NOVEMBER 2010 - Association of Marina Industries

21Training & Certification Continued from Page 16individual with identifying several action items that theycould take away and apply, using something new theylearned at the course.Mr. Schuman follows up several weeks after the course andperiodically thereafter to keep the students on task, makingsure they continue to work towards implementation of theiraction items. “Follow-up is key to success here, experienceshows that once they return to their facilities, the day today operations take over once again and it is difficult to stayfocused on these goals. I serve as a reminder to their selfappointedgoals, and it is this follow-up which often resultsin their successes here.”The attendees at the class were energized and anxious toget back to their facilities to apply all that they had learnedduring their 4-day professional experience. The classresoundingly felt that they could all use work on theirleadership skills and were anxious to go back and usemany of the techniques offered up by Ms. Lendzion andMr. Schuman to help them be successful here. Anotherimportant goal for several students was to create a companywebsite and for those who may already have websites,to upgrade them, make them more user friendly, and tobecome more engaged in the use of social media as a wayof promoting their facilities.Overall, each participant’s experience was different;however, one theme was consistent, all left the programwith a renewed vision of the positive impact they canhave on their facilities and the feeling that this course wasinvaluable, so much so that they did not want it to end.Many were “pleased with the legitimacy of this course, itactually surprised me. This is much more than a seminar.This is an extremely valuable, educational and effectivecourse! I am very impressed and thankful to have had theopportunity to participate. This is an excellent program!”By attending this course they were exposed to new ways ofdealing with the issues and challenges common throughouttheir industry, and with the realization that many ofthese issues transcend industries, so these skills can beapplied anywhere at any time, whether it be a personalor professional application. They learned about policiesand practices that have been successful in other regionsof the country and in different nations. They discoverednew solutions to traditional management challenges andestablished a long-lasting network of contacts and friendsin the industry for years to come.For those aspiring to become CMMs or CMOs, the nextstep after the IMM is the Advanced Marina Management(AMM) course or the Marina Operator Course (MOC). Thelast run of the AMM for 2010 is scheduled for December5-10 in Fort Lauderdale and the MOC is scheduled forSeptember 25, 2011, also in Fort Lauderdale. IMI is veryencouraged by the continued level of interest in the trainingprograms during what has been a challenging economictime. IMI is accepting applications for the spring 2011IMM and AMM courses scheduled to open on February27, 2011 and March 20, 2011, respectively.These courses are being held in Charleston, SC. The AMMprogram is a profit-management training course designedfor senior marina professionals. Through small groups,interactive workshops, and specific case studies, the AMMcourse examines such topics as profit-center management,regulations and permitting, operations, marina law,human-resource management, risk management and losscontrol, improving the quality and value of services, policyand procedure manuals, business strategy and financialmanagement, and marketing, promotion, and pricing.The AMM offers its graduates a national and internationalbusiness perspective on management issues, and a longtermnetwork of international contacts to rely on in thefuture. Attendees learn about policies and practices thathave been successful in other regions of the country andin different nations and they discover new solutions totraditional management challenges.Don’t miss your opportunity to participate in IMI’s programsto gain valuable experience and long- term relationshipsthrough networking opportunities. IMI strives to providenew, exciting and applicable training to all marinaprofessionals and the staff that support them. We welcomeyour thoughts on current training interests. To share youneeds for continued education and thoughts on topics fortraining please email imitraining@marinaassociation.org.For more information or to register for IMI’s trainingprograms, please visit www.marinaassociation.org.Attention AMI Members:Be sure to share your news with us so we caninclude it in the monthly Advocate newsletter!Email news items to:malves@marinaassociation.org.