Madrid Training Week Two: Traditions and Firsts

Training in Madrid is moving into its second week, which always means some new faces. As always, trainees hail from around the globe: Sweden, Jordan, UAE and Ireland—just to name a few. Several have interesting stories regarding their travels to Madrid and you will be reading those soon. Rumours of ‘swine flu’ and other travel hindrances have certainly not dampened anyone’s resolve. Perhaps this is just an example of the tenacity and perseverance required to be a revenue assurance professional!

When you are in Spain, you have to experience the bullfights, and those who stayed over the weekend did just that. The tradition of bull fighting is a controversial subject, even among Spaniards, so it is no surprise that there was a mix of reactions depending on the attendee’s cultural background. But regardless of each person’s response, it was a chance to get outside the training room and spend some time together socially. Many used the free time to enjoy a host of other tourist attractions, some even had the chance to enjoy time with family and friends.

Exciting Firsts for GRAPA

For the attendees who are still here, this week of Manager Training is already their second week, which means certification is getting ever closer. And as people move towards accumulating 80 hours of class time after last week’s successful Core Training, we are looking forward to certifying three more GRAPA members as Masters of Revenue Assurance. Our trainees tend to come from different areas of the telecommunications world–from management to IT.

So it is even more exciting that we will be certifying our first revenue assurance professional in Information Technology (IT) as well as our first revenue assurance consultant. I think it is significant that this is the first time our Manager Class is larger than the first week’s core training. That more people are seeking this type of advanced training and high-level certification indicates a pent up desire for revenue assurance professionals to be viewed with ever greater credibility and stature.