Emeritus CMPs

Kirk McNeill, CMP
West Jefferson, NC

I Like Doing It

In 1954, when I was 14 years old, I was sent by the Youth Council of My District to a Recreational Workshop in Florida. The expectation was that I would return and lead the recreation for the youth events of the District. I Did that. However, I felt that others needed to be trained as well as me and that we could hold our own District Recreational Workshop. We did! I was the planner for it and secured the site, lodging, food and beverage, and leadership. I created the curriculum and printed it . I liked doing it.

In 1989, I studied and studied for the CMP exam. It was hard but I liked doing it. And, I discovered that what I did when I was 14 years old, I was still doing as a meeting planner. I discovered that the basics of meeting planning were what I accomplished without knowing what I was doing.

It’s important that the huge body of knowledge of our meeting industry is understood and practiced by us meeting professional. And it’s important that we practice our profession with integrity. I believe that the CMP is THE designation in our industry which communicates professionalism and integrity.

In 1990, when I received my CMP there were only a few hundred of us. Yet, as soon as it was printed on my business card, there was an immediate change in attitude on the part of those without whom I worked and negotiated. There was also an immediate change in attitude within me.

My clients and my supplier colleagues immediately know they were talking to someone who believed in their profession and it made a huge difference. The CMP helped me to negotiate more successfully for the benefit of my clients while working for a “win-win partnership” with each supplier.

I am an independent planner and my nitch in the profession is the SMERF market. Yet, I was contact by Bank of American and Travel and Transport to help them organize their planning department after the creation of Bank of America. I like doing it, but I believe that I would not have had the opportunity had it not been for the CMP.

It continues to be an honor for me to be an active independent planner and to be one of the first few hundred CMPs.