Looking Back – A Year in Review

I can’t believe it’s already the end of another year. As I look back for a brief moment, I think about my time and what I did to make a difference in the lives of others. Well, I must say, I was quite busy this year and sometimes wondered how I found the time to do all the things that I did. But I can tell you, as chair of the CMP Board, we (the CMP Board and CIC Staff) have been busy working hard to accomplish the goals set in the beginning of the year. Though many of us serve in various other volunteer capacities, we dedicated countless hours to serving on behalf of our CMP community to ensure the CMP Program remained the best, most recognized certification in the meetings industry. And part of that commitment meant continuing to represent our CIC member organizations at meetings, even amidst a challenging travel environment, to ensure our interest in the meetings industry was voiced.

Here are just a few highlights of the work we accomplished this past year:

Updated the CMP Strategic Framework pillars to stay current in addressing the professional needs of CMPs. A recap of the three pillars are: 1) relevance – focus on best practices, 2) expansion – ongoing work to raise the global profile of the CMP, and 3) value proposition -- continuing to build awareness of the value of professional certification. Established new task forces to support the strategic goals.
Hosted a successful Conclave in Spokane, Washington. Attendees are still talking about their experiences, the education sessions, speakers and destination.
CIC beta tested the new CMP Health Care Subspecialty (CMP-HC) Program in late November. CIC is currently analyzing the results of the exam and setting the passing score before officially launching the new program in May 2014.
Hosted the first-ever Town Hall in Birmingham, Alabama. CMPs from all over Alabama, and as far away as Atlanta and Tennessee, joined board members and CIC staff to discuss the importance of the CMP designation, emerging trends in the industry and what keeps them up at night. Positive feedback was received from the attendees, including a recommendation that we continue hosting this event in the future to allow other CMPs the opportunity to dialog face-to-face with the board and CIC.
Honored three of our fellow board members for their extraordinary achievements in the meetings industry: Eduardo Chaillo – 2013 CIC Hall of Leaders Inductee; Carol Krugman – PCMA 2013 Educator of the Year and Janet Sperstad – PCMA Education Foundation 2014 Professional Achievement Honoree.

I would also like to take this time to extend my sincere appreciation to the CMP Board and CIC team who dedicated their personal time and commitment to serving on behalf of our CMP community this past year.

I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Melody Kebe, CMP, CGMP
Chair, CMP Board of Directors

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