I have a small pile of items here on my desk that I’ve been saving up to include in a future post.  Well, that day is here!

• In the last month or so of tweeting, I’ve started to do a daily tweet of a fellow #eventprofs that I feel is worthy of following.  I created the hashtag of #youhavetofollow for these messages, and it seems to have received favorable comments to date.  Some will argue that this is just a takeoff of #followfriday or #ff, and frankly, yes it is!  My biggest argument against #followfriday is that most folks will list a plethora of tweeps to follow, but gives no reason why I should follow them.  My goal with #youhavetofollow is to shine the light on a noteworthy #eventprofs and give some rationale for why they should be followed.  I hope many of you will start to follow this format and use it as well.
• One of my favorite blogs is Bill Geist’s ZeitGeist, which is geared towards Destination Marketing Organizations and Convention and Visitor Bureaus.  I’ve followed Bill for a few years and had the pleasure of finally meeting him last year at #SoMeT10, the Social Media in Tourism Conference.  Bill is able to tackle some major items in destination marketing in his blog, with posts with very few words and generally a humorous spin.  Please take a few minutes to check out his site, as I truly believe he is one of the leading advocates for change in how destinations market themselves to the public and government bureaucracy’s cluelessness about the economic impact of tourism.
• In September of 1814, the citizens of Baltimore turned away a British invasion force and basically saved our nation.  During the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner, which would eventually become our national anthem.  The other night I had the television on and game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals was on for the National Hockey League, and the Canadian national anthem – O Canada – was being sung.  It is amazing to me how the Canadian’s sing along to the song, basically allowing the anthem singer to take a break.  I would love to see the same for our national anthem at a sporting event here in the States.
• I’m amazed at the number of Certified Meeting Professionals who were unable to attend the recent CMP Conclave in Cancun due to the reasoning of the “high costs” of not being held in the States.  For me, airfare to Cancun was cheaper than my last two trips to Las Vegas and the hotel rooms were much more affordable than recent/upcoming events for IAEE, PCMA or MPI.  How are we ever going to be able to argue the value of having meetings in locales deemed as “destinations” if we don’t support these venues as an industry?
• Thanks to Jon Trask for having me as guest on the Meetings Podcast regarding my thoughts on the CMP Conclave.  I look forward to possibly doing a few more with you and Mike McAllen during MPI’s WEC in Orlando this July.
• Last month, a small group got together in Washington, DC to discuss the formation of a Chesapeake regional chapter of the Green Meetings Industry Council.  The response was positive and things are progressing, so hopefully there will be a GMIC Chesapeake Chapter by the end of the year.  Email me if you are interested in joining us as we go forward.
• Crain’s Chicago Business recently published an article about show contractors and organizers squeezing exhibitors with fairly high prices for services on the trade show floor.  This case is not unique, and there is only one industry organization that represents the exhibitor – the Trade Show Exhibitors Association.  TSEA will be holding its annual Red Diamond Congress in Orlando this summer at the Hotel Peabody Orlando from July 31 thru August 3rd, with exhibitor advocacy as one of its central themes.  (In full disclosure, TSEA and the Red Diamond Congress are clients of mine.)  Having the opportunity to be involved in the planning, I am very impressed with TSEA for thinking outside the box and creating a conference that will stand apart from most industry conferences.  I hope you will consider attending – this event would be on my calendar even if it were not a client!

• 

  Kristian Hammerstady – NY Times

  Next week, Keith Olbermann returns to television with his Countdown show on the Current network.  Disregarding politics, I have been a huge fan of his dating from his days on ESPN’s SportsCenter.  Several months ago, Keith was lecturing to a crowd of college students and recounting how a general manager of a radio station would not hire him and told Keith that he had no future in broadcasting.  Keith went on to offer the following advice: “Just remember, it’s possible the person who won’t hire you is not smart enough to hire you.” I’ve always liked this quote and am reminded of a few old bosses I have had!  And if Keith happens to read this, good luck with the new show!

• Last month, at the annual meeting of the Greater Baltimore Committee, plans were unveiled for a new arena and convention center complex for my hometown.  I’ll offer up my thoughts next week in a seperate posting.  In the meantime, let’s just say I am in favor of this development.
• Thanks to PCMA for reprinting my last blog post here on their website.  Words cannot express how excited I am to have to have PCMA and AIBTM co-located in my hometown next week and I am looking forward to meeting many of you in person during these two conferences.  I am confident that after your visit to Baltimore that you will agree with me that Baltimore is the greatest city in the United States.

Will I see you at the PCMA Education Conference or AIBTM in a few weeks in my hometown of Baltimore?  If so, I hope our paths cross and that you will say hello!  I am throwing out a few “insider” tips to help you make the most of your time in Baltimore.  Hopefully, you are perhaps able to arrive a day early or stay later to see a few things that make Baltimore unique.

Baltimore is a very walk-able city.

Baltimore has a very tight footprint for its convention visitors and you will only be “two feet” away.  Most hotels are within a few blocks of the Baltimore Convention Center, as are the dual stadiums and many other attractions.  Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and check out the sites! 

Don’t feel like walking? Baltimore also offers the free Charm City Circulator with two routes to take you to over 50 stops.  The Orange line offers stops on an east-west basis and has a stop right in front of the Convention Center.  The Purple line goes on a north-south basis and has a stop just a block away from the Convention Center.  The Circulator even has a free app that you can download to your smart phone.  The Circulator runs every 15 minutes starting at 6:30A and ending at 9P during America’s Meeting Week.

Look for the Gold Star!

Most of Baltimore’s front line hospitality professionals have received training to become Certified Tourism Ambassadors to assist guests and visitors.  Just look for the gold lapel pin (I’ll be wearing mine!) and these folks can assist you with local information and point you in the right direction.

Got crabs?

While in Baltimore, you have to try Maryland blue crabs.  Crab soup, crab cakes, steamed crabs, it is a local delicacy, especially when combined with the local Old Bay seasoning.  Eating steamed crabs can be somewhat messy (I would not wear a suit or tie) and somewhat daunting if you never have tried this before.  Here is a little video to help explain the process of picking crabs.

You might want to have a cold, frosty beverage with your steamed crabs.  Try a “Natty Boh,” short for National Bohemian beer.  First made in 1885, this was the king of beers in Baltimore during the 1950’s and 1960’s and they even owned the Baltimore Orioles baseball team for a stretch of time and won two World Series.  National Bohemian was the first brewer in the U.S. to place six-packs of cans into the marketplace. The Mr. Boh mascot serves as an iconic representative of Baltimore and one enterprising meeting professional borrows it as his logo…

Grab a pack of Berger Cookies before you head home.

You might want to skip this if you are on a diet.  Berger Cookies are a vanilla wafer covered with a thick layer of chocolate ganache, which annually are voted as the Best of Baltimore in contests.  They can be found in many of the drug and convenience stores in the area.  When I travel, I bring Berger cookies with me as gifts and they are well received.

Forget about The Wire….

You may have watched the television shows The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Streets.  Both shows were great television, but they don’t exactly help the Chamber of Commerce promote the city has a safe place to visit.

Just remember, these were fictional television shows.  All cities have their dark secrets and places to avoid.  Use common sense when travelling about.  Take your name tags off when not in a venue.  Walk in groups and in well-lit areas. Don’t be flashing large amounts of cash. I’ve lived downtown for the last five years and never had an issue.  Just an FYI, the area where Homicide was often filmed is one of the best areas for night life in the city.

Try Dining away from the Inner Harbor.

There are many fine restaurants in the Inner Harbor area, but to really experience what great culinary choices await in Baltimore, you will need to explore a little bit.  Check out the restaurants in Federal Hill, Canton, Fells Point, Little Italy, Harbor East, Greektown, just to name a few.  Do you really want to have dinner in a chain restaurant that is also located in your hometown?  Expand your horizons and waistlines by looking for locally owned restaurants.  Baltimore has many fine restaurants and chefs that have been featured on Food Network and other “foodie” sites.

Learn the local lingo.

There is a local dialect called Bawlamarese that afflicts those of us who were born in the Baltimore area.  As much as I fight it, every so often it slips into my conversations.  For example, I might say – There is a far hydrogen in the meteor strip.  This can then be translated into English as – There is a fire hydrant in the median strip.

Well, I hope you found these tips to be helpful in planning your visit to Baltimore and the PCMA Educational Conference.  I am very proud of my hometown and hope that you will return here often.  If by chance you are unable to attend this year, be sure to attend virtually for free on Wednesday, June 22 by clicking here. 

First, I would like to apologize to Pat Sajak for making a (hopefully) humorous reference to his highly successful game show, Wheek of Fortune.  Some of you may read the daily Greg Ruby’s Gems – Event News newspaper that is generated automatically from the folks I follow on Twitter and see a GoogleAds placed advertisement for the QC School of Event Management to become a Certified Events Planner.  This advertisement greatly disturbs me and I have been unsuccessful in having it removed from my online newspaper.

I hold three meetings and events industry certifications — Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), Certified In Exhibitions Management (CEM) and Certified Association Sales Executive (CASE).  I am currently working on earning the Certified in Meetings Management (CMM) designation and hope to have the news about that in about 60 days.  Yeah, I like initials behind my name and there are more letters behind my name than are in my name.

The QC school offers a 6 unit program for its Event and Wedding Planning course, complete with DVDs that you can watch at your own pace in the comfort of your own home!  Each unit has coursework that is to be submitted to a personal tutor, who works in the industry.  Complete and pass all the assignments in as little as four months time and you can recieve the certificate for the IEWP Certified Event and Wedding Planning Professional in the mail.  All this can be yours for $1,248 – there is a $200 discount if you buy the full package upfront or you can opt for installments.  So, you can get yourself that industry certification on lay-a-way!  I also like the use of the Better Business Bureau  seal on their website, so I can get this certification with confidence.

IEWP stands for International Events and Wedding Professional and according to the QC’ School’s website are eligible to join the AFWPI – the Association for Wedding Professionals International.  I used the seach feature on AFWPI’s website to find any mention of the IEWP designation and came up empty.  By the way, in reviewing the AFWPI’s membership application, it seems that the only requirement to become a member is to complete the application and pay dues.  In fairness, this is no more than what the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) requires to join, but at least PCMA is a non-profit educational organization as opposed to AFWPI appearing to be a subsidiary of some marketing corporation.

There was a little bit of a hulabaloo about 2 years ago, when Jeffrey Brown of the Tradeshow Blues came up with a Certified Tradeshow Enthusiast designation that could be purchased for $25.  Disclosure:  I bought one of the CTE designations as a joke – I am still waiting for the certificate.  One of the loudest opponents of the CTE initials was “the Booth Mom” – Candace Adams.  Candy has even more intials after her name than I do (although she does need to update her certifications page to be more current!) and argued that designations such as the CTE cheapened and demeaned the effort put forth to earn the more recognized certifications in our industry.  Thankfully, the CTE has faded away.

Our industry has been an alphabet soup with all the acronyms for the major associations and even more so with industry certifications.  Let’s take a look at the major designations in our industry (in no particular order):

* Certified Meetings Professional (CMP) by the Convention Industry Council (CIC)

* Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM) by the International Assocation of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE)

* Certified Association Sales Executive (CASE) by the Professional Convention Managment Association (PCMA)

* Certified in Meetings Management (CMM) by the Meetings Professionals International (MPI)

* Certified Manager of Exhibits (CME) by the Trades Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA)

* Certified Manager of Exhibits – Healthcare (CME/H) by the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association (HCEA)

* Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP) by the International Special Events Society (ISES)

* Certified Trade Show Marketer (CTSM) by Exhibitor Magazine (affiliated with Northern Illinois University)

Many of you reading this blog post may have one or more of these desginations yourself.  You spent years in the industry to become qualified to sit for exams or take courses as they become available.  You became involved in industry organizations, serving on committees, speaking at programs or writing for newsletters.  In other words, you spend a lot of time and effort to get those initials behind your name.  Certifications like this IEWP program should be a slap in the face to you.

What is even worse, is that this IEWP designation costs nearly twice what it costs to what it takes to register for the CMP exam ($225 application fee and $450 exam registration fee).  $675 versus $1248??  I am using the CMP designation for illustration as it is the granddaddy of all our industry certifications and over 14,000 people in 36 countries have earned it.

Let’s take a look at what is needed to be done in order to sit for the CMP exam.  An application is filed showing your professional experience and continuing education background.  Professional expererience can be earned in three ways: (1) Having been recently employed within our industry (last 12 months) and having at least 36 months experience; (2) Having been recently employed within our industry (last 12 months) and having at least 24 months experience and a industry related bachelor’s degree or higher; or (3) serving as a full-time instuctor for industry related courses in the last 36 month.  For the continuing education portion, either an industry internship program of 200+ hours or 25 hours of continuing education are needed.  Remember, this is just to sit for the exam at a later date.  Your application will be reviewed by at least two of your industry peers after it arrives at CIC headquarters.  After getting notified that you can sit for the exam, you then have to take the 150 question exam and pass.  Once you pass the exam and can add those initials to your business card, you have to recertify every five years.

We take a lot of grief in our industry – “Must be nice to plan parties,” “Wish I could go to fancy places for a conference,” etc.  We need to protect ourselves from these “certificate warehouses” that will issues designations to anyone with a checkbook.

For those that are on LinkedIn and hold the CMP designation, you may wish to consider joining the CMP – Certified Meetings Professionals group there.  By the way, requests to join the group are screened and compared to the CMP directory, so make sure you have the intials when you apply or you will be declined membership in the group.  It just wouldn’t be fair to have the CMP logo displayed on your LinkedIn profile when you don’t have the designation.

There has been a little break since our last post – it didn’t seem to make sense to post during the holidays when everyone was off doing other things.  I was then off to Las Vegas to attend three conferences – the Association of Convention Operations Management, the Professional Convention Management Association and Virtual Edge Summit for 8 days and it seemed that most of my readers were there.  So now we are back!

I just reread my draft of this post and I am frightened that it seems to read like one of Larry King’s old columns that he used to write for USA Today – would be interested to know if you like this format!

• PCMA consistently produces the BEST educational conference for those in the meetings and events industry and is the gold standard that IAEE and MPI try to reach.  A tip of the hat to the entire PCMA staff for a great job overall on the Annual Meeting!
• The Learning Lounge was probably the home run of the PCMA event for many attendees and the tag team of Dave Lutz and Jeff Hurt, along with the PCMA task force, are rightfully recieving many compliments and kudos for this innovative approach.  I sincerely hope PCMA retains this feature for future Annual Meetings and makes a few minor tweaks here and there to make the offerings even better.  Sam Smith goes into more detail about the Learning lounge in his blog entry – be forewarned, I appear, assisting folks at the Social Media Experts Bar at the 2:34 mark in the video.  It was also nice to see Christina Stallings make a rare public appearance, assisting the Velvet Chainsaw crew in the Learning Lounge.
• I was able to watch the first quarter of the Ravens-Chiefs NFL playoff game on that Sunday morning, courtesy of a small party that Visit Baltimore held for planners attending PCMA, before heading off to the PCMA Student Union program led by Joan Eisenstodt, to serve as a Mega-Mentor for some of the 275+ college students that were attending the PCMA Annual Meeting.  It was good to see that so many colleges and educational institutions now teach about our industry – back in my college days, I was told that I would never make a living in the industry and should try something like accounting.  Things have definitely changed!
• After returning from Las Vegas, I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Ravens in the next round of the NFL playoffs.  I’m not sure if I can say the better team won that day.  Heck, I can’t say it about any of the Ravens losses this year, since they led during the 4th quarter of all the games they lost.  A tip of the hat to the fanatical Steelers fan, Dana Doody from The Expo Group, on her team’s two victories this year over the Ravens.  Just wait till next year!
• PCMA held another State of the Industry panel discussion during one of the luncheons during the week.  It is time to drop this format, as it is becoming overused.  I saw many folks walking out of the program (disclosure: I was one of them).  If any folks from the Convention Industry Council happen to read my rant here, PLEASE do not do this program for a THIRD consecutive year at the May CMP Conclave in Cancun.
• Just once, could we have the general session keynote speaker appear within 15 minutes of the start of the program?  Generally, at PCMA, we were one hour into the session before the speaker appeared.  I know that the other business is important at these sessions, but can’t we have some of it after the speaker.
• Attendance at ACOM seemed a little lighter to me than the one I attended briefly in Seattle back in 2008.  One surprise to me, was the fairly low volume of tweeting from that conference under the hashtag #ACOM11.  At the most, we had 10 folks tweeting from that conference.
• A highlight of the ACOM Conference was the Awards Luncheon on Saturday afternoon.  ACOM, in partnership with Successful Meetings, honors Convention Services Managers from Convention Centers, Hotels and Convention and Visitors Bureaus.  This year, my friend Sheila Mires from Visit Baltimore was honored as the Outstanding Convention Services Manager of the Year.  I had the pleasure of working closely with Sheila for a few years while I worked at the Baltimore Convention Center and am amazed that it took this long for her to be recognized for this honor, which is long overdue. Congratulations Sheila!
• Pitchers and catchers report for Major League Baseball Training Camp on February 14 – right after Event Camp!  I am excited about the upcoming season and am confident that the Orioles new manager, Buck Showalter, will lead the team to our first winning season since 1997.  I was spoiled growing up as the Orioles were the best team in baseball from 1960 – 1985.
• Registration is now open for Event Camp Chicago during February 11-13.  Hope to see you there!
• Had an extremely delightful conversation with Mike McAllen and Jon Trask during the Virtual Edge Summit.  After a few minutes, one of them had the idea to record it for one of their Meetings Podcasts.  I finally made it to the big time!
• If you ever stay at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, be sure to check out the art work on the walls at the FiAMMA Trattoria & Bar.  Thanks to a friend who will remain anonymous for the tip!  Also try the “Ruby Rush” penny slots, as Danalynn Wheeler claimed they brought her good luck!
• One night during the week, several of us headed out of the hotel complex and had a fine gourmet dinner at In’N Out Burger.  While good, still does not compare to the burger and fries at Five Guys.  My dining companions were split 50 – 50 on this.
• I liked the idea of co-locating the Virtual Edge Symposium with PCMA and hope that this arrangement will again be done next year in San Diego.  A few minor tweaks in scheduling and some better coordination of logistics are needed, but overall the arrangement was a success for both groups.
• The “A-ha” moment of the week came to me while attending Scott Klososky’s session on Exploring Socially Augmented Events.  I’ll have another blog entry on his program shortly,  however, you can view his archived presentation in the auditorium of PCMA365, the online community for PCMA.  I had the good fortune to have dinner with Scott and a few others during last June’s PCMA Education Conference and the dude is sharp and definitely ahead of the times.
• I might be in the minority on this, but I kinda enjoyed the hosting job done by Ricky Gervais during Sunday’s Golden Globes award ceremony.

Well, that wraps up this blog entry.  There are a few more posts to follow in  the next several days!

Earlier this month, it was announced that ASAE was purchasing the Convene Green Alliance from IMN Solutions. CGA was formed a little under three years ago by IMN Solutions and offered a few educational offerings from time to time in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. I attended a few of these programs and came away with the feeling that the bulk of the educational offerings were a “sales pitch” to use the presenting sponsor or vendor’s wares.

I am all for having events that are environmentally responsible and ASAE has long been forward thinking in greening their events and being socially responsible. I applaud them for their past actions and hope that they continue to push the envelope with their venues and suppliers to do more environmentally friendly actions. In purchasing CGA, ASAE commented that  by adding CGA to their portfolio it enhances the level of service to the association and meetings industry.

Could ASAE have enhanced the level of service to the association and meetings industry through other means for environmentally responsible events? I am a big fan of the Green Meetings Industry Council and their programs. Could ASAE have reached out to the GMIC and possibly partnered on some programs to offer education on environmentally responsible events to the ASAE membership rather than buying what seems to have been a for-profit promotional entity?

So often in our industry, there is duplication with each industry association trying to form focus groups and task forces to tackle the latest industry issues. Several years ago, every association had some task force to deal with green events .  Nowadays, the hot issue is that every association has some group dealing with social media. Wouldn’t it be better for associations to work together jointly on common issues for the meetings and events industry rather than each association going it alone?

What is your opinion?

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I was doing a little self-reflection about what has happened in my life during the last 6 months and how lucky I am compared to others in this world. During one of these deep thoughts, I remembered a friend of mine from LinkedIn – Calum Maclean. Earlier this year, Calum walked away from a lucrative marketing career with some properties in the Midwest to work for Clean the World, an non-profit group that recycles used soap and shampoo products from hotels and distributes them to people in impoverished countries and homeless shelters in the States.

I’ve done quite a bit of travelling these last 6 months and have been amazed at how hotels keep changing out the soap and shampoo products I was using daily when they could have lasted my entire stay. What a waste. In addition, for the last 18 months, I have been working part time at a hotel in the Baltimore area to gain some additional hospitality experience, and have seen huge containers of slightly used soap, shampoo and conditioner being collected. I am unable to lift these containers they are so full.

I would imagine that these two scenes are being replayed daily through out our country and in the process millions of pounds of these products are finding their way to landfills. Meanwhile, thousands of people around the world are sick and dying because they do not have access to soap. This is so needless and sad.

During the past five years, “green” meetings have become the rage.  Meeting planners were demanding that meeting venues implement recycling programs and institute sustainable purchasing practices among other things. Rarely, if ever, have I heard any meeting planner talk about how they wanted their room blocks at hotels to have the soap products recycled. During my times at both a meetings venue and the hotel, I have seen numerous surveys from planners asking about green policies, but have NEVER seen a question about the soap products.

This seems like a no-brainer to me. Planners, please start demanding that the hotels you use for your events to implement a program to recycle these products through a charity like Clean the World or at the very least with local homeless shelters in their community. So much good can be accomplished by what seems a fairly simple act.

Take a few minutes to check out Clean the World‘s site and while you are at it, check out Calum’s blog.  He’s a good guy and he is helping to make a difference with the assistance of the hospitality industry.

Last month, I submitted my renewal application for my Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation with the Convention Industry Council.  I earned my designation in 2005 and was up for my 5 year renewal.  For those that earned their CMP designation in 2005, 2000, 1995, 1990 and 1985, there is still time to submit your renewal, albeit at a higher rate.

Earlier this year, the CMP Board of Directors made modifications to the renewal process.  Folks that are re-certifying in 2010 have the option of using the prior renewal form or using the new version.  I chose to go with the newer version.  For those renewing in 2011 and beyond, the new rules will be your guidelines to follow.  Let’s compare to see how the two versions are different:

Under the old format, a CMP needed a minimum of 60 points from four sections on his application to re-certify.  Work Experience required a minimum of 12 points and had a maximum 0f 50 points.  A CMP would need to calculate the number of months worked, recalculate it to create a yearly value and depending upon the area they worked get additional points.  Folks in Sales would not earn as many points as folks working in Catering or Convention Services, for example.  Sixty points could be earned in Continuing Education, and a minimum 0f 5 points had to be earned in this area.  Five points would be given for each Membership held in Industry Associations, but this maxed out at 10 points.  Lastly, 40 points could be earned under the Professional Contributions area.   All points had to be earned in the prior 60 months prior to renewal!

So, if your were a Convention Services Manager employed for the last 5 years who belonged to PCMA and had 5 hours of continuing education, you had basically earned your renewal!Going forward, it seems to be much more straight forward to calculate your renewal.

Work experience is still required, and a CMP must have been employed 36 out of the last 60 months.  There are no longer points assigned for job descriptions, so Sales Managers are treated as equals with Convention Services Managers, which is a change I wholeheartedly agree with.  I also like that I no longer have to do math to come up with percentages!

That is the first part of the renewal process.  There are three options that CMPs can use to complete their renewal application:

(1) Earn a bachelor’s degree or higher in the last 60 months.  Area of study is not relevant, so if you went back to school and earned a MBA, you have completed the CMP renewal process.

(2) Complete 15 hours of continuing education and have three professional contributions to the industry.  What are professional contributions – industry association memberships, leadership roles in industry associations, write industry-related articles, speak at industry events, or volunteer for CMP related projects like study groups and booth staffing.  I belong to MPI, IAEE and PCMA – right there are my 3 professional contributions.  You can mix and match any of these items to go with your 15 hours of continuing education.

(3) Complete 25 hours of continuing education.

Choose one of those three options, submit documentation for your attendance or memberships, and you are ready to submit your renewal application.

I like the changes, but what do you think?  For me, the paperwork is streamlined and easier to follow.  I like the fact that most people will now need more continuing education than the 5 hours required in the past.  It encourages folks to become more active in our industry and then rewards them by requiring fewer continuing education hours.   In my opinion, the redesign is also allowing CMPs outside of North America with a easier renewal process.

That’s my opinion – what are your thoughts on the new CMP renewal process?