Take the First Step Towards the CMP-HC

If there is a mountain, you may stand at the bottom looking up... in 10 minutes time, you may decide that you are not going to climb... give it some thought and you come up with why NOT to do it ... too busy, other things to do, too hard, not prepared. But don’t look up, take it right then in front of you. Take that first step!

What... Worry about how to get it done later? This is actually NOT like me... I am a PLANNER.

I PLAN everything, down to the small details, but in this case, I did not plan before I made the decision to take the inaugural CMP-HC exam. I did not analyze it. I just completed the paperwork and submitted. After taking the first step, THEN I put my plan into place to achieve it. How I was going to study, what I was going to study, when I was going to study. When I told my husband that evening, in a departure from his always supportive attitude, he told me I was CRAZY, "... you’re too busy, you have other things to do, no time to study, no time to schedule the exam."

Scheduling the exam and giving myself just 3 weeks for preparation, I put together my plan. I started reading as many of the reference documents as possible. I took lots of notes and studied my notes. I make up possible test questions in my head. I also relied on my years of experience. There were some things that I just did not know before I began to study because the field is very broad. There were specific areas that were outside my practical experience, like working with animals or cadavers. Reading and learning about these gave me a different perspective on aspects of meeting planner responsibilities aside from my own experiences. There were also many acronyms so I paid special attention to those.

I took the Beta CMP-HC exam in November 2013, just prior to Thanksgiving and passed. I felt very confident throughout the test as I realized that through the combination of my experience and my study efforts, I was well prepared.

I currently work in the procurement function of my company and am a subject matter expert in Meetings and Events. I am passionate about helping my business stakeholders in support of Commercial Sales & Marketing Meetings, HCP attended Investigator & Advisory Board Meetings, and internal meetings. The CMP-HC designation is one way to show them that I know about their business priorities, compliance and reporting. By advancing my career with the CMP-HC, I feel very confident of my role in supporting the business’s needs.

Disclaimer: The views I express in this article are my own personal perspective, and are not those of my employer, AstraZeneca, or any other corporate, regulatory or official authority.

About Carol Collins, CMP-HC -
Carol holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from York College of PA, and a Certificate in Event Management from George Washington University. In addition, Carol has held a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation from the Convention Industry Council (CIC) since 1999. As of February 2014, Carol is among the first 54 CMP's to achieve the HealthCare designation (CMP-HC) through the Convention Industry Council (CIC). She has over twenty years of meeting, event and convention planning and project management experience.

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

Convention Industry Council
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Alexandria, VA, USA, 22314
Tel: 571-527-3116