Each year, the Convention Industry Council invites you to see professional development differently during two and a half days of cutting edge courses that will leave you better equipped to take your career to the next level. Collaborate and network with some of the industry's most experienced and innovative leaders in the Reno, Nevada.

CONCLAVE IS THE EVENT TO: 

• Earn continuing education credit toward CMP recertification 
• Take home valuable education 
• Learn from and exchange ideas with fellow CMPs
• Network with leaders in the industry
• Help set the future direction of the CMP Program 

So, SAVE THE DATE!   CMP Conclave 2015 , September 26-28 in Reno, NV! Registration will open shortly! For now, you can go ahead and make hotel reservations at the incredible Grand Sierra Resort and Casino! 

 

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Program is celebrating 30 years in 2015! We invite you to join CIC as we recognize 30 years of achievement, professional development, growth and distinction. Over the course of the coming months, we invite you to participate in our anniversary activities, culminating in a special 30th Anniversary celebration, honoring the founders and very first class of CMPs, at the 2015 CMP Conclave, September 26-28, 2015 in Reno, Nevada. Whether you've had your CMP for 30 years, 3 years, or a month, this is a celebration you won't want to miss! 

We have a big announcement coming early next month! Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks and be sure to connect with us on social media, join our Facebook Event page to get the latest information on #CMP30 and much more! If you are interested in getting involved with the celebration, please contact us at events@conventioinindustry.org.

 

Are you a CMP attending IMEX Frankfurt? Are you interested in making sure the CMP exam includes questions that are relevant on a global level? The Convention Industry Council invites all CMPs attending IMEX Frankfurt to join your peers for a session where you will be guided on how to write exam questions that may be included in future CMP examinations. Attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis and lunch will be served. All attendees will receive recertification credit for their participation. You must have a current CMP certification to participate. Click Here to register for this writing session. If you have questions, please email gdahlman@conventionindustry.org. 

 

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.

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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.

 

By: Bandwidth and High Speed Internet Access (HSIA) for Events Workgroup 


The Open Internet or Net Neutrality is big news again as the FCC recently took steps to protect it.

But what is Net Neutrality? Net Neutrality is the concept that Internet Service Providers (ISP) should enable access to all data on the Internet without any discrimination— each website, user and application should be treated equally. It’s been the basis of the Internet since its inception and it means that ISPs can’t slow down some traffic (say Netflix for example) in favor of their own video streaming service – everyone has a level playing field.

For a light-hearted look at the problem, check out John Oliver’s take on things. After this video was first broadcast in June 2014, four (4) million Americans to made comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding net neutrality.

Net Neutrality is still big news and recently, the FCC took steps to protect it. How? Well, in short, the FCC just granted itself powers to set rules around the conduct of Internet Service Providers by using the 1934 Telecommunications Act – something called Title II reclassification. Supporters of this position say that the FCC isn’t looking to make a lot of changes except to prevent ISPs from moving to a "pay to play" model for content providers and that the FCC had to do it this way, based on a 2010 court case that prevented the FCC from taking this step under the old rules. Opponents of reclassification call it government overreach. The truth as always is somewhere in the middle. Nothing changes immediately. FCC merely gave itself the authority to set the rules – but didn’t actually set any... yet. They did give us some insight though as to what those rules will be: 

• No Blocking: broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
• No Throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. 
• No Paid Prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration – in other words, no "fast lanes." This rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates.

For the meetings industry this initially looks like good news since the alternative would have meant venue selection to include specific research on the venue’s ISP and which content deals they made; an almost impossible task.

The ISPs on the other hand say that the rules stifle their ability to invest in their networks in order to keep up with the huge extra demand placed on them (for no additional compensation) from companies like Netflix and Facebook and are over burdensome.

Overall the change raises more questions than it does answers: 

• Will FCC only enact the minimum of rules to keep data neutral? Or will it use it to introduce a new tax on data?
• Will ISPs continue to invest and will they increase prices to consumers to do it if they can’t get money from the content providers?
• Will Congress step in and modify the FCCs approach?
• Will hotels have to abide by the same rules when delivering bandwidth to their customers? Will they be allowed to throttle based on content – even if it’s desirable to save the meeting from overusing bandwidth?

The answer, as always, is wait and see. In the meantime, take some time to read up on Net Neutrality, as this issue will not only affect you in your personal life, but very possibly impact the way you have to do business in the future. 

Interested in these and other related topics? Join the APEX LinkedIn Group. 

 

Sustainable Planning – Don’ts and Dos – 
Look to the standards on: Supplier Requirements

Don’t be intimidated by the Supplier Performance Requirements in the standards; they help assure a sustainable event.

Do make sure to comply with the supplier requirements according to the standards which can be accessed Here. If you read the standards, you’ll know what is expected, so you can meet industry standards.

CIC making it easier:  If you don’t have the time to create a management system to meet the standards, use the SMPP® found at www.SustainableMeetingPlanner.com. Use the CIC50 discount code to register.

If you have a question on the Don’ts and Dos according to the standards, send it through the Contact Us form at www.SustainableMeetingPlanner.com. 

 

CVB
Vikki Valencia Kelly, CMP
Convention Director, Visit Denver

Talk about longevity. Vikki Valencia Kelly has been with Visit Denver for 30 years, nearly 27 of those as director of convention services. Kelly works with 13 convention sales managers and oversees eight full-time convention services staff, including a convention housing department.

There was no grand plan to become a convention services director -- she fell into this industry. "I planned on being a hairdresser and owning my own salon. New to Denver, after my husband was transferred, it was tough to make a living as a hairdresser with no clientele. So, as an interim fix, I went back to my hospitality experience and interviewed with, at the time, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. I had no idea what a CVB was, but it was a perfect match for me," she says.

As a CSM at a CVB, Kelly says it's important to be a Jack-of-all-trades. She enjoys the fact that every day and every group she works with is different.

"It's exciting to be able to be a part of a major convention that brings an economic benefit to a city that I love. It's rewarding to be part of their team, be a problem solver, a liaison to your community, and provide an outstanding experience for the organization and its attendees," says Kelly.

HOTEL
Joe O'Donnell, CMP
Associate Director of Event
Management, Walt Disney World
Swan and Dolphin Resort

It's amazing how quickly Joe went from being a total stranger to a member of our team," says Jessica Schade Tamasi, manager of conferences and exhibits for Metal Powder Industries, based in Princeton, NJ. "It was evident he had reviewed the contracted space and walked into our first planning meeting having read everything that had been previously sent in preparation of the meeting. He was ready to go. He's one of those people who you know loves what he does and you know as his client he's there for you 100 percent."

O'Donnell has been with the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort for more than 12 years. These properties were built with meetings in mind, boasting over 329,000 square feet of flexible indoor meeting space with 110,500 square feet of convention/exhibit space. The hotels are currently getting the largest makeover in their history. A multi-phase, $125 million redesign is underway that will transform every guest room in the 758-room Swan Hotel and the 1,509-room Dolphin Hotel -- and will keep O'Donnell busy.

"It really is a special place and the success of our events is a result of the dedication and passion that flows from the heart of the house and throughout the entire cast," says O'Donnell. "Much of what we do in events on a daily basis seems to include major accomplishments, if not miracles, but somehow at the end of the day it's hard to put in to words what was accomplished."


From Successful Meetings Read the full article here. 

 

ASAE's Springtime Expo 2015
April 9, 2015
Walter E. Washington Convention Center 
CIC Booth #607
More information 


IMEX Frankfurt
Frankfurt, Germany
May 19-21, 2015
More information 

 

Leslie Barber, CMP is now Meeting Manager at American Express Meetings & Events

Bei Lin Du (Hattie), CMP  is now Associate Operations Director for MCI Group’s Shanghai office. Shew as previously Senior Account Manager.

Crystal M. Page, CMP is now Director, Meetings & Events for Clinical Care options in Reston, Va. 

Lauren Schaal, CMP is now a Meeting Coordinator of American Express Meetings & Events.

Karen Staples, CMP is now Managing Director of Business Development for Talley Management Group.

Tim Walker, CMP is now Senior Event Manager with Special D Events in Ferndale, MI.

Make an awesome career move? Let us help you celebrate! Send the details of your latest career triumph to  cmptoday@conventionindustry.org.  And while you're at it, be sure to log into www.conventionindustry.org and update your official CMP record.