Through the CMP program, individuals who are currently employed in meeting management have the opportunity to pursue continuing education, increase their industry involvement, and gain industry-wide recognition by achieving the CMP designation. The requirements for certification are based on professional experience and a written examination.

The foremost certification program of today’s meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry, the CMP program recognizes individuals who have achieved the industry’s highest standard of professionalism. Established in 1985, the CMP credential was developed to increase the proficiency of meeting professionals in any component or sector of the industry by:

• Identifying a body of knowledge;
• Establishing a level of knowledge and performance necessary for certification;
• Stimulating the advancement of the art and science of meeting management;
• Increasing the value of practitioners to their employers;
• Recognizing and raising industry standards, practices and ethics;
• Maximizing the value received from the products and services provided by Certified Meeting Professionals.

A Certification Board designated by CIC (Convention Industry Council) governs the program, and includes one representative from each planner organization of CIC and four representatives from the supplier category. The CMP Board seeks to represent the diversity that exists within the profession and serve as a voice for stakeholders who have an interest in maintaining a high meeting industry standard.

The elite CMP community now numbers over 12,000, with representatives from every sector of the industry – from corporations and associations to governmental and institutional organizations – in 32 countries.

Why Become a CMP?

• Recognition: As the premier industry certification, the CMP distinguishes holders as career professionals who have demonstrated a high level of experience, skill and knowledge.
• Competitive Advantage: The designation conveys credibility to a meeting professionals opinions and ideas, both at work and in the greater meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry.
• Peer Acceptance: CMPs are immediately recognized by other CMPs as fellow professionals committed to the advancement of the profession.
• Salary Enhancement: CMPs can use the certification as a competitive advantage when it comes to negotiating salaries and other business.
• Personal Achievement: After passing a rigorous application and examination process, CMPs express a profound sense of personal achievement at finally being regarded as the exceptionally skilled professional they are.
• Commitment: Successful completion of the certification process conveys that the certified meeting professional is committed and goal driven in their career.

Fees Associated with the CMP Program

Fees for the CMP Program run $225 for the CMP Application Fee and $450 for Exam Registration. If you have the experience and want to boost your position within your company or start your own business, having the CMP Certification is well worth the money.

For more information regarding the CMP Program, just check out their website.

Information provided by the CIC.

United Airlines announced it’s plan to charge some passengers a fee of $25 to check more than one bag. It will be charged to customers who purchase non-refundable, domestic economy tickets and who are not members of United’s frequent flier program, Mileage Plus. Currently, customers who are members of their Star Alliance partner programs will also be exempt. This move is expected to have many other airlines following suit in the coming months, according to a number of travel industry experts.

It’s not unheard of to only allow one checked bag (see my post on Virgin America); however, it has only been done on low-cost carriers. United is the first legacy carrier to implement the change and others will follow suit. In order to avoid the additional fee, I recommend you enroll in the frequent flier membership programs for all of the major carriers. Links to their membership programs are provided below.

US Airline Carriers:

• American Airline - AAdvantage
• Continental - OnePass
• Delta - SkyMiles
• JetBlue - TrueBlue
• Lufthansa - Miles & More
• Northwest - WorldPerks
• Southwest - Rapid Rewards
• United - Mileage Plus
• US Airways - Dividend Miles

The current annual membership for MPI is $375 and that doesn’t include access to the hundreds of events held every month across the nation. Each additional event will range from $15 to $775 for conference registration. Having been a member of MPI for a number of years, as a student and professional, and as an event planner and vendor, I can tell you that there are better ways to learn about event planning and validate your skills. Don’t get me wrong, if your company is willing to pay for your MPI membership, and you are a power networker, you may find MPI to be of great value for you. But, if you want to learn the basic meeting management skills, look no further than your local community college or state university. With the meeting and event industry booming, many colleges are creating professional development programs that teach the art and science of meeting planning.

If you are considering joining MPI I suggest attending 3 – 4 events and see how you like it. It’s worth the extra $10 or $20 for the non-member fee to see if the program fits your needs.

Additional Resources:

• Sacramento State – Continuing Education Meeting Planning Certification Program
• San Diego State - Meeting and Event Planning
• Sonoma State – Extended Education Event and Meeting Planning Certification
• check your local community college for more…

They are secure and private because they don’t store your user names, passwords, or account numbers. You can separate your work accounts from your home accounts or even view joint accounts as an individual. Wouldn’t it be great to not have to keep those long Excel spreadsheets anymore? Or for some, the long checking account books and hand-written budgets. You can easily compare your spending month-to-month and get alerts about bill payments and due dates.

Take a tour of Mint’s features and hopefully you’ll be on your way to a brighter financial future.

• WiFi – your iPhone is wired for use practically everywhere! You can link up to any WiFi network to browse the internet or get connected, which means airports, Starbuck’s, your office. If there isn’t a WiFi connection, then use AT&T’s Edge cell network to get connected quickly.
• Email – all of your email accounts are in one place and easy to configure. Yahoo, Gmail, .mac, AOL and Outlook accounts can all be added to the phone. So, there’s not more logging on to your personal accounts at work.
• iPod – store your music on your phone. With 8GB of memory you’ll have enough room for all your favorite songs, podcasts, and movies. Plus, you can download directly from iTunes on your iPhone – no computer required!
• GPS – Google Maps is built into the phone with GPS capabilities. You don’t even need an address – search for restaurants and it’ll automatically find you the closes ones to your present location.
• Calendar – like email you can sync all of your account calendars into one.
• Camera and Photos – of course, this phone has a camera and iPhoto built in.
• World Clock – see the local time for all of your offices at a glance.

$399 may seem steep, but with all of these features it clearly beats the Blackberry, where current models are selling for $299.

1. Headphones don’t cancel out sound. Unless you’re wearing Bose headsets (highly recommended by the way because they cancel out all airline noise) then others around you can hear what you’re listening to. Be mindful to turn down the sound.
2. Use your armrest, not the chair in front of you when getting up. How annoying is it to be woken up during a red-eye flight by someone pushing off your chair to get out of their seat? You know you hate it when others do it to you, so use your armrest to leverage instead of the person in front of you.
3. Dim the lights. Do you really need the tv, your overhead light and your computer going at the same time? If you see your neighbor is trying to sleep then try to pass with the essentials.
4. Plan your restroom breaks. If you see that the flight attendant is coming down the aisle with the drink cart, then it’s probably not a good time to take a bathroom break. Unless, you feel like sitting on the lap of the person in the aisle seat as you try to finagle around the attendant.
5. Don’t be a chatty Cathy. It’s great that you want to be friendly with the person you’ve become so personally intimate with in the seat next to you (on most airlines you’re practically sitting on top of each other), but you should still respect their privacy.
6. Who gets the armrest? Although you shouldn’t be a chatty Cathy, that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to the person next to you. If you’re in the middle and they have an isle, be polite and ask them to share the armrest.

For more airline etiquette tips, check out Delta Airlines “Planeguage” videos. Have a tip you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments section below.

A new Web tool — the Electoral Compass USA — allows users to identify where they stand in the “political landscape” and which candidates are closest to them.

Here’s how it works: Users answer 36 questions – on anything from gun control to Iran to Medicare – before finding their place in the political landscape.

The Compass was developed by political scientists the Free University in Amsterdam. Its scientists developed a similar compass for recent Dutch and Belgian parliamentary elections, drawing millions of responses from voters.

The U.S. compass launched on WSJ.com on Jan 3rd.

Here is his list:

1. (username)
2. (username)123
3. 123456
4. password
5. 1234
6. 12345
7. passwd
8. 123
9. test
10. 1

He also notes that another common strategy for hackers is to try the default password set by vendors, such as “default,” “system,” or the company name. If you install a new program or have a default password assigned to you, be sure to change it immediately.

Check-In: Normally I use online check-in, but as this was my first time on Virgin America, I wanted to see them in action. We used the kiosk for check-in which was smooth and then waited in line to drop off our checked luggage. After we were in line for about 10 minutes waiting to drop off the luggage, we noticed that there was no line for an agent. (I guess the airlines just have us trained already!) Each passenger is only allowed 1 bag up to 70 pounds and an additional bag up to 50 pounds is another $10. Even though I planned to do a lot of holiday shopping in New York I decided to forgo the extra bag. This practice is typical of European low-cost carriers, but is now making it’s way to the US.

• Score: 4 stars out of 5 due to the extra charge for a second bag

Comfort: The seats in coach class were the most comfortable seats I have experienced . The A320 planes are all brand new with black leather seats and glossy white plastic casings. The headrests are similar to those on international flights, which fold up on each side and move up for us taller individuals. Each seat has it’s own LCD monitor with entertainment system and headphones are handed out for free when you board (choice of earbuds or over-the-ear).

The only downside to the comfort was that when the seat in front of you reclines (approximately 5 inches according to the Virgin America website) you feel like a sardine. Even if you recline as well, the screen feels like it’s about 5 inches in front of your face. And, I am tall and slender, but trying to get out from the middle seat to the isle to use the restroom was quite challenging. Realizing this dilemma we tried to “upgrade” to premium seats (bulkhead or emergency exit row) for an additional $25 per person per leg, but they were sold out for our return flight.

• Score: 3.5 out of 5 due to the lack of pitch in coach seats

Entertainment and Food: Now this was the best part of the flight. The entertainment center features satellite television, popular shows on demand, movie rentals (although $8 per pop), a full selection of music, and video games. Each seat also has standard electrical plugs (ours didn’t work), USB (for charging cell phones and iPods), and ethernet (not yet available). And, instead of the attendants crowding the isles with large drink carts and waking everyone up on long-haul flights, you can order your drinks and food (for an additional charge) right from your screen. They’ll bring it to you at any time during the flight.

• Score: 5 out of 5 for the tech gadgets and on demand drinks

Final Thoughts: Virgin America is on par with JetBlue and is great for business professionals and tech-savy dependent travelers. I’ll continue to book with them, but will definitely pay the extra fee for the premium economy seats with extra legroom.

Have a great idea for a promotional product or giveaway you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.