I am in the midst of trying to organize my notes and materials for the upcoming CEM class on Floor Plans Development I’ll be teaching in Dallas the day before the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting. For those not familiar with the program, CEM stands for Certified in Exhibitions Management and the program is offered by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE). I earned my CEM designation in 2005 and became a member of thier faculty later that year. I have found the CEM designation has been quite helpful to me when I was dealing with Exhibit Managers or Service Contractors in that it gave me the confidence to work with these folks.
IAEE has been in the process of revising the curiculum for the past two years, updating the course materials and working some topics such as Project Management, International Meetings, and Green Meetings into every course module. The first two revised courses are being unveiled at this year’s PCMA Annual Meeting and all 12 newly revised courses will be rolled out during the year.
A participant in the CEM program will need to complete 9 of the following 12 classes:
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Conference and Meeting Management Principles
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Event Marketing
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Event Operations
- Exhibition & Event Sales Fundamentals
- Facilities and Site Selection
- Finance, Budgeting and Contracts
- Floor Plan Development
- Registration, Housing, and Travel Management
- Selecting Service Contractors
- Strategic Planning and Management
- Security, Risk and Crisis Management
Classes can be taken in any order. Those who hold the Certified Meetings Professional (CMP) designation do not need to take the first class listed and are given credit for it, so only 8 classes for those individuals. Classes can be taken on-site for six hours or online over a four week period. I’ve done both formats, and found that I learned the material better online, but the interaction with my fellow students on-site offered more benefits in the long term. After completing the class, students take a 40 question exam and need to pass with 75% correctly answered. Once the first class is completed, students have three years to complete the program. Once the CEM designation has been earned, it is good for three years before the student needs to recertify by taking another CEM exam (no exam is needed, however) or a variety of other options.
For those interested in more information on the CEM program, please check out the CEM website at http://www.iaee.com/cem/. I hope to see you in one of the classes I facilitate one day.
