now concentrating on creating “business skills” for the meetings industry. Yet, of all the competencies mentioned (strategic planning, business development, finance, operations and human resources), negotiations is not one of them.

It’s also curious that there is a lot of attention paid to enhancing the strategic skills of meeting managers, yet so very few of the nearly 32,000 meeting planners recognized as such by the Bureau of Labor Statistics can actually influence the management of meetings themselves. They are entry-level or middle managers with responsibilities only to administrate logistics and budgets, not the direction or content of meetings. So how does all of these new programs help them to succeed? I don’t know.

Besides, it’s been my experience lately that an increase in management skills for meeting managers doesn’t necessarily translate into job security. Too many organizations are cutting back on more senior-level managers to concentrate on hiring more entry-level or middle managers to help save on payroll. It would seem, then, that the more experience you have as a senior meetings manager, the less marketable you become (or at least your options may be severely limited).

All of these fancy programs can’t hurt, of course. There is always value in continuing education. But, for too many whose jobs really depend on being more than just managing logistics, more attention must be paid to enhancing the one skill that will make them more essential employees. This one skill will also allow these employees to get and keep more demanding jobs as they move through the ranks of meeting management. The art and science of business negotiations will be the only real calling card that every meeting manager can trade on as they advance in their careers. Everything else should follow that.

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No, this isn’t about jobs (though we do have some job listings and a Career Toolkit on our site).

No, today I’m asking for help from any medical meeting planners who might be skimming the blog. Medical Meetings is working with several CME providers to develop a checklist for working with outside fundraisers for CME events. If you have any suggestions or ideas, or would like to be a part of the process, please e-mail me. We’re just getting started, and could use all the help and input we can get!

I just got this press release, and would like to encourage anyone reading this to get your nominations in before next Thursday’s deadline. Just imagine the visibility a meetings/hospitality winner would get for this industry…

The Wall Street Journal accepting Nominations until July 15, 2004 for the Top 50 WOMEN TO WATCH Awards - nominate your WOMEN ON THEIR WAY® today!

What to Do: Send your WOMEN TO WATCH nomination(s) with a 500-word summary of the nominee’s business achievements or key accomplishments as well as a one-page resume, if available, to The Wall Street Journal at womentowatch@wsj.com by July 15, 2004*.

The competition will recognize 50 WOMEN TO WATCH in business, highlighting women’s achievements, focusing also on a woman’s potential for making a mark in the future, whether in her industry or business in general. And since this is a global competition, The Wall Street Journal welcomes nominations from any country and any industry. You can even nominate yourself if you believe you fit the description!

Don’t miss this opportunity to recognize a woman who has achieved noteworthy success in business in the past year, or who is likely to hold an important leadership position in the future.

Terms and conditions:
A group of Wall Street Journal editors and reporters will select the 50 women from the nominations received, and publish the winners in the Journal Report on November 8, 2004. For more information, contact John Leger, Wall Street Journal News Editor, at 609-520-5546 or e-mail: john.leger@wsj.com

In this week’s MeetingsNet Extra e-newsletter, I posed a question that may sound ridiculous: Why can’t we treat people like dogs? By this I meant we wouldn’t ask a terrier to race like a greyhound, so why do we ask excellent logicians to become strategic planners, instead of rewarding them only if they move “up” on the org. chart (for the full argument, read the item–I said it a lot more eloquently there!).

Anyway, I got an e-mail from a reader in response that made my day: In her organization, a few years ago some experienced people hit the top of the ladder for their position and the only promotion possible was into management. They were not so inclined, so the organization created a “senior senior” level, where candidates had to meet certain criteria and give a presentation to management to get the promotion without moving into management. What a great idea! As she wrote: “Who was it that said ‘people rise to their level of incompetence and stay there’ (or something like that)? This helps prevent that, hopefully!”

Any other success stories out there? I’d love to hear them!

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