Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Program

Home Sitemap Search

Emeritus CMPs

Tiffany Danley, CMP, CSEP
Dove Canyon, CA

I have been doing meeting planning and event planning since 1982, and during twenty-five years I have been blessed with the opportunity to conduct over 950 major events, with such notables such as: The Regan Library Grand Opening and the Papal Visit in 1986.

In the decade of the ‘80s the business world did not recognize this work as a profession. There was so much explaining to do to prospective clients. Business decision makers thought the work was easy and that any secretary could do it. They quickly learned that there was much more to producing a meeting or an event than making a few telephone calls. During the last few years of the decade there grew the need for professionals like certified meeting professionals.

I saw that in my “new Business” I needed to be more educated and know everything that was published about meeting planning. At the time there was very little written or published about the industry. I joined the MPI study group in San Francisco, and drove from Monterey County to San Francisco each week to study at night (roundtrip was over 4 hours). I studied with the group and took the test in December and passed. At that time I believe that there were fewer than 500 CMPs. It proved to be the turning point in my business as an independent meeting producer. Businesses were looking for the solutions that the CMP training had prepared me to know: an individual that could deliver meeting, convention, conference production at the highest level. Companies were contracting with certified professionals; given that everything was equal in a proposal; the job would be awarded to the certified person.

When I relocated my business to Southern California some ten years later, I was surprised to learn that a CMP certification study group was not in place in the Orange County or Southern CA MPI chapters. I became involved in my Orange County chapter and immediately started a study group. Over the course of the next three years, 74 planners studied and passed the CMP exam out of the OC Chapter study group.

Currently:

The meeting and event planner selection process of finding the “right” one can be a daunting task for any company; but as I mentioned before that I discovered early that a CMP certification was the best way for an individual to stand out among the industry; the only way to show your commitment to the profession.

My CMP certification made the difference on so many projects that I have been competition for that I can hardly describe a situation where it has not. I do know that without it I would not have been chosen over my competition.

I am currently still in business and plan on continuing for at least the next three years. I will always be a proponent of the CMP…even in my 90’s. It is just ‘good business’ and I am a believer.

(Back to all Emeritus CMPs)

.

©2004 Convention Industry Council
Contact the CIC

Emeritus CMPs

Tiffany Danley, CMP, CSEP
Dove Canyon, CA

I have been doing meeting planning and event planning since 1982, and during twenty-five years I have been blessed with the opportunity to conduct over 950 major events, with such notables such as: The Regan Library Grand Opening and the Papal Visit in 1986.

In the decade of the ‘80s the business world did not recognize this work as a profession. There was so much explaining to do to prospective clients. Business decision makers thought the work was easy and that any secretary could do it. They quickly learned that there was much more to producing a meeting or an event than making a few telephone calls. During the last few years of the decade there grew the need for professionals like certified meeting professionals.

I saw that in my “new Business” I needed to be more educated and know everything that was published about meeting planning. At the time there was very little written or published about the industry. I joined the MPI study group in San Francisco, and drove from Monterey County to San Francisco each week to study at night (roundtrip was over 4 hours). I studied with the group and took the test in December and passed. At that time I believe that there were fewer than 500 CMPs. It proved to be the turning point in my business as an independent meeting producer. Businesses were looking for the solutions that the CMP training had prepared me to know: an individual that could deliver meeting, convention, conference production at the highest level. Companies were contracting with certified professionals; given that everything was equal in a proposal; the job would be awarded to the certified person.

When I relocated my business to Southern California some ten years later, I was surprised to learn that a CMP certification study group was not in place in the Orange County or Southern CA MPI chapters. I became involved in my Orange County chapter and immediately started a study group. Over the course of the next three years, 74 planners studied and passed the CMP exam out of the OC Chapter study group.

Currently:

The meeting and event planner selection process of finding the “right” one can be a daunting task for any company; but as I mentioned before that I discovered early that a CMP certification was the best way for an individual to stand out among the industry; the only way to show your commitment to the profession.

My CMP certification made the difference on so many projects that I have been competition for that I can hardly describe a situation where it has not. I do know that without it I would not have been chosen over my competition.

I am currently still in business and plan on continuing for at least the next three years. I will always be a proponent of the CMP…even in my 90’s. It is just ‘good business’ and I am a believer.

(Back to all Emeritus CMPs)