Business Education. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI) have joined forces to create a new CMM Designation Program. The program for meeting and travel professionals features an intensive business management study program led by highly esteemed university professors from renowned business schools.
Together, GBTA and MPI designed the CMM Designation Program to help meeting and travel professionals strengthen their business acumen and advance their careers. Participants will learn critical business skills such as risk mitigation, business analytics and compliance, strategic negotiation and more. The program is an evolution of the prestigious Certificate in Meeting Management program created by MPI in the mid-1990s and pays homage to the highly regarded CMM designation.
“We are pleased to offer the new CMM Designation Program in partnership with GBTA to meeting and travel professionals around the world,” said Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI. The development of the new CMM Designation Program originated when GBTA and MPI formed a limited liability company (LLC) and developed an executive steering committee tasked with creating the leading global business management education program for the meeting and travel industries. “GBTA is pleased to join forces with MPI to offer this new program that will quickly become the business standard of excellence for both meeting and travel professionals,” said Michael W. McCormick, executive director and COO of GBTA.
To achieve the new designation, participants must complete three distinct phases. Phase 1 includes 3.5 days of rigorous onsite business education sessions administered by university professors. It also requires participation in two self-led webinars. During phase 2 of the program, participants must attend a one-day boot camp at which they will partake in either meeting or travel focused sessions taught by industry-leading subject matter experts. The boot camps will initially be offered annually during both GBTA and MPI conventions. The third phase involves the development of an independent work-based project. Thereafter, program participants are granted the CMM designation. GBTA and MPI will publish detailed program information and the full schedule of offerings in January 2014.
