IMEX America announces dates and venues up to 2025, confirming move to September in 2019 and 2020

IMEX America announces dates and venues up to 2025, confirming move to September in 2019 and 2020
The IMEX Group – organizers of IMEX America – have announced the dates and locations for their industry leading Las Vegas show through 2025.

Ray Bloom, Chairman of the IMEX Group said, “We know that our industry partners from across North America and around the world plan numerous activities and co-located events around IMEX America. In addition, the fall is a very busy period for the industry. As a result, we felt that it was important to give the industry as much notice as possible with regards to our dates and venues going forward to assist with their own planning.”

“In particular, we wanted to remind the industry that we will be moving from our usual October dates to September for two (2) years in 2019 and 2020.”

In addition to confirming the dates, the IMEX Group have also announced that from 2021, after ten successful years at the Sands Expo & Convention Center, IMEX America will move to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Ray went on to explain, “The Sands Expo team have been wonderfully supportive partners since well before our inaugural show in 2011 and we are looking forward to four more successful shows working with them, through 2020. Their contribution in helping us to establish IMEX America in Las Vegas as the event where everyone from our industry, from the USA and worldwide, gathers each fall has been invaluable. We are incredibly grateful for their partnership and are looking forward to continuing that partnership for many years into the future.

Ray Bloom, Chairman, IMEX Group
“However, we were not able to lock in space from 2021 onward. Therefore, after celebrating ten years working together and enjoying a fantastic relationship with the Las Vegas Sands team, we shall be moving to Mandalay Bay. We look forward to establishing successful partnerships with the Mandalay Bay and MGM Resorts International teams and we know that their world-class facilities will be an equally fitting home for the show.”

Long standing IMEX partner, the Sands Expo, commented, “As the leader of the meetings and tradeshow industry, we always felt that Las Vegas Sands was the perfect partner to assist in the launch of IMEX,” said Chandra Allison, senior vice president of sales for The Venetian, The Palazzo and Sands Expo. “It has been a pleasure helping IMEX grow to become one of the most successful annual events for meeting professionals. The show has evolved, and so has the industry. We recognize this is the right time for the show to move to its next destination. We look forward to continuing our partnership and support of IMEX America in Las Vegas for many years to come.”

Talking about their excitement in hosting the show in the future, MGM Resorts International and Mandalay Bay commented, “We are honored to partner with IMEX America and to keep such a prestigious industry event in Las Vegas. As an active supporter of IMEX, MGM Resorts International is excited to create new experiences for attendees at Mandalay Bay. We will continue to showcase the city of Las Vegas and MGM Resorts International as the leading meeting and events destination” said Stephanie Glanzer, CMP, Vice President Sales of Mandalay Bay.

Dates and Location Summary

The dates and venues for IMEX America for the next eight years will be:
2018 October, 16-18 Sands Expo
2019 September, 10-12 Sands Expo
2020 September, 15-17 Sands Expo
2021 November, 9 -11 Mandalay Bay
2022 October, 25-27 Mandalay Bay
2023 October, 10-12 Mandalay Bay
2024 October, 8-10 Mandalay Bay
2025 October, 7-9 Mandalay Bay

IMEX America, America’s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events, will take place from October 10 – 12, 2017 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at The Venetian and The Palazzo, preceded by Smart Monday, powered by MPI on October 9.

Further details about the show can be found on the new-look website.

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#IMEX17 #MGMResorts #IMEXnews #MICEnews #LasVegas

Excellence Squared Announce New Chief Operating Officer to Lead Expansion into the Americas

Excellence Squared Announce New Chief Operating Officer to Lead Expansion into the Americas

London England – Excellence Squared announced the appointment of Vicki Simmons, CMP, as its new Chief Operating Officer, with the primary function of developing the North American market for the company. Excellence Squared offers assessments in Leadership and Management, Customer Service, Governance, Supply Chain Management, Care Homes, and more.  Its newest addition is the Quality Venue and Safe Venue Standards which enable venues to undertake an assessment of all aspects of it management, operations and physical attributes, to determine areas of strength and opportunity.

“We are excited to have someone with Vicki’s leadership experience and extensive knowledge of meetings, professional education and associations join our team,” said Paul Bridle, CEO of Excellence Squared, an international company headquartered in the UK. “She is the right person to help us expand our international business and head up our North American operation. In addition to the tremendous knowledge she brings to the table, she shares our values, and our passion for helping businesses improve their performance.”

Ms. Hawarden’s most recent role was as managing partner for Association Resource Consultants (ARC), a company focused on advising and assisting associations with leadership and governance, as well as revenue generation. Before joining ARC, Ms. Hawarden served as President and CEO of the International Association of Venue Managers and the IAVM Foundation. In that role, she was instrumental in nearly doubling the membership and turning the association around from significant deficits to stable contributions to reserves. New initiatives launched under her leadership included the Certified Venue Professional designation and Coherent GovernanceTM. Her past experience also includes senior executive roles for the International Association of Exhibitions and Events and Meeting Professionals International. At MPI, as VP of Events she was instrumental in creating the first meetings and events standards for North America, for which she received a Chair’s Citation.

“I have spent my entire 30-year career in the meetings, exhibition and association communities and I deeply believe they deliver tremendous value to their members, attendees and society as a whole,” said Hawarden. “The work done by Excellence Squared creates a partnership with those we assess, to help them truly understand and improve their business performance. In particular, I’m thrilled we will be able to partner with associations on the leadership and management standard, to help CEOs and boards better understand how to work together to deliver value to members, and to partner with venues to ensure they are able to exceed client and guest expectations, every time.” Said Harden.

Excellence Squared has over 20 years of experience as an accredited assessment service, as well as an advisory and consultancy provider. The company holds some contracts to deliver assessment and advisory services on behalf of government, and has been leading the way in developing new approaches that ensure value for the customer

Pacific World enrolls 24 more staff members to participate in an in-house MPI CMP Boot Camp

Pacific World enrolls 24 more staff members to participate in an in-house MPI CMP Boot Camp

Pacific World (www.pacificworld.com), the integrated global DMC and Event Management organisation, has signed up 24 staff members, who represent four of its European destinations (namely Spain, France, Monaco and UK), to undertake the MPI CMP Boot Camp and help prepare their employees for the Convention Industry Council´s Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) certification. The Boot Camp will be held in Barcelona, Spain on February 23rd and 24th.

The event planning and management company is one of the first to sign up for the in-house boot camps that have been developed by the UK Centre for Events Management at Leeds Beckett University on behalf of MPI UK and Ireland.

This European initiative builds on a similar initiative announced recently in Singapore for a further 22 of Pacific World´s employees, (based across the company´s Asia locations), to train for the CMP examination.

MPI UK and Ireland President, Miguel Neves, who recently gained his CMP certification has welcomed the move.

“It is great to see buy-in by the industry and in particular to see an agency committed to getting high level education to prepare their staff for the CMP examination. We are delighted with the content of the boot camp which covers not only the ten knowledge domains in two days, but also uses best practices, group activities and real-time scenarios, to provide an effective all-round learning experiences for planners.

Mark Barber, Regional Director for Pacific World Europe, explains: “Pacific World has acknowledged that the events industry is at a turning point and that today´s clients are looking for a reliable events partner, who recognises among other things, the importance of continued staff development, to deliver a world-class event experience. The CMP training and certification will provide our staff with important skills and know-how to deliver the needs of our clients and at the same time, we believe existing and new clients will recognise the value of working with a partner whose staff understand and all speak the same language.

The successful completion of the CMP training and certification in our European and Asian locations, will complement existing CMP professionals, within the team of our alliance partner, ACCESS Destination Services.

Together, the Pacific World / ACCESS global team of CMP qualified professionals will aim to ensure a consistent and compliant way of working, along with exemplary operational standards, regardless of the destination our clients choose from our extensive portfolio of possible event locations.”

VP for Education on MPW UKI Board of Directors, Jane Baker of Freeman XP comments: “The CMP has been a core part of our vision to support the professional development of our industry. There has been significant interest on the certification and boot camp from agencies, so this in-house solution adds to what we can offer in the UK and beyond, alongside the scheduled boot camps that will run twice a year.”

MPI will be running the next CMP Boot camp in London on 6th and 7th July 2015. More details on this and future boot camps can be found on the website www.mpiuk.org

For more information on Pacific World please visit: www.pacificworld.com

AIBTM and IAEE Renew Strategic Partnership to offer Hosted Buyer Program and Education

AIBTM and IAEE Renew Strategic Partnership to offer Hosted Buyer Program and Education

The International Association of Exhibitions and Events™ (IAEE) and the Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM) announced a renewed partnership to offer a Hosted Buyer programme for IAEE members to attend the event as well as an education session in the AIBTM Learning Theatre to be held 10th – 12th of June in Orlando, Florida.

“Our initial success at AIBTM last year was very promising, and we are once again proud to partner with AIBTM on this industry event,” says IAEE President and CEO David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA. “This renewed collaboration confirms IAEE’s strategic initiative to engage organisers and planners who are exploring global opportunities.” DuBois will be a part of an educational panel that will take place during Education Day on 11th of June 2014.

IAEE, which was founded in 1928 to represent the interests of trade show and exhibition managers, represents over 8,500 individuals who conduct and support exhibitions around the world. Over 50% of its members are directly involved in the planning, management and production of exhibitions.

“AIBTM is delighted to renew its partnership with IAEE again this year,” said Michael Lyons, AIBTM Exhibition Director. “We share a common mission and values: to provide stakeholders in our industry with information and resources that will advance the industry’s success through a focus on growth and relationship-building. By establishing successful partnerships like this one, AIBTM is able to achieve its goal of delivering strong ROI to all the industry professionals who attend AIBTM in June in Orlando.”

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IBTM INDIA CONFIRMS VENUE FOR 2014 EVENT

IBTM INDIA CONFIRMS VENUE FOR 2014 EVENT

Press Release: 8th January 2014 | The organisers of the Reed Travel Exhibitions’ IBTM Global Events portfolio (www.ibtmevents.com) have confirmed that they will be holding the 2014 edition of IBTM India (www.ibtmevents.com/ibtmindia) at the ITC Grand Chola, Chennai from 3-5 September 2014.

Shinu Pillai, Reed Travel Exhibitions, IBTM India Project Manager commented, “IBTM India has now established itself as a key event in the meetings industry calendar in India. The launch edition, hosted in Mumbai, was a huge success and as part of our ongoing drive and determination to develop the meetings industry market in India we have chosen to move the show to another up and coming MICE destination.”

IBTM India 2014 will assume the same exclusive table-top format as the launch event, which is a proven successful format across Reed Travel Exhibitions’ events. Limited to 100 international and Indian suppliers of product and services to the MICE industry, it is designed to facilitate pre-arranged meetings between international and Indian buyers with suppliers over a table-top environment at a 1:1 ratio.

Pillai continues, “Chennai is the fifth most populous city in India and one of the fastest growing cities in the world. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, the city is estimated to grow to a $100–billion economy, almost 2.5 times its present size, by the year 2025. With favourable government policies, Chennai currently boasts of vast advancement in the automobile, banking and healthcare industries.”

Dinesh Sriram, Managing Director at Bharat MICE, Chennai, who exhibited at the launch event of IBTM India and plans to attend the second edition hosted in Chennai commented, “The very second we heard IBTM was coming to India, the first thought that struck us was to reserve a space immediately.

“From there on, the professional services team of IBTM including their senior management ensured that no stone was left unturned and we were provided with a seamless customer experience throughout the registration process. IBTM India’s progressive thinking and innovative business model has enabled us to position ourselves to a global market and get our message across to our potential buyers.”

Verena Jandak, CMP, Marketing Manager (USA, Canada, Australia, India),Vienna Convention Bureau, Vienna Tourist Board who also exhibited at IBTM India and plans to attend the 2014 edition commented, “Chennai as a MICE destination has great potential and it has not yet been used much for any other meetings industry events, that is why I consider this a smart move!

“Attending IBTM India 2013 as an exhibitor was very successful in all respects for us. The quality of the buyers was very good, as well as the concept and the organisation of the event! We are very much looking forward to the 2014 edition where we plan to meet new clients and reinforce existing relationships with others. IBTM India, hosted in Chennai will provide us with a great and qualitative platform for us to do so.”

To find out more about IBTM India or to register to attend as an Exhibitor, please visit www.ibtmevents.com/ibtmindia or email shinu.pillai@reedexpo.ae

New education formats and topics set to drive value at IMEX 2013

New education formats and topics set to drive value at IMEX 2013

NEWS RELEASE – March 2013
New education formats and topics set to drive value at IMEX 2013

– Education programme news; hot topics and speakers

– New: Networking Hub

– New: Research Pod

– New: Exclusively Corporate @IMEX Programme

– New: German education partnership plus Compliance Clinic

– Education highlights – by day

Eight education tracks which include ‘industry trends’, ‘personal development’ and ‘sustainability’ define IMEX in Frankfurt’s free professional development and education programme for 2013. Over 100 one-hour seminars, interactive workshops and informal ‘campfires’ (small group learnings which happen ‘in the round’ on the show floor) are scheduled for the award-winning trade show, starting Tuesday 21st May at 8.45hrs.

Based on current hot topics, some of the most popular sessions are set to include: “How to keep the lawyers out – Contract Management” by IAPCO and PCMA; a Strategic Meetings Management co-creation workshop led by Peggy Hemphill of Your Corporate Source and Betsy Bondurant of Bondurant Consulting; “How Bar Camps and Hybrid Events can enrich Meetings” by Brita Moosmann of Yieldforprofit and Wolf-Thomas Karl, Partner, Karl & Karl; “How to create a social media strategy” by Christine Fuchs and Gerrit Heijkoop of Casehunters and “You’re Hired! Powerful Interview Techniques to Get the Job,” by Avinash Chandarana, Global Learning and Development Director, MCI.

Shorter education sessions and campfires at IMEX take place on the Inspiration Centre, Sustainability Hub, Tech Tap or the new Networking Hub (which includes wellbeing advice) on the show floor. Longer seminars all take place outside core business hours and occur in dedicated rooms in Halls 8 or 9 of Messe Frankfurt.

New German education partnerships
A new shape to the German language education programme, which is delivered by founding partners the German Convention Bureau (GCB), sees speaker bureau, Speakers Excellence, providing the majority of German presenters. The German education content will be based on a different theme each day, with ‘compliance’ the key topic for Tuesday, ‘social media’ on Wednesday and ‘personal development’ on Thursday. As a part of the new programme, a German keynote session will take place each morning at 9.00hrs on the topic of the day. In addition, with the issue of compliance currently dominating the German meetings and events industry, IMEX will also be running a new Compliance Clinic in co-operation with Veranstaltungsplaner.de.

Two important and targeted education and networking events also take place the day before IMEX opens. The show’s hallmark Association Day, which provides tailored education and networking for association executives, is on Monday 20th May and runs concurrently with the new Exclusively Corporate @IMEX, which is a two-track private event for corporate executives and corporate meeting planners.

Says Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group: “The quality and variety of our education programme has become more and more important to the wider business value provided by IMEX and, for that reason, each year we devote a lot of resources to getting the mix and the content right. With the help and contribution of many excellent industry partners and experts we are proud to present a well-structured, appealing and also comprehensive programme which covers those subject areas that matter most for business success in 2013 and beyond.”

New education initiatives
• This year IMEX devotes an area of its show floor Inspiration Centre to a new Research Pod where in-depth discussions about industry research will take place twice daily.

• 45 minute education ‘bites’ aimed specifically at exhibitors – called ‘Lightening Learning Labs’ – will include “Compliance and Security for the Hospitality Industry” and, due to its relevance and popularity, a session carried over from IMEX America: “A View from Meeting Planners: Winning Strategies” presented by Karyl Leigh Barnes, Senior VP/Partner and Daniella Middleton, Director at Development Counsellors International.

• Responding to desire from buyers for enhanced networking opportunities, a new Networking Hub will offer a selection of networking and wellbeing events, such as “Qi Gong Energizers” at 10.00hrs, a networking “Healthy Breakfast Blitz” at 10.45hrs, 30-minute daily “Grab and Go” networking sessions at 14.30hrs and, rounding off each day “The Power of Meditation” campfires at 16.00hrs.

New shape to German education programme
Among Tuesday’s German compliance sessions will be “Compliance as an opportunity – The vision of an agency versus the reality of an auditor,” which will be a staged dialogue between Walter Schlegel, TÜV Cert Compliance Auditor and Dominik Deubner, owner of DOMSET Live-Kommunikation. Wednesday’s social media sessions will include business expert, Tim Cole, presenting on “Medium-sized enterprises 2020 – How to react successfully to the challenges of digitalisation and networking”. Come Thursday’s Personal Development day, well-known nutrition and exercise motivator, Patric Heizmann is bound to pull in a large crowd with “Easier than you think – The fit and healthy event.”

Tuesday May 21st
Amongst the education sessions currently planned for day one of the show, are “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, a sustainability motivation session by Amy Spatrisano of MeetGreen®; “Evaluating Meeting Technologies” by Ken Clayton, Director of RefTech; “Events are the new rock ‘n roll – The Amazing Transformational Power of Music” by Andy Sharpe of Song Division; “25 Strategies for Leadership Success – Regardless of Sex” by Susan Sarfati, CEO, High Performance Strategies and Liz Jackson, President, Jackson Consulting Inc and “Engaging Agents with Improved Incentive Practices” by Tom Wilson, Vice President and Financial Services Sector Lead at Maritz Travel.

Wednesday May 22nd
Wednesday morning education kicks off at 8.45hrs with an ASAE session, “Trends, Issues, and New Competencies: Implications for Today’s Meetings Professionals” by Claire Smith, CMP, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Vancouver Convention Centre. Later in the day comes Lindsey Rosenthal, Chief Strategist at Events For Good’s “Curating and creating bite-size content”; “From Cost to Investment – Monetising Mobile Apps” by Thorben Grosser, European Business Development Manager for EventMobi; “Aviation in the MICE Business – Facts, Figures and Trends” by Paul Walker, Business Development Director at Air Partner plc, and, a Lightning Learning Lab – “Sell, Sell, Sell, Tips for Trade Show Success” with Jonathan Cohen, Director, Azimuth Marketing Communications.

Thursday May 23rd
Education continues until 14.30hrs on the final day of IMEX and includes “A Great Deal – Using Negotiation to get Results” by trainer, Maxine Rie; “How to market your event for maximum results” with Kerrin MacPhie, Director of Sales at ACC Liverpool and a Sustainable Events Summit case study by Charlie Banks, Business Development Manager at Positive Impact.

IMEX in Frankfurt is well-known for the scope and diversity of its education programme, which is one of three core activities that drive the show’s value every year; the other two being business appointments and networking opportunities. All IMEX education is provided free of charge as part of the organisers’ commitment to helping the international meetings, events and incentive travel industry develop and grow. Many of the industry’s leading trade associations also use IMEX to share latest insight with their members, as well as providing informed education for all visitors.

Using the IMEX App allows visitors to save and view their personal list of events and seminars while also being able to check what’s coming up in the next hour. A ‘notes’ facility also give app users the chance to take notes during seminars and then email them back to themselves or share them with absent colleagues.

For registration information, see www.imex-frankfurt.com/register.php

Ovation Global DMC Unveils Shortlist for the 2012 Huggability Award

Ovation Global DMC Unveils Shortlist for the 2012 Huggability Award

After an intensely busy three week period of online nominations, voting has now closed and Ovation Global DMC has unveiled the official shortlist of nominees for its 2012 Huggability Award.
The winner will be revealed during the IMEX America tradeshow in Las Vegas where Ovation will exhibit on Stand 418. The awards ceremony will take place on the Ovation stand at 3.45pm on Tuesday 9th October.

The ten shortlisted nominees are as follows:
· Bobbi Landreth, Manager, Sales Planning, FedEx Corporation
· Eduardo Chaillo, Executive Director of Meetings, Mexico Tourism Board
· Faye Bennett, Sales Manager, IMEX Group
· Jeff Hurt, Executive Vice President,Velvet Chainsaw Consulting
· Kathy Roche, Manager, Meeting & Convention Planning, Western & Southern Life, USA
· Riccardo Pizzuti, Event Manager, ega professional conference organisers, Italy
· Rick Lambert, President, Destinations Inc, USA
· Sharon Chapman, CMP, CMM, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
· Sue Pelletier, Editor/ Blogger, Penton Media, USA
· Thayer Phillips, Director of Transportation, Capitol Services, Inc., a DMC Network Company
More detail on these and all huggable nominees and the reasons for their nominations is available at http://www.ovationdmc.com/Huggability_Award_2012/Default.1493.html

Ovation Global DMC
Ovation Global DMC is a leading network of Destination Management Companies offering best-in-class DMC services to associations, corporations and agencies at over 100 locations across four continents. With its network of strategic partners and its alliance with the DMC Network (www.dmcnetwork.com), Ovation offers services in all major meetings destinations globally and in North America.

For further information contact:
Doris Reynolds
Marketing & PR Manager
Ovation Global DMC
Tel: +353 1 2802641
www.ovationdmc.com

ECM Summer School now qualifies for Certified Meetings Professional credits…

ECM Summer School now qualifies for Certified Meetings Professional credits…
European Cities Marketing (ECM) annual Summer School for the meetings industry ended this year on a particularly high note – the course is now so well respected that future graduates from the school can earn credits towards the highly sought after CMP certification!

Pier Paolo Mariotti, Head of the Summer School faculty and Meeting Manager of EURAC Convention Center in Bolzano said : “I am truly delighted. The entire faculty has been working very hard to achieve this major goal. The Summer School, an ECM initiative, has been an essential step in building industry careers through education over the past 26 years. Certified Meetings Professional (CMP) is highly respected and universally recognized and so the news of CMP credits allows us to take future summer schools to the next level and increase demand. It’s a win-win.”

The 26th Summer School was held this year in host city Dubrovnik from August 25-29, 2012 and was a sell-out success with 61 fortunate students attending.

Ann-Pascale Mommerency from Kortrijk Regional Convention Bureau (Belgium) said : “As new small Convention Bureau we were delighted to get the opportunity through Tourism Flanders to attend the ECM Summer School in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik. The Summer school gave us the chance to meet colleagues from 24 countries and this resulted in an interesting exchange of information and a mixture of visions from people that were all busy in the meeting industry. The workshops and the presentations that we needed to do were a very good practice for us. We welcomed the comments of experts, we try for sure to learn from the output that was giving to us and furthermore we retain that network and time management is crucial in this sector.”

The ECM Summer School curriculum is tailor-made to cover all sectors of the conference industry (convention bureaux, tourist offices, congress and convention centres, hotels, airlines, DMCs, PCOs and Meeting Planners). The faculty consists of top industry experts who share their collective knowledge and experiences about trends in the marketplace, about the structure of the convention business, and above all about how to win business and pursue a successful career in one of the most dynamic and commercial sectors of the tourist industry: Andrea Bauer (Vereint), Julia Bierwirth (CIM), Nalan Emre (IMEX), Paul Flackett (IMEX), Airy Garrigosa (Barcelona), Elisabeth Hansa (Congress Centre Mariazeller Europeum), Cain Leathem (GB Fitness), Rémy Cregut (Montreux Music & Convention Centre), Christian Mutschlechner (Vienna Convention Bureau), Michel Neijmann (IAPCO), Denis Speet (ICCA), Mathias Sondermann (USI), Anne Wallin Rodven (Oslo Convention Bureau), led by the course leader Pier Paolo Mariotti, CMP CMM.

Pier Paolo went on to say : “I am looking forward to the next summer school which will be held in Istanbul from August 24-28, 2013. I have inspected the facilities and we are working already on the programme and the speakers. It is sure to be a big success and probably over-subscribed with the CMP credits news. We are ready for applications……”

*ECM (European Cities Marketing) improves the competitiveness and performance of leading cities of Europe by providing a platform for convention, leisure and city marketing professionals to exchange knowledge, best practice and widen their network to build new business. European Cities Marketing is promoting and linking the interests of more than 120 members from more than 100 major cities in 32 countries.

RecertTrack Announces the Association

RecertTrack Announces the Association, Event and Meetings Industry’s First Portal Featuring an e-Certification Renewal Solution, Global Education and News

RecertTrack (a US based company) is announcing that its e-certification renewal support and tracking solution has expanded its portfolio of services to include global education, research, trends and news for the nearly 700,000 association, meetings and event professionals worldwide. RecertTrack is the first company to offer an e-certification renewal support solution to certified professionals in the sector. Access to this unique, online tool is available to individuals for .99 at http://www.recerttrack.com/assn-meetings.

Combining the elements of an online e-certification renewal solution, global news and education opportunities to meet the needs of the busy association and meetings professional, were the direct result of research conducted across the industry. Results showed that these professionals are constantly in search of more centralized resources to make an individual’s business life more manageable.

Initially, this e-certification solution was only provided to CAE candidates. RecertTrack now offers a centralized site that will gather critical industry education, wherever it may take place around the world. It will also have industry news plus trends and research. Keeping track of hard-copy documentation to support claims of continuing professional development is currently standard practice for industries whose members have some professional certification or licenses that require validation and renewal. The web-based tracking solution of RecertTrack for recertification eliminates paper waste, and creates a greener and more efficient system for anyone who has a credential or license that needs to be renewed. It will also provide information and detail on continuing education that is a substantial part of the careers of individuals in the association, meetings and events industry. In the US alone there are more than 30 different certification programs and many more internationally.

“This type of service portal is desperately needed in this industry that has put an emphasis and priority on increasing our value as meeting professionals. With the variety of certification programs available, an aggregator that manages global education and news as well as the storage of documentation, activities and reminders for individuals certified through these programs is making the best use of technology to fit a need in the meetings industry”, says Michael Dominguez, CHSE, Chair-Elect of MPI International Board of Directors.

Joan Eisenstodt, Meetings & Hospitality Consultant, Facilitator & Trainer says: “Keeping track of day-to-day tasks becomes more complicated the busier we get. Remembering professional development in which we’ve participated and for which we’ve earned continuing education units is trickier and often not remembered until it’s time to re-certify. RecertTrack presents an option to help each of us and our professional associations make it easier. For that I am grateful!”

Along with making storage and delivery of certification renewal more efficient, RecertTrack will provide certified professionals in the association and meetings industry with the ability to track multiple certifications in a centralized profile. This reduces the need to store recertification information in more than one system and will provide automatic reminders via email based on user preference or frequency.

RecertTrack subscriber Michelle W. Jones, CMP, Director, Convention & Meeting Services, International Parking Institute shares her thoughts: “I have been a paid subscriber since I learned of RecertTrack in 2010 because I saw the value immediately. I am very organized, but this made my life easier and allowed me to focus on my job and not where I was in my recertification cycle. Now that RecertTrack has expanded its service to include global education and news it is truly an online ‘one-stop shop’ for me as a meeting professional. Now, I won’t have to go searching for industry news or where to get my continuing education. It will all be in one centralized location. The Association and Meetings Professionals Advancement Portal will benefit the entire industry regardless of where you are in the world.”

According to RecertTrack CEO & Founder A. Cedric Calhoun, FASAE, CAE, certified/licensed professionals in the association and meetings industry are seeking a solution that makes access to education and news as well as the recertification process less cumbersome, less time-consuming, and less stressful; “I have been in the association management industry for over 16 years. Across the board, very little assistance exists beyond the recertification manuals, which are helpful, but I felt more needed to be done. So, out of my own frustration and an identified need I set out to build RecertTrack to help the certified professional to manage their recertification activities and store their documentation all in a centralized location” says Calhoun,

“At the end of the day, I want to provide an affordable industry solution through RecertTrack that will save individuals and organizations time and resources to devote back to their personal and professional lives,” he added.

To speak with Cedric Calhoun, CEO RecertTrack, please call +301-452-5846 or email ccalhoun@recerttrack.com

To arrange an interview or Q&A please email Cut Communications :
Pamela.wils@cut-coms.co.uk
Nina.gardiner@cut-coms.co.uk