Frequently Asked Questions
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVENT LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
What is the Event Leadership Institute?
Who is the Event Leadership Institute for?
What makes the Event Leadership Institute different from other industry education options?
TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
What are the technical requirements for this site?
Why does my streaming video keep pausing?
How long do I have before my session gets timed out?
Can I watch a class on my ipad/iphone/internet tv/ other really cool gadget?
I’m having technical problems, who should I contact?
PURCHASING CLASSES
What's your Cancellation/Return Policy? What's with the Money Back Guarantee?
Is my credit card information safe?
How can I use my promo code?
Once I buy a class, how often can I watch it?
Once I buy a class, how long can I keep it?
Can I share my classes with my friends and colleagues?
I want to buy classes as a gift, what do I do?
How can I buy classes for my employees?
Do you offer student discounts?
Can I get a subscription or membership to ELI?
QUESTIONS ABOUT WATCHING THE CLASSES
Can I download the classes I’ve purchased to my desktop?
Can I watch video classes from multiple computers?
Do I have to watch the whole class at once?
How can I keep track of the classes I’ve taken?
QUESTIONS ABOUT BECOMING AN INSTRUCTOR AND/OR SUBMITTING WRITTEN MATERIAL
How can I become an E.L.I. Instructor?
How much time is involved in being an Instructor?
How can I submit a white paper, e-book, or other written content?
QUESTIONS ABOUT CERTIFICATION AND EDUCATION CREDITS
Do you offer certification?
Do your programs count as Continuing Education Credits toward my CMP (Certified Meeting Professional)?
OTHER QUESTIONS
How can I find out when new content is added?
I have a question about class material. Who should I contact?
My question isn’t listed above, who should I contact?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVENT LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
What is the Event Leadership Institute?
The Event Leadership Institute is the nexus for the most progressive education, training, best practices and insights within the event industry, all delivered to you by top subject-matter experts from around the world. We provide barrier-free, online, on demand education for event professionals. Our goal is to empower and educate event professionals and give them the tools and resources to create, plan and execute better events. We want planners to be as knowledgeable as possible when dealing with their vendors, clients, employees and bosses.
Who is the Event Leadership Institute for?
If you are interested in events, the Event Leadership Institute is for you! The events industry has grown dramatically in recent years; however the education and training offerings available have simply not kept up with this demand. Whether you’re a novice planner looking to enter the events industry, or a seasoned veteran seeking deeper expertise in a specific area, you’ll find the training and answers you need here, or you will shortly. (We’re adding new video classes every month, along with webinars and live events.)
What makes the Event Leadership Institute different from other event education options?
First, we think the industry can only benefit from having more educational opportunities for planners to choose from. We believe the following benefits make our platform unique.
- Curated Content. Most conferences, webinars and live industry events provide little or no program development. Instructors usually just show up; sometimes the classes have good content that is well organized and presented, other times they’re a train wreck. By contrast, we spend 5-6 hours on average with each instructor for every 30 minutes of class content. Working with us as an instructor is not for everyone; you have to be willing to work to take your program to the next level. But without question, every instructor will attest that the time spent with our team has significantly improved the quality of their presentation.
- Money Back Guarantee. OK, so that phrase may remind you of late night tv infomercials. But we embrace the idea of a guarantee because it forces us to perform without a net and make sure our classes are strong. We stand behind our content 100%, and are putting our money where our mouths are.
- Wherever / Whenever. Though there are many great live event classes around the country, not everyone is near them. And even if you are, the times may not be convenient for you. Our on-demand classes enable you to learn what you need, when you need to, wherever you are.
- Unbundled Micro-Learning. Our classes average 30-60 minute in length, and we further break them down into individual video chapters that average 3-6 minutes long. This taps the growing trend toward breaking down educational offerings into the smallest digestible nuggets (though we’re not quite Twitter-sized). You can watch an entire class end-to-end, or jump right to the section you need.
- Barrier-Free Learning. We have no application process, and you do not have to accumulate any points to learn with us. Our aim is to enable you to get your knowledge and training on a particular topic quickly, as we know that’s the nature of planning events. Sometimes an event element is added to the mix that the planner needs a crash course on.
- Subject Matter Experts. Our classes are taught by people who know their subject matter cold. They share a passion for their craft, and a desire to share their knowledge with their industry. In fact many of them are so committed to educating others in the field that they give away some proprietary resources, processes, and secrets as part of their classes.
TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
What are the technical requirements for the site?
The website is designed to work across all browsers but has been optimized for the following:
- Internet Explorer 6.0
- Internet Explorer 7.0
- Mozilla Firefox 2.0
- Opera 9.23
- Apple Safari 3.0 or later.
In order to watch class videos you will need to have Flash version 9.0.115 or later.
Why does my streaming video keep pausing?
This is generally related to the speed of your Internet connection and how much traffic there is on the network. If this happens, try pausing the class and wait for more (or all) of it to load before you resume playing; it should now play without stopping. You can tell how much of the class has loaded by looking at the controller bar at the bottom of the player window. You will see the bar fill in with gray, from left to right, as the class loads. Once the controller bar is completely filled in with gray, the class has finished loading and you should be able to watch with no problem.
How long do I have before my session gets timed out?
Your session will be timed out after 2 hours (120 minutes) at which point you may be asked to log back in.
Can I watch a class on my ipad/iphone/internet tv/ other really cool gadget?
At ELI we love cool technologies as much as the next guy but unfortunately at this time classes can only be viewed on a computer. Keep on checking in though as we plan to offer iPad compatibility in the near future.
I’m having technical problems, who should I contact?
If you are having technical problems please send an email to info@eventleadershipinstitute.com with the subject line: “Tech Support” and we will do our best to help you out as soon as possible.
PURCHASING CLASSES
What's your Cancellation/Return Policy? What's with the Money Back Guarantee?
At the Event Leadership Institute we stand behind our content. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with your purchase, we will gladly refund your money within 30 days of your purchase date for individual classes and annual subscriptions. For monthly subscriptions, we will refund your purchase within 7 days of your first months purchase, provided you have viewed less than 3 classes. Remember, with a monthly subscription there is no commitment and you can cancel at any time. All we ask is that you provide us with some feedback as to why the class or subscription did not meet your needs so that we can improve it in the future. To process a return, please send an email to info@EventLeadershipInstitute.com, with the subject line "Returns" and indicate:
• Name of item you purchased
• Purchase date
• Purchase price
• Reason you were not satisfied
• Your name, telephone, and e-mail, and the best time and method to contact you.
Is my credit card info safe?
Yes. We utilize industry leader Authorize.net to process all credit card information; we don’t store any of it ourselves. Authorize.Net is uncompromising when it comes to providing merchants with secure, trustworthy payment gateway services. For receiving and transmitting customer payment information, Authorize.Net implements the most advanced Internet security protocols including 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). On top of that, Authorize.Net consistently employs an extensive number of strong practices, procedures, and industry-leading technologies to maintain tight security for the entire payment gateway platform. We also maintain compliance with high quality security programs developed by the card associations, such as Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) and MasterCard Site Data Protection (SDP); and are continually investing time and money to maximize the security surrounding the payment gateway.
How can I use my promo code?
Woohoo! You get to save! To enter your promo code, click on the “buy now” button on the class page. The class details will be presented on the next page and you will see “Have a promo code?” in the top center of the box. Click on it, enter your code, and your discount will be automatically applied. Coupon codes for monthly subscriptions are entered when you type in your credit card. Unless you have specifically been given a PARTNER code DO NOT use the "partner code" box or you will get an error message.
Once I buy a class, how often can I watch it?
Once you have paid for a class you may watch it as many times as you like.
Once I buy a class, how long can I keep it?
Currently classes are set to expire one (1) calendar year from the date of purchase. It’s not that we want to take the class away from you, we just want to make sure that all of our material stays current. However, if you choose to suspend your membership the system will only "remember" your classes for 60 days. If you renew after that point you will, unfortunately, have to reselect your classes.
Can I share my classes with my friends and colleagues?
Classes purchased on the ELI site are licensed for individual use only. If you would like to share the material we encourage you to use the “share this class” link to notify friends and colleagues that they might enjoy purchasing the class themselves. You may also consider purchasing a corporate plan for your team. For more information on corporate purchases please contact howard@eventleadershipinstitute.com with the subject line "corporate purchase"
I want to buy classes as a gift, what do I do?
Shoot us an email at info@EventLeadershipInstitute.com, and we’ll take care of this for you.
How can I buy classes for my employees?
We have a number of corporate plans available depending on the size of your team. We can also design custom programs for that can be executed live or online. In addition, we are also working on enabling a testing engine for each of our classes. Please email howard@EventLeadershipInstitute.com with the subject line “corporate purchase” for more details.
Do you offer student discounts?
Unfortunately, at this time we do not offer student discounts.
Can I get a subscription or membership to ELI?
Yes! We currently offer two forms of subscription, monthly and annually. The all inclusive subscription rates allow you to access all material on the ELI website for a monthly or flat fee. Annual subscribers get two (2) months free! Please note that the current rates are beta rates and will increase on December 31, 2011. Corporate subscriptions are also available.
QUESTIONS ABOUT WATCHING THE CLASSES
Can I download the classes I’ve purchased to my desktop?
Not at this time. Instead they must be streamed through our site, which enables you to log in and watch them from wherever you are. Plus, the system will remember which sections of a class you’ve already watched, so you don’t need to start from the beginning. But please let us know if downloading classes is important to you, and if there is significant demand for this functionality, we’ll develop it.
Can I watch video classes from multiple computers?
Yes, you can log in from any computer with your user id and password and watch any classes you’ve purchased; however your log in will only work on one computer at any given time.
Do I have to watch the whole class at once?
No, we know you are busy so our classes are broken up into smaller chapters specifically to give you flexibility to watch them whenever you want, and in any order you want. Once you watch a chapter you’ll see a “√” mark on the right hand side of the Table of Contents indicating you’ve already viewed it.
How can I keep track of the classes I’ve taken?
You can see a list of classes you have taken by logging in and clicking on “my classes” in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Within the class pages you will see that chapters that you have already viewed will be identified with a green check mark.
QUESTIONS ABOUT BECOMING AN INSTRUCTOR AND/OR SUBMITTING WRITTEN MATERIAL
How can I become an E.L.I. Instructor?
If you have expertise in the event industry we’d love to hear from you! Simply fill out the class submission form and email it back to Carolyn Ray, Education Director, at Carolyn@eventleadershipinstitute.com with the subject line: “class submission.” If accepted, we will get back to you within a week to schedule a development call.
How much time is involved in being an Instructor?
We take our content very seriously, and as such spend an average of 7 hours helping develop class material with each instructor. In addition, the instructor is expected to know the subject matter cold, and to prepare as diligently for their taping as if they were speaking live. Instructors may also be requested to provide limited support to users who have purchased their class.
How can I submit a white paper, e-book, or other written content?
If you have written a piece that relates to the event industry we’d love to hear from you! Simply fill out the Written Content Submission Form and email it back to Carolyn Ray, Education Director, at Carolyn@eventleadershipinstitute.com. If accepted, we will get back to you within a week to review the content more extensively.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CERTIFICATION AND EDUCATION CREDITS
Do you offer certification?
The short answer is no. The long answer is that we are working on creating a certification program that will provide value and maintain the high standards of education that we feel are necessary in the event industry.
Do your programs count as Continuing Education Credits toward my CMP (Certified Meeting Professional)?
Yes, most of our classes do count as Continuing Education credits toward a CMP, as we are mindful of the CMP Blueprint when developing content. The amount of credits correlates roughly to the length of time of a given class. The exact credit amount is posted on each individual class page.
OTHER QUESTIONS
How can I find out when new content is added?
We will be offering new content on a regular basis so please come back and visit us regularly. That said, we know that you are busy and might prefer to sign up for email alerts by clicking here.
I have a question about class material. Who should I contact?
Our instructors are amazing and are willing to answer questions about class material. Please contact the instructor directly by clicking on the instructor name on the class page or on the instructor’s page. This will bring you to their profile and provide information on how to contact them. We do ask that you recognize that our instructors are extremely busy and may only be able to offer limited support. That said, they will be happy to help as best as they can.
My question isn’t listed above, who should I contact?
We’re sorry we didn’t answer your question here. Please contact info@eventleadershipinstitute.com and we will get your question answered as soon as possible.