Advice from your CMP study group co-leader

Hello, MPI-CC Friends and Family,

As a proud member of the MPI Carolinas Chapter and the co-chair of the MPI-CC CMP Study Group, I am very passionate about the wonderful education that MPI offers as well as the study group that our very own chapter offers to help our members to pursue their CMP certification. Not every chapter offers a CMP study group, and as a leader, I have had the privilege of seeing firsthand how it has been such an advantage to our recent study group grads as they studied and passed the exam to receive their CMP designation.  Our chapter is also recognized nationally by other chapters that send their prospective CMPs to join us in studying. I encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity that we have at our fingertips!

My CMP journey began years ago when I was a Convention Services Manager. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a passion for continued learning and improving my skillset. I gained the certifications that Marriott had to offer, so my sights were set upon gaining those beautiful three letters behind my name.

There are not many hoteliers in Raleigh with the CMP credentialing. Not being an MPI member at that stage of my career, I sought the steps to take the exam on my own. I managed to setup my profile on the Events Industry Council (EIC) website. The next step was to start gaining continuing education (CE) credits. I had no idea where I was going to obtain them and how I was going to afford the education.

At that time, I made a professional transition to Catering Sales for Hilton. I was even more motivated to complete the journey. I joined the ESPA and would join the Raleigh CVB team for their lunch and learns to earn credits. I also found complimentary webinars through Success Meetings. Through hard work at Hilton, I received a promotion into Group Sales. At this point, I was excited to finally be able to join MPI. While I had gained almost 25 continuing education credits through my other sources, I was able to easily exceed that amount by attending MPI Carolinas Chapter Meetings and having access to the library of webinars on the MPI website.

I decided to take another step in my career for a wonderful opportunity at the Crabtree Valley Marriott working with Farrah Staub, CMP. At that time, Farrah was the co-chair for the MPI-CC CMP Study group. As one of the few other hoteliers who had earned their CMP, she became a mentor for me in my day-to-day work, but also guided me through the CMP exam application process. I joined the study group when I was ready to sit for the exam and passed the exam on May 5, 2018.

In my own journey, I did not have a personal guide until the end and want to offer you the insight I learned along the way. I would encourage every MPI member to setup their EIC profile whether or not they intend to go through the process to obtain their CMP in the near future. It is complimentary to set one up at: https://www.eventscouncil.org/

Education credits from any meetings you attend will automatically be linked to your account as long as you register for the meetings using the same email address connected to your EIC account. The only action required on your end is to log in to your EIC account and confirm the number of credit hours obtained. This takes less than two minutes. It is a lot easier to start collecting credits now, whether nor not you plan to sit for the exam, rather than scrambling to gain them after making the decision to take the exam. If you regularly attend meetings, the CE credits will accumulate very quickly.

As that former Convention Services Manager who had to turn over stones to earn every CE credit my advice is: Don’t take for granted this wonderful opportunity you’re given by being part of MPI. Take advantage of every piece of education that is given with your membership. And if you are further along in your journey and close to being ready to take the exam, join us in our study group! MPI-CC offers this benefit to all their members for no additional charge.

Sincerely,

Sasha Armour, CMP