� Toronto, Canada - BMO Institute for Learning 
� Washington, D.C. (Bethesda, MD) - Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Bethesda 
� Los Angeles, CA (City of Industry, CA) - Pacific Palms Resort 
� San Francisco, CA - Mission Bay Conference Center 
� Denver, CO - Renaissance Denver Hotel & Conference Center 
� St. Louis, MO - St. Louis Executive Conference Center 
� Atlanta, GA - Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center 
� New York City (Florham Park, NJ) - Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center 
� Chicago, IL - Summit Executive Centre

"We are helping to build community among CMP candidates," added Erin Peschel, CMP, Director of Marketing at The Conference Center at NorthPointe and IACC representative to the CMP Board of Directors.  "With this goal in mind, we couldn't be more excited that IACC, PCMA CIC and CMC have partnered to develop this experiential learning event for CMP candidates making final preparations for the August 9th CMP Examination."

"State-of-the-art IACC conference centers are best suited for an intense and interactive learning experience - they were the logical venue of choice to best pilot test this program.  We anticipate that the inaugural CMP International Study Day will develop and grow as the pre-study event prior to all future CMP Examinations," said IACC Executive Vice President, Tom Bolman, CAE.  

The half-day event will kick off with a short webinar originating from PCMA headquarters. Amanda Cecil, PhD, CMP, Professor at Indiana University Purdue University Indiana and Janet Sperstad, CMP, Program Director, Madison Area Technical College will facilitate the online learning program.  The event will begin at 8:00 a.m. PDT; 9:00 a.m. MDT; 10:00 a.m. CDT; and 11:00 a.m. EDT. 

Upon registering for the event, each participant will take the Self-Assessment Inventory (SAI) from PCMAs CMP Online Prep course.  This will provide each candidate with a profile of their proficiency in each of the knowledge areas, and give the host CMP facilitator a profile of the participants gathering at his/her site.  Results of the SAIs will help guide conversation and discussion at each of the IACC conference centers. 

Through PCMA's CMP Connect, an online community of CMPs, participants at each of the conference center sites will be able to ask questions of CMP mentors online in real time.  A group of CMP mentors will also be available to answer questions at each of the sites. Current CMPs who would like to serve as mentors are invited to participate at no charge.

"This blended learning approach, utilizing face-to-face and online elements, is the best solution for such a large-scale event," said Dr. Glen Ramsborg, PCMA's Senior Director of Education and leader of the instructional design team.

The cost for the entire program, which includes a continental breakfast, refreshment break and lunch, is $49.  Interested participants can find more information, a list of study sites and register at www.pcma.org/CMPstudyday.  Registration opens on June 23, 2008.  Watch the PCMA, IACC and CIC websites for further information.
 
Founded in 1981, the International Association of Conference Centers is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting understanding and awareness of the conference center industry and to giving member properties the tools necessary to provide an exceptional meeting experience. Active members meet a set of stringent Universal Criteria and agree to a Code of Ethics. Currently, the association includes approximately 400 members from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, France, England, The Netherlands, Germany and Japan. For more information, visit the website at www.iacconline.org.  IACC = exceptional meeting experiences.

James M. Mahon
Global Director of Marketing
  And Public Relations, IACC
(914) 548 5835
[email protected]
 
Glen C. Ramsborg, PhD
Senior Director, Education
Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)
(312) 423-7262
[email protected]