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ASAE offers $10,000 for good ideas
New ideas to promote the profession and skills of meeting planners and travel agents are hard to come by, and always welcome.
To encourage them, the ASAE Foundation has opened applications for its second annual Innovation Grants Program (IGP).
Four grants of up to $10,000 each will be awarded in three categories: travel, exploration or hybrid (a combination of travel and exploration).
Entries should offer "proactive and creative ideas that would help association management in such areas as leadership development, technology, marketing, membership and community engagement, product development, and business practices."
Last year’s winner, for example, was a Digital Badging proposal from the American Alliance of Museums. It is using the money to develop, prototype, test and evaluate issuing microcredentials (in the form of digital badges) to members who take educational courses to advance their careers.
As the economic return on traditional degree programs is called into question, and as support by employers for professional education becomes increasingly scarce, the AAM is looking into "micro-credentialing," i.e., issuing an online credential for professional training in a small area, much like a merit badge offered by the Boy and Girl Scouts.
A meeting planner or travel agent could collect and display many such micro-badge credentials to show expertise in small and specific areas, such as small meetings or cruise-ship planning.
"By providing a structure to access resources, track progress, and assess mastery, digital badging enables learners to demonstrate their attainments to peers and prospective employers."
Individuals and groups from professional or trade associations, nonprofits, association industry partners, and consulting companies that serve the association community are eligible to apply, as long as the applicant team includes at least one ASAE member.
Applications are due October 1. See ASAE’s website for more details.
Cheryl
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