This number doesn’t even include:
• Carbon emissions
• Garbage generated at the events
• Cost of electricity at the venue
• Cost of heating or air conditioning the venue
• The cost of the service staff and their carbon footprint
• The cost of the presenters
• Postage and handling
• Lost productivity
For some people, online training has replaced the traditional books-and-classroom-type events. If half of all agents got their CE from online
sources, we would still be consuming millions of dollars worth of nonrenewable resources while contributing to the poisoning of the planet.
Online CE options are plentiful. Look for companies that have a
long history of service and a large library of online courses. Many companies will now let you review course material before they make you pay
for a course. This ensures you that the course you purchase really contains the material you expected.
Don’t automatically pick cost over quality. CEU, Kaplan, WebCE and
my company, InsuranceStudy.com, offer a wide variety of options, all
tailored toward the agent.
For NAHU members, there are links and resources available at
www.NAHU.org that offer discounts to members looking for CE courses. Some NAHU proprietary online courses also offer CE credit such as
the Ethics, Consumer-Driven Health Care, Long-Term Care Partnership
and the Health Insurance 101 courses.
What I learned from the second-grade assignment is true for all of
us: Each of us needs to make small changes to make a BIG difference.
It’s not about pressing for major reform; it’s about the little things we
each do each day for ourselves. We owe it to our children, their children
and all future generations.
Let’s be good citizens of the planet we all call home. HIU
Where in the World is HIU?
HIU has friends in high places! At
the North Carolina AHU’s
Symposium, Past NAHU
Presidents David Saltzman, Mike
Matznick and Bynum Tuttle,
along with 2008-09 President Scott
Leavitt, posed with their favorite
magazine. From L-R: Saltzman,
Matznick, Leavitt and Tuttle.
