The Center for Association Leadership, which designs education programs for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), recently launched several new courses focusing on meetings and events. The new emphasis reflects the importance of meetings as revenue generators for many associations. "Meeting professionals are absolutely one of our target audiences," says Susan Sarfati, president and CEO of the Center, which is based in Washington D.C. The organization's new certificate program will offer planners training in five core competencies—strategic planning, marketing and sales, business management, leadership, and meetings operations—all skills that ASAE considers essential for planners looking to "get a seat at the executive table," notes Sarfati. But it's the center's "Great Ideas" conferences, which take place in December and February and emphasize collaborative learning and practical, easy-to-implement ideas, that association planner Everett Shupe finds most appealing. "This type of conference would be most effective if teams from a particular association attended," notes Shupe, who's the learning events specialist for Goodwill Industries International in Rockville, MD. "For example, if you got the CEO, CFO, and meeting professional to attend together, it might have more impact back at the office."