MPI outlines core skills
Meeting planning requires a number of skills, from contract negotiating and marketing to time management and organization. But how about 172 skills? That’s how many Meeting Professionals International indicated would make a perfect planner, including 33 primary skills and 139 sub-skills related to the main ones. MPI developed the list with the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council, creating the 87-page Meeting and Business Events Competency Standards. MPI officials hope the report will help guide requirements in the CMP certification process, college event-management programs and industry training classes. “These standards are arguably one of the most important resources we have ever had in terms of professional development and career enhancement,” said Bruce MacMillan, MPI president and CEO. For the main skills, the report lists the time it takes to master, how often the skill is used and its level of importance in the overall job. A few of the primary planning skills include managing a meeting or event project, measuring the value of a meeting or business event, developing financial resources, acquiring staff and volunteers, selecting site, managing a marketing plan and exhibiting professional behavior.
“It is one thing to call ourselves professionals and another thing altogether to be regarded and respected as professionals by organizations and employers outside the meeting industry,” said Carol Krugman, CMP, CMM, director of meeting and business event management at Metropolitan State College of Denver. “Having recognized standards will provide the necessary framework and increased credibility we have been seeking for decades.” The entire report can be downloaded here.
