Stu is at your service

I AM NOW a Certified Hospitality Professional.

You got a problem with that, Bozo?

I watched six videos (average length: 10 minutes), I took six quizzes (average number of questions: five) - everything online. Aced them all. I haven't seen so many 100s since I spent July in Macon, Ga.

The certification is the brainchild of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB), and while it is intended mainly for those in the "hospitality industry" - cabdrivers, bellhops, restaurant servers, front-counter personnel at tourist attractions - the public can be certified, too.

Learning the tricks of customer satisfaction, applied to daily life, could give Philadelphia a kinder, gentler reputation, instead of the rude, brotherly shove handle we now "enjoy."

Courtesy needn't diminish our prized attytude. I wouldn't like that. But stepping out of our comfort zone might mean that more people will like us and want to visit us (and spend their money here).

I mean, how hard is it to meet or exceed people's expectations? OK, it can be hard (some people are jackasses and I hope my certification won't be revoked for telling the truth).

The instructional videos contain some simple advice - smile, make eye contact, nod to show you are listening, repeat key words when someone is making a request to be certain you are getting it straight - and deeper pointers on calming emotional situations. Maybe that's why the Philadelphia Parking Authority is using the course as part of its overall training program.

The videos are narrated by an African-American actor with a lyrical name, Tosin Morohunfola. Each video is followed by the brief quiz with multiple choices. Some choices are intended to be laughably easy, while others require a bit of thought.

This version of the training video - it's called "PHL Welcomes U"- grew out of a training film developed for trade unions by the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The center brought in Phil Bruno's Treat 'em Right company, which touched base with PCVB to get materials used in the videos.

That sparked an idea, PCVB president Jack Ferguson told me.

Hospitality is our third-largest employer, Ferguson says, and the "PHL Welcome U" course is designed partly as a refresher course for those already in service careers, but also "to engage new people that might be thinking about hospitality" as a career.

Regardless of what brought them to Philly, "we get feedback from travelers," says Ferguson, from people who say Philadelphians are friendly and helpful and others who say Philadelphians - Ferguson chooses his words carefully here - "are not warm and fuzzy."

"PHL Welcomes U" was announced about a month ago, and more than 300 people have completed the course, which you can find at phlwelcomesu.com. Go to the website, click on the "enroll" button, fill out a brief form and then wait for the administrator to give you a password. (This won't be instantaneous.)

If you successfully complete the quizzes - 80 percent is a passing grade on each - you get a certificate with which to impress your friends.

Ferguson says it cost about $100,000 to set up the 90-minute program, which is free for individuals.

I am happy to have been of service. I hope I have met or exceeded your expectations.

If not, buzz off. (Oops. Sorry.)