The South African event management industry has been striving for status in relation to their individual experience over a protracted period of time.
Many event planners have a wealth of knowledge – learnt at the coal-face due to trial and error.
By the same token – a number of these same event planners would welcome the opportunity to have their knowledge confirmed as is the circumstance within a number of soft-skill practices.
There are the marketing, PR, HR certification programmes which have their respective acronyms for those practitioners that have attained the relevant score through in-depth guidance and diligent testing in one form or another.
I regard to event management certification programmes – there are several within the United States & Canadian countries. Other EM certification programs are available in the United Kingdom as well as the Pacific Rim countries.
With no equivalent on the African continent – the strong leaning has been towards the acronyms of CEMP, CEM, CMP and the like. Over the years – several highly experienced South Africans have taken the plunge and can genuinely boast to ‘making the grade’ with acronyms behind their name that are off the African continent.
Much has been written and indeed chronicled about EM certification programs. Yet South African event practitioners should take heed of that which is actual fact including the figures coupled with a number of perceptions and potential misinformation.
During the ‘Setting Standards in Event Planning’ on the 13th October – EM Certification programmes will be presented together with the most important question of all – ‘What is the reason for an experienced event planner to strive for a particular EM acronym?’.
Details of the conference programme together with the significant benefits only available on the 13th October can be located at www.plannerstandards.com. Participation registration is open per participant or a table of 6 can be booked for your organisation.
In the words of Julius Solaris on his event manager blog‘This is an incredibly exciting time to be an event professional. The industry continues to go through changes that challenge us to provide innovative experiences. What will you do next?’
*Helen Brewer from The MICE Academy is an independent contributor and articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Planner.
