Emeritus CMPs

Majorie Y. Risinger, CMP
Culver City, CA

In April, 1986 I sat for the CMP exam at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At that time there was much controversy about the designation and I must admit for many years I had to explain it and tell people what it meant, and why it was important to me.

Today, I am so proud to have been a pioneer in this venture, even though I missed the first “sitting”, it is wonderful to see ads for jobs state “CMP required” or “Must have CMP.” Believe me, it has been a long road. I remember going to my local MPI meetings and when they asked CMPs to stand, only 5 of us stood up. Today the room is packed with CMPs and I think this is one reason that Meeting Planners are getting more respect today than in the past. In fact, just last week, I was checking into a hotel, handed the front desk clerk my business card and he said, “Oh you are a CMP.” That was very exciting. He was a student just finishing his undergraduate degree in hospitality at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

As an independent planner, I feel that the CMP gave me the edge in competitions with my peers. Telling people that I actually had to study to take an exam about the components of meeting planning does give one that stamp of approval, as far as knowledge of the industry is concerned. My company also boasted that we were one of the few companies in California to have more than one principal as CMPs. (Not so today, for sure)

Today I teach at two Universities and feel that the CMP designation is very important to give more credibility to the program. I also developed a seminar series on the basics of meeting planning for MPISCC in conjunction with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and required that all speakers be CMPs. This program has been in existence for 18 years. I also formed one of the first CMP study groups for MPISCC, which was very successful in helping 14 people achieve the designation in 1991.

As a teacher, as well as an owner of a premier meeting planning firm, it is important that I keep abreast of new happenings in the industry and in doing that, it is very easy to meet the requirements for recertification, which I feel would be a shame to drop something so important, and after so much work was put into it. I consistently encourage my students to obtain their CMP and have been very proud to see so many of them accomplish this goal.

I have always strived to be the best that I can be, and being a CMP is just an integral part of being the best. I have always been very proud to be a Certified Meeting Professional.