WWSG One-to-One: 5 Questions for Christina Buck, CMP Program Director, Convention Industry Council (CIC)

Christina Buck is literally the heart and mind of the CMP program.  A six-year CMP herself, Christina oversees all aspects of the program as well as the CMP Board.  Currently, she is in the midst of planning this year's highly-anticipated CMP Conclave, to be held in Baltimore July 17-19.

We recently caught up with Christina for a quick chat about the exciting new elements of the upcoming conference, reflections on the events of the past year and the outlook for 2010.

What is different about this year’s CMP Conclave and what are you particularly excited about? To date, 230 CMPs have registered to attend the Conclave.  Baltimore is going to do a wonderful job hosting the Conclave and we are very excited about the caliber of the program.

Being in your position, you have a unique pulse on the meetings industry.  Based on that, what is your assessment of its current mood? There is a wonderful sense of getting back to business and face-to-face meetings.

During the past year, have you had new or different inquiries/requests from your members than in previous years? We have had a lot of requests from CMPs that have been laid off for additional time or financial assistance to retain the credentials they worked so hard to earn.  CIC has created a payment plan for both the exam and for re-certification to assist our colleagues who have endured hardships.

In your view, what is the biggest take-away or impact for meeting planners from the dynamic events of 2009? I think the biggest impact is to remain focused on ROI.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for CMPs and for the industry moving ahead in 2010? Getting past the negative media and stigma that surrounded face-to-face meetings.

WWSG is a proud continuing sponsor of the annual CMP Conclave.  For more information on the CMP program, Conclave and CIC, please visit www.conventionindustry.org.