CPE

Recently, the Harvard Business Review sent me an email promoting a book called “Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz” by Frank J. Barrett.

It’s much better. Ask any professional who meets their continuing education requirements online. They are likely to tell you that the ability to get CE hours whenever and wherever it’s convenient for them is a huge plus. Read more »

Predictions can be a slippery slope. This is particularly true when they follow on the heels of a roller coaster business environment and an economic climate capable of turning a lot of economists prematurely gray. But despite all that, I am feeling pretty confident about my view into the future, the online future at least, of continuing professional education (CPE). Read more »

When I first entered the business world, banking was a relatively slow-moving industry. Traditional and conservative, the majority of banks were managed by old school bankers who stayed on top of industry trends and best practices by reading trade publications. These bankers could perform their jobs quite effectively with a relatively modest amount of time invested in ongoing learning. Read more »

A report by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, Help Wanted, Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, states that “Ultimately, when it rains long enough and hard enough, everyone gets a little wet. Recessions are like that too. But postsecondary education and training is still the best umbrella in any economic storm.

My company is a leading provider of technology and services that enable online continuing education. From that perspective, you could assume a bias towards certain kinds of CE. On the (less cynical) other hand, I have been exposed to a tremendous amount of online professional continuing education over the years.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that lawyers work up to eighty hours per week, with an average between forty and seventy hours. Financial service-professionals, like financial managers and investment bankers, work forty to sixty hours per week. CPA’s also put in over forty hours per week and many more hours during tax season.

Recently, I had a conversation with a teenager about music. He asked me, “Which iPod did you have when you were a kid?” When I told him there was no such thing as an iPod when I was growing up, he stared at me, incredulous. Today, the iPod, or MP3, generation extends well beyond teenagers. Many adults, accomplished professionals, use MP3 players regularly.

In 1993, the Dyersburg Corporation introduced the first post-consumer recycled polyester fleece. And, in 2010, it would be difficult to find a person on the North American continent who doesn’t own a polar fleece made from recycled plastic soda bottles. Read more »