My CMP Story: Steve Levin, CMPs & the Transportation Industry

I’m not what you would call your "typical" CMP. I don’t plan meetings for a living, but I attend many. As the current President-Elect for the San Diego Chapter of MPI, I’m very involved in the meetings and events industry. In my day job, I own a company called Sterling Rose Transportation. We are a full-service chauffeured transportation company that focuses on the needs of the meetings and events industry. I founded it 10 years ago when I acquired a limousine company in Temecula, California. The Temecula Valley is known as Southern California’s Wine Country, and our business was about weddings and wine tours, limousines and limo coaches. Then I joined MPI. I’ve been a member of MPI for about seven years. Prior to that, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as the meetings and events industry. With SDMPI, I was asked to volunteer almost immediately and jumped at the opportunity. Being new to the industry, I thought that having a reason to reach out to contact chapter members would help gain exposure for Sterling Rose. My company became a preferred partner to a local hotel and soon learned about the world of manifests and group transportation.

With MPI, I began attending nearly every event I could, mainly for the purpose expanding my knowledge of the industry and, of course, for networking opportunities. With each passing year, my role in the chapter was elevated. I became a Committee Chair, Director, Vice President and now serve as the President-Elect for the chapter. The more I became involved, the more my company changed direction to focus on the meetings and events industry. We began selling limousines and replacing them with sedans and our limo coaches became mini-coaches. With my chapter involvement, I met new people, and we became a preferred provider to more hotels in San Diego. We relocated our business from Temecula to Escondido, located in North San Diego County, to be more closely located to our market.

A couple of years ago, I realized that although I had been attending SDMPI education sessions for the primarily for the purpose of networking these past years, I had also been getting an education. In addition, it occurred to me that many of the clients we were now working with were CMPs. I thought, "Wouldn’t it be great to show my commitment to the Industry by pursuing my CMP, just to let them know that I understand what is involved in the entire scope of putting a meeting together?" I could say, "I understand that transportation is a small but vital role in the entire scheme of your event. Let me manage that for you, and you can focus on the rest of the program." It seemed to me that hearing those words from someone that obtained their CMP would carry more weight than from someone who was just giving a sales pitch.

I decided to move forward and submitted my application for the CMP exam. I was approved and immediately signed up for our CMP study group at SDMPI. It had been many years since breaking out a textbook and highlighter, but it all came back pretty quickly. I worked hard, attending all of the study group sessions and took the mock exam. I felt very prepared, especially for someone that does not plan meetings day in and day out. I was part of the first computerized testing group, so we still all had to wait eight weeks for our results. When I received the email telling me that I had passed, I was ecstatic.

I believe that this process has opened the door to additional opportunities for my company. It reflects well on the hotels that we serve when they hand their clients my business card and can say that the preferred transportation company president is a CMP. I have attended some of the SDMPI study group sessions when recent CMPs are brought in to serve on a panel. My message is that if someone like me with little prior knowledge of the industry can study the material and pass the exam, then surely those that live and breathe it day in and day out can do the same. I am very happy I made the decision to obtain my CMP and would recommend the same to industry suppliers out there.

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a
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