Holy cow, it’s been a busy week! Things got kicked off with First Class Training and I’m still noticing how bombarded the servers are at certain times while tens of thousands get upgraded to 70% commission. Our Directors got their first glimpse of new on line and off line tools on Monday which are up to date both in content and style. The very next day, YTB’s very own Kim Sorensen informed the industry in a “Meet The Press” style interview that the company has no intent on changing it’s business model to appease critics. I guess when you’ve double your sales with the number one cruise line in the world year over year; obviously something is working when it comes to YTB’s business model.

For all the positive moves YTB made this week in the right direction, it’s been fun to see how worked up and desperate our critics are getting. I guess they think if they yell a little louder the focus will come back to them and their side of the story.

I found it interesting that a post was made yesterday afternoon that YTB is now paying off CLIA. There hasn’t been a single comment concerning this as of the time of this writing. We’re just going to let Terry educate this “industry veteran” about how this Association works, or spank him for having the reading comprehension and mentality of a 5 year old. Personally, if he doesn’t understand how CLIA’s two year ACC Accreditation actually works when your “application” is submitted he should be kicked out of the industry, or simply put out of his misery.

I also read that Vicki Freed was “fired” from Carnival during the week I suspect in an attempt to show their disgust in how Carnival supports YTB’s model. And we’re still pitching this myth that Royal Caribbean, Perilo, “and others” (plural meaning more than Celtic.) have done away with YTB.

Of course that last comment was made by the same person who told everyone that their united movement is working. When you see these types of comments and false claims, it makes me wonder why or how they think they can claim their cleaning up the industry using the same unprofessional tactics they appear to be above and obviously upset about.

How frustrated they must be at this point to see that YTB is still making news, and it’s moved past the doom and gloom of California. I realize they’re still hanging on to this idea that California actually has the power to shut YTB down completely. However the changes we’ve seen this week in answering the concerns of this one state are making YTB bullet proof for any other state to make the same lame accusations.

Actions always speak louder than words, and if you think some are just a tad concerned that things aren’t going the way they’d like them to, the actions of our critics have them SCREAMING right now from the roof tops.

Fun to watch!

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I can still remember the first time I saw the YTB booking engine. My wife called me at work and told me to take a look at the site. It took me all of about a millisecond to know that I wanted to find out more about who this company was, and what it had to offer. Back then, you really couldn’t find anything about YTB. It was difficult to do any type of research over the internet about the company. I do recall finding a couple posts about how some considered the company nothing more that one of those “pyramid deals”. Even then, I was able to see through the ignorance and hype, and wanted to verify on my own what the company was all about.

Many who are currently with YTB have no idea what the booking engine looked like “back in the day”. A couple weeks ago while browsing some old photos, I found a screen capture from April of 2005 and to look at the booking engine today, you certainly wouldn’t see what I saw in the company back then.

I wrote a little bit on Friday about how you need to constantly monitor and check your course, then make adjustments accordingly based on the current conditions you find. Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter were able to listen to a conference call with Scott Tomer who told us that for the first time we have a clear understanding of what California really wants. More importantly, we know how to address California based on the discussions we’ve had and this weekend we’ve seen our first glimpse of the result of those discussions.

First Class Training.

I couldn’t tell you how many people were actually bombarding the servers of the First Class Training on Saturday, but the training modules being served up were obviously pushing bandwidth to the limits. While Sunday seemed to be somewhat better, personally, I found the only time feasible to enjoy these courses was early Sunday morning. It will be interesting to see if we can get an actually number, and I’m betting it will be in the tens of thousands.

About all I could think of while watching these training modules was how much trouble our critics will be in now that we have this very thorough and leading edge training available to us via a few mouse clicks. Most of the issues that you find our critics complaining and crying about are directly addressed in these modules, and to make matters even worse for them, it’s by far the most thorough training I’ve seen from any single industry supplier or association in all the years I’ve been attending industry events, seminars, and trainings.

The courses included video modules form CLIA, Marc Mancini, along with Carnival, Pleasant Holidays, Oceana, Globus, and other vendors. To see how these industry leaders took the time to be filmed and offer up their experience and expertise in the industry for YTB spoke volumes about what they think of our company. (Although some will lead you to believe they feel differently.)

Other features that impressed me were the quality of videos themselves. Done in wide screen and in high definition with professional film crews and editing scored very high marks for me. The entire course is extremely professional and broadcast quality.

Some may find it odd or out of character that something was noticeably missing in this updated training. The “R” word. You know the one I’m talking about, because of the huge phobia that surrounds it.

“Recruiting”.

Nope. Not one mention of that aspect of our business, nor were Coach and Scott even seen or heard from during the entire training. To have YTB talk for close to 4 hours and not even mention the Rep side of the business could be equated to a fish being out of water.

This was all about travel, from some of the best in the business, and the only company that has this comprehensive overview of the entire industry is YTB. I love what Marc Mancini said in his interview concerning the “E-Campus” courses he’s put together for YTB. “The educational training and learning landscape has changed because of technology.” The Travel Weekly Leisure Summit is a perfect example of this, (both Marc and Kim will be participating) and probably a big reason why Travel Weekly described Kim as one of ‘three people who are defining the contemporary landscape for home agents…’

A new day has dawned in YTB, and while our critics will continue their attempt to shame and embarrass anyone involved in YTB, you as an RTA now have First Class Training to arm yourself in everything travel related to become just as knowledgeable, and just as competent as they claim to be.

Please don’t mistake or misconstrue that as First Class being the ONLY course you need to take in order to achieve your goals as a Travel Agent. That however will become evident as you work your way through the modules. It is however, the best foundational tool I’ve ever seen in the industry to enable you to chart a course that will rival any industry veteran out there.

Come to think of it. If our critics who claim to be embarrassed or insulted by YTB RTA’s not knowing anything about the travel industry would simply point those they find to YTB’s First Class Training, many of their problems would be resolved. Me thinks however, they’re far more comfortable simply complaining and pointing out what’s wrong instead of working on a solution.

You in YTB however, know how to pick up the ball. If you’ve already taken the course like I have, you know how valuable this is, so maybe you can offer up the support to your fellow RTA’s our critics find and help them get on course with this foundational tool.

How nice it is to have such an outstanding and powerful program to help take care of our own.

Hats off to the Home Office and YTB.

Thanks guys!

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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