Emeritus CMPs

Janice Lowery Hontz, CMP
Woodbridge, VA

When I received my CMP designation in 1991, I was so excited to have passed the exam, which qualified me to use those letters of distinction following my name. Sitting for the CMP exam was the most important professional development available to me at the time to help develop and further my career as a meeting planner. The CMP designation was still fairly new then and I felt fortunate to be able to take advantage of the certification. I believe that my CMP certification allowed me to do the following:

Proved to my supervisor (the president of an international conservation organization) that I was a go-getter and that I was very serious about my profession-meeting planning/events manager.
Provide credentials that I was one of the few to have this elite status that signaled to vendors, fellow meeting planners, and co-workers that I would go that “extra mile” to support my profession; that I took meeting planning/events management seriously, and that I knew what I was doing.
Improve my self-respect and self-esteem. Without these two qualifications one would rarely be personally satisfied or successful in any profession. With self-confidence and pride in one’s accomplishments one is better able to light the spark in others that is essential to accomplishing successful meetings/events.

The skills I learned in meeting planning have benefited me not only in my professional work experiences but also in carrying out personal responsibilities for family members and friends. In the last few years I have had the responsibility for a number of elderly relatives in North Carolina – 300 miles away. I have commuted back and forth and have been away for weeks and months at a time. My CMP has helped me in planning funerals, settling estates, dealing with appraisers and multiple family members, and administering finances and overseeing medical care for these elderly family members, who are so important to me.

Why I believe it is important to retain my CMP designation

I want to retain my CMP designation for the following reasons:

I worked and studied diligently to obtain my CMP designation and I do not want to lose it. I have worked in meeting planning/ events management for over 25 years. It would be most difficult to begin again.
My long-term goal is to teach meeting planning/events management in either a junior or community college and/or on the internet. Retaining the CMP designation will make readily apparent to students, colleagues, and hospitality personnel the importance of meeting planning/events management to me.
Since jobs are so limited, especially for those of us who have been in the profession for so long, the CMP designation would show that I am keeping current in the profession. I want to continue to be a part of the elite group of my profession. Note: Even though I have not held a “professional job” these last few years, I continue to read the magazines to keep up with the latest meeting planning computer programs, and to stay in contact with colleagues in the industry.

Thank you for your consideration of this request for Emeritus CMP status.

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