American Management Association Expands Portfolio of Training Programs to Include Live Virtual Seminars

American Management Association (AMA), a world leader in talent development and performance-based learning solutions, will offer live, instructor-led Virtual Seminars starting in October 2009. Customers will be able to access AMA’s world-class training seminars online via an Internet connection and browser, delivered directly to their office or home PC.

By year-end, AMA will deliver five of its most popular seminars in a live virtual format that will be both interactive and user-friendly. The new Virtual Seminars feature AMA’s high-quality, practical content in a dynamic new format that provides real-time online interaction among the course leader and seminar participants in a facilitated exchange of ideas.

The five new Virtual Seminars being offered this fall are “Time Management,” “Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers,” “Successfully Managing People,” “AMA’s PMP Exam Prep Express,” and “Strategic Planning.” All of AMA’s new Virtual Seminars are open to the general public. And all of AMA’s 140 seminars can be customized and delivered in a virtual format for corporate or government clients.

“AMA’s Virtual Seminars are a flexible training alternative to our classroom-based programs,” said Edward T. Reilly, AMA President and CEO. “For more than 85 years, American Management Association’s mission has been to advance the development of management and leadership practices and provide a forum for the exchange of business ideas. Today, advances in technology allow AMA to bring high-quality interactive learning to people at their desktops around the globe,” Reilly said.

The web-conferencing platform uses advanced Internet technologies to facilitate the live online learning experience. The course materials will include a free USB headset that enables participants to communicate with the instructor and other attendees. Other interactive features include real-time polling, chat capability, and online whiteboards that allow participants to get feedback, ask questions, post comments, and see what the instructor is writing. They will also be able to work together in groups by utilizing conference-call and file-sharing capabilities.

“AMA’s Virtual Seminars are the next progression in our online learning platform,” said Nicholas Igneri, AMA’s Director of Learning Technologies. “For several years, AMA has offered blended-learning support for many of its popular seminars, essentially supplementing classroom experiences with Web-based resources. Now, AMA is leveraging the success of our pre- and post-seminar materials—which include online assessments and reinforcement and support tools—to be able to offer an entire seminar virtually,” Igneri said.

AMA will more than double the number of Virtual Seminars being offered in 2010, with 12 titles in the market by April. The seven new titles offered next year are “Critical Thinking,” “AMA’s 2-Day Business Writing Workshop,” “Preparing for Leadership: What It Takes to Take the Lead,” “Leading Virtual and Remote Teams,” “Management Skills for New Supervisors,” “Management Skills for Administrative Professionals,” and “Improving Your Project Management Skills: The Basics for Success.”

For more information about AMA’s Virtual Seminars, visit www.amanet.org/virtual-seminars.

In addition to the new Virtual Seminars, AMA provides other online blended-learning solutions, including pre-seminar prep materials, online assessments, and post-seminar tune-up courses, which allow organizations and individuals to measure the effectiveness of training and demonstrate return on investment.

AMA offers more than 140 seminars in management, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, project management, human resources, sales, marketing and finance. Programs are offered for business professionals at all levels, from CEOs and senior executives to new managers and administrative professionals. AMA’s faculty is comprised of business practitioners with real-world experience and expert facilitation skills who use practical, action-oriented AMA content that can be immediately applied in the workplace.

AMA has Executive Conference Centers in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It also operates training facilities in Brussels, Toronto, Mexico City, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, and Istanbul in addition to many other cities around the world.

About AMA
American Management Association (www.amanet.org) is a world leader in talent development, advancing the skills of individuals to drive business success. AMA’s approach to improving performance combines experiential learning with opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of one’s career journey. AMA supports the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including classroom and virtual seminars, webcasts, webinars, podcasts, conferences, corporate and government solutions, business books and research. Organizations worldwide, including the majority of the Fortune 500, turn to AMA as their trusted partner in professional development and draw upon its experience to enhance skills, abilities and knowledge with noticeable results from day one.