There's no doubt about it—2005 is turning out to be a banner year for the Alexandria, VA-based Convention Industry Council's Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) program. Not only does the CMP celebrate its 20th birthday this year, but the program reached another milestone when the number of meeting planners with the venerable designation topped 10,000 in January.
Given the increasing complexity of the conditions that meeting planners are working in, it's no coincidence that the CMP program is riding high. Meetings are under more scrutiny than ever, thanks to ongoing budgetary pressure and a more rigorous approach to sourcing and procurement in the post-recession business environment. Plus, the increasingly litigious nature of the industry adds to educational push, as does the ongoing pressure planners face to keep up with new developments in all the diverse areas of meetings, from technology to transportation to food and beverage.
So, let's have a closer look at the industry's most renowned certification program, and what it means to those involved.
True Professionals
"One of the marks of a profession is that it has a designation," says Mary Power, president and CEO of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) in McLean, VA, the meetings industry umbrella association that administers the CMP. The CIC is the meetings industry's largest trade organization, made up of 31 member associations that represent some 100,000 individuals and 15,000 firms and venues involved in the meetings industry. "Consider fields like accounting, law, and medicine," she says. "All of these professions have designations and codes of ethics. So with the CMP program, we're showing that being a meeting professional is a career, not just a job."
And Power's theory that the CMP designation adds professional legitimacy to the holder is borne out in the marketplace. Planners and suppliers alike profess respect for the CMP program and for holders of the designation, who are more desirable as employees and may even be able to command better wages. The CIC monitors job postings for meeting professionals, Powers says, and some 80 percent of the listings they've recently encountered indicate that CMPs are either required or preferred. "To me," says Powers, "this is an indication of our successful work."
Patty Magalnick, CMP, president of Perfect Meetings and Conventions in Orlando FL, earned her CMP five years ago. She says the professional designation sends a clear message of competency to her professional counterparts. "When I got my CMP, I was planning meetings at a large corporation," she explains. "And the CMP definitely added to my credibility within the organization. After I got the CMP my superiors gave me opportunities to work on larger events that I didn't have before."
And now that she's running her own business, Magalnick says that her CMP designation sends a similar message to her customers. "My clients often ask what the CMP designation is, and when I tell them, I really think it gives them a higher comfort level, because they know my decisions are based on proven successes. They don't worry about the details of the meetings, because they know I have years of experience, and this gives them a high level of comfort."
Respect for the CMP program in the planning community has led many supplier organizations to encourage their top salespeople and support staff to apply for the designation, and today a fifth of all CMP holders are suppliers. The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, is a CMP-friendly organization, says Keith Sexton-Patrick, CMP, director of convention services. Eighteen staffers at the Mohegan Sun are CMPs, he says, where the policy is that all convention services managers must either hold CMPs at the time they're hired, or qualify as CMPs within the first year of employment.
Beyond affirming the competency of those employees, Sexton-Patrick says, the CMP creates a special bond of trust between convention services managers and their meeting planner clients, many of whom also hold the designation. "If two people go through the same fraternity or sorority, even if it's on two different college campuses, there is a bond," says Sexton-Patrick. "With the CMP it's similar. Regardless of where you studied and took the test, you went through the same thing, and this forms a springboard for working together."
How it Works
The meetings industry is home to a veritable alphabet soup of professional designations, from Meeting Professionals International's Certification in Meeting Management, to the International Association for Exhibition Management's designation of Certified in Exhibition Management, to the granddaddy of them all, the CMP. But how does the CMP program maintain its relevancy and position of primacy? With lots of hard work, says CIC CEO Mary Power.
The CIC offers the CMP exam in three different sessions every year—just before Meeting Professionals International's Professional Education Conference and World Education Conference, both annual shows that occur in different locations around the world, and once again at the Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events (IMEX), held each year in Frankfurt, Germany. And each time an exam session is held, says Power, the test is also administered, always in English, at up to 30 additional domestic and international sites. The multiple-choice exam covers 27 areas of the profession, and is continually updated by CMP holders who volunteer for the task. The finishing touches are applied by two psychometricians, testing experts employed by CIC to perfect the exam.
But before they may sit for the CMP exam, candidates must first qualify to take the test. And qualifying can be a challenge, Power explains. First, applicants must show that they have at least three years' experience in the meetings industry. Then they must demonstrate significant accomplishments in five different areas: meetings management experience, operational and management experience, industry involvement, education, and leadership. Only candidates who qualify in all five areas may take the exam.
Becoming a CMP is a difficult process, Power admits. But it's worth it.