CIC Shares its Biggest Accomplishments in 2016

As another year comes to a close, CIC is looking ahead to the future. Yet, before we look ahead we first want to share with you what has been successfully accomplished in 2016. This year, CIC made significant headway in advancing its charge to champion the economic and social value of the convention, meeting, exhibition and events industry. Here’s a look at the year in review.

In 2016, the CMP Governance Commission set the framework for the CMP program’s strategic goals through the year 2020. The plan, named Vision 2020, includes the three pillars of influence each strategic initiative will address. In the chart above, the three pillars – Rigor, Relevance and Value – include the questions the Commission will answer as they move the program into the future.

All "Common Knowledge" statements were eliminated. This information is often redundant from one domain to the next and is not included on exam.
Domain J: Professionalism was eliminated because this knowledge is included in the CMP Standards of Ethical Conduct, which all CMPs and potential CMPs must sign and agree to abide by.

Continuing education requirements for the CMP exam have been modified: of the 25 clock hours needed to be eligible for the exam, 20% (5 hours) may be non-industry-specific if the learning objective of the activity relates to one of the 10 domains in the CMP International Standards.
All CMPs in their grace period ("lapsed status") must submit their recertification application no later than March 31or their CMP will be expired. Expired certifications must take and pass the CMP exam to become certified again.
Continuing education requirements for the CMP-HC exam application have been modified from 15 to five continuing education activities.

CIC awarded the CMP designation to 824 meeting professionals.
As of 12.9.2016, 1003 CMPs were recertified (Note that the majority of recertification applications arrive between 12.1 and 12.31).
As of 12.9.2016, 1215 people applied to take the CMP exam.

2016 marked the second full year that the CMP application and recertification process were completed entirely online. Building on the technological developments, the corresponding CMP Preferred Provider Program (CMP-PP) grew by over 10%. The CMP-PP helps streamline the process of reporting and tracking continuing education hours needed for certification and recertification by pre-approving education sessions and activities that align with the CMP International Standards. Since its launch in 2016, CIC now has over 150 CMP Preferred Providers and looks forward to continued growth and expansion in 2017.

CIC debuted the CMP Career Center this summer, a new online resource for employment connections in the meetings and events industry. With its focus on companies and professionals within the meetings, conventions and events industry either looking for employees with the CMP designation or highlighting jobs that prefer the designation, the new CMP Career Center will offer the industry at large – an easy-to-use and highly targeted resource for online employment connections. CIC also released job toolkits both from an employer and employee’s perspective.

Two large projects were released in 2016 along with the expansion of high level leadership on the committee itself. The two projects included the launch of the RFP Strategy Guide and the update to the APEX Industry Glossary.

The APEX Standards Committee released the RFP Strategy Guide on Event Internet and Communications, with the inclusion of a fill-in excel resource. This resource was created from the challenges in the market due to the fact that the complexity of internet for meetings is continuing to rise along with the required due diligence around sourcing of services, pricing, and value. The guide serves as way for industry professionals to initiate and steer the conversation with a venue about an event’s Internet and Communications needs. This guide was featured in MeetingsNet and SmartMeetings.

The CIC Glossary is recognized as one of the most comprehensive guides to terminology in the industry. Over 150 CMP volunteers contributed to the update lead by APEX Standards Committee Members Gary Murakami CTC, GLP, GTP, CMP of MGM Resorts International and Carol Norfleet CMP, DMCP of Destination Nashville. With approximately 1,400 terms defined, the Glossary is a key reference for the specialized terminology and acronyms used throughout the convention industry. Notable additions to the 2016 version include a British/English Style Guide and an Appendix on Bandwidth Terms.

This year CIC made a great stand in taking on the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) with specific charter & mandate to advocate and educate around sustainability in the meetings, events, and exhibitions industry operating under the direction of its board. The collaboration of the two organizations has provided both CIC and GMIC with a greater ability to deliver information, tools and resources on sustainability standards and best practices.

This fall CIC announced the results of a new research project, "Sustainable Meeting and Event Practices: The State of the Industry." The study findings were presented in October at IMEX America, in Las Vegas, NV.

The research conducted by the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, revealed preferences of meeting professionals when sourcing meetings in accordance with sustainability practices. The study surveyed global end-user meeting professionals, third-party meeting professionals, and suppliers with more than 150 responses received and participation from 5 continents.

Overall the results showed there is confusion in the marketplace around the multiple standards and certifications that are prevalent in regards to sustainable events. Respondents also voiced a desire for common, simplified metrics to measure sustainable practices. These results have lead GMIC to aim for a streamlined strategic direction in the future with a focus on the update to the APEX/ASTM Standards. Download executive summary.

From a broader perspective, under CIC’s leadership, GMIC made great strides in organizing their business assets and components. Some key accomplishments include implementing a new governance structure by forming a new global Leadership Committee with participants from 4 countries to lead the efforts of GMIC.

The overall content delivery was also overhauled and re-launched with the new GMIC Webinar Series delivering a diverse scope of education relevant to sustainability for all audiences, these resources are also available on demand and provide CE credits for both current CMPs and candidates. Additional resources include the publication of seven, "How To Guides" and comprehensive F& B white paper to help meeting professionals establish sustainable practices.

CIC also held the Sustainable Meetings Conference in Baltimore this fall which was strategically co-located with the CMP Conclave providing the opportunity for a wider audience to attend sustainable education sessions.

Reinforcing our belief that industry leaders should also be its strongest and most vocal advocates, CIC was proud to participate in organizing the first-ever Global Meetings Industry Day (NAMID) on April 14, 2016. Spearheaded by the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, of which CIC is a proud member, GMID brought together industry professionals across the world to showcase the substantial value of meetings, conferences, conventions, incentive travel, trade shows and exhibitions. The resulting coverage reinforced the reach and impact of meetings, with the event leaving its mark on both social and traditional media outlets.

Building on the success of last year’s GMIC, CIC is gearing up for the second Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) on April 6, 2017, which will bring together industry professionals across the world to showcase the substantial value of meetings, conferences, conventions, incentive travel, trade shows and exhibitions. In 2016, 12 APEX RFP guides were being revised for release in 2017. As we look toward the new year, we are excited about unveiling new initiatives that build on past successes and partnerships that create new opportunities for the association to engage with our global community of CMPs and increase thought leadership and research avenues in the coming years.

Working with our partners, IMEX, we've launched a new IMEX-GMIC Green Award for 2017 - the all-encompassing Innovation in Sustainability Award, designed to celebrate inspiring event professionals driving sustainability forwards through innovation, collaboration and idea sharing. The Award recognises the meeting owner, planner, venue or other key suppliers, rather than individual achievements by a single supplier or event. Applications can be found here and are due by 1 March 2017. We'll present the Award at the Gala Dinner at IMEX in Frankfurt 2017.

GMIC collaborated with IAEE to develop sustainable resources for the exhibitions industry. The resources can be found here. Included on the page are recommendations of guiding principles for designing sustainable exhibitions, links to white papers and how-to-guides developed by GMIC, and case studies from past IMEX-GMIC award winners and other leaders in sustainable exhibitions.