Welcome New CMP Certification Coordinator Belinda H. Thompson

In March, Belinda H. Thompson joined CIC as the Project Coordinator of the CMP Program. Belinda comes to CIC with more than 20 years of exceptional customer service experience from the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau (now San Diego Tourism Authority).

You come to CIC from the San Diego Tourism Authority, where you most recently worked as the National Sales Director. What do you hope to bring from that position or from your previous positions that will help you in your new role as Certification Coordinator of the CMP Program?

Coming from a Top 10 ranking destination, I will be able to utilize my knowledge of the hospitality industry and relationship-building skills in my new position working directly with meeting professionals and the CMP program.

What will be your main focus over the course of your first year with CIC?

Working toward being able to thoroughly explain the nuances and answer questions about applying for and/or taking the CMP examination. My focus will be to provide timely responses to the many inquiries coming into the office. I'm also focused on enhancing our standard operational procedures for customer service.

What’s a typical day for you like?

A typical day would consist of working with meeting professionals to answer their questions and help them through the certification or recertification process. I get to interact with our CMPs and candidates in so many ways – in addition to email and telephone calls, we're connecting with them on social media networks like Twitter or LinkedIn. Wherever they're comfortable reaching out to us, I'll be there. The CMP is a large international program so it takes lots of teamwork to make it run. So I also assist the Certification Director and Certification Manager with additional projects.

You will be going to Conclave next month for the first time. What are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to meeting and greeting the CMPs who will be in attendance and experiencing the event. I also look forward to gathering intelligence from the planners about the state of their meetings in the present economy.

Share with us something about yourself we wouldn't be able to guess by looking at you.

Most people would not guess from my outgoing personality that I’m also really reserved and introverted at times.

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a
program of the Convention Industry Council

Convention Industry Council
700 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 510
Alexandria, VA, USA, 22314
Tel: 571-527-3116