The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Convene® magazine is launching the Convene CMP Series starting in August 2010. The meetings of industry professionals will have a convenient new resource for qualifying for Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) certification/re-certification and earning the required continuing education units (CEU).
Certification Made Possible is a monthly package of must-read articles organized around CMP knowledge areas. The articles will be combined with an online testing component created by PCMA that will help assess reader’s comprehension, confirm and earn their CEUs.
“Convene is widely known as the top educational magazine of the meetings industry. Now we’re raising the bar with an industry-first program that makes earning CEUs, qualifying for a CMP application and re-certification, easy and convenient,” said Deborah Sexton, PCMA president and CEO and publisher of Convene. “We’re leading the industry in delivering value through the magazine and helping our readers to get the CEUs they need for their CMP at the same time.”
Each Convene issue will feature an article focused on a CMP knowledge area such as attendance building, dynamic meeting experiences, sponsorships, new member recruitment, business trends, leadership, and more.
After reading the article, either alone or in combination with other online archived articles on the same topic, Convene readers can visit a link with an online test and complete an essay that will assess their comprehension. Those who complete the test and essay will qualify for 0.1 CEU from each issue. The combined reading, essay and testing will total one clock hour toward CMP application and re-certification.
Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, CEO of the Convention Industry Council says, “CIC is delighted that Convene is launching their new educational series and providing another option designed to make gaining continuing education hours for the CMP certification or recertification easier. As the demand for the CMP designation increases globally, it is critical to reach and provide as many educational opportunities and access for all industry professionals.”
In order to apply for CMP certification or re-certification, individuals must earn 25 clock hours of continuing education. Current CMP members are required to renew their certification every five years; to be recertified, they must earn a minimum of 60 points on the recertification application.
“The new CMP CEU Series is natural extension of Convene’s mission to give readers the tools to excel in the meeting planning profession,” said Convene Editor-in-Chief Michelle Russell. “We’ll be working closely with PCMA’s to package informative articles around key CMP topic areas and make it easy for readers to earn CEUs.”
