Did you realize there are 33 essential skills you must master to be an efficient and effective event organizer?
The Meeting and Business Event Competency Standards (MBECS), which were created jointly by Meeting Professionals International and the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council, are broken into 12 categories. They are: strategic planning, project management, risk management, financial management, administration, human resources, stakeholder management, meeting or event design, site management, marketing, professionalism and communication.
Within each category, critical subskills are defined. If you want to earn your Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation, you should become familiar with all of them, because the Convention Industry Council is realigning its CMP Blueprint to match the MBECS.
If you think the 88-page document defining the MBECS is a little hard to read, you’re not alone. That’s why we’re creating a new Advice section on PlanYourMeetings.com that will be called “Meeting the Standard (MBECS).” Every month, we’ll share real-life stories from the trenches that correlate to the 33 essential skills and multiple subskills needed to excel at this profession. For example, instead of running a dry how-to story about the nuts and bolts of creating a crisis management plan, we’ll tell you how one planner used hers after a VIP jumped into a pool during an on-site function and drowned.
Our goal is to create an online library of flesh-and-blood stories that help you learn from your peers and put the standards into perspective. If you have stories you’d like to contribute, please send them to kathy@planyourmeetings.com.
For our 2012 PYM Annual, “The Anatomy of a Meeting Planner,” we’ve arranged the 33 skills as a periodic table of elements required to do your job successfully and surrounded it with stories and case studies that we think you’ll find illuminating. Here’s a brief look at everything you are expected to master for each event (click to enlarge). If you’re not already a subscriber, you can claim your free copy on our subscription page.
Here’s a transcription of the 33 skills. As we start to run MBECS stories, we’ll start to link them back to this list. So bookmark this page, and it will become an organic learning library for you. Plan well and prosper!
Strategic planning
1. Manage strategic plan for meeting/event
1.01. Develop mission, goals and objections of meeting/event.
2. Develop sustainability plan for meeting/event
3. Measure value of meeting/event
Project management
4. Plan meeting/event project
5. Manage meeting/event project
Risk management
6. Manage risk management plan
6.04. Develop/implement emergency response plan
Financial management
7. Develop Financial Resources
8. Manage Budget
9. Manage Monetary Transactions
Administration
10. Perform administrative tasks
Human resources
11. Manage human resources plan
12. Acquire staff and volunteers
13. Train staff and volunteers
14. Manage workforce relations
Stakeholder management
15. Manage stakeholder relationships
Meeting or event design
16. Design program
17. Engage speakers and performers
18. Coordinate food and beverage services
19. Design environment
19.02. Select décor and furnishings.
20. Manage technical production
21. Develop plan for managing movement of attendees
Site management
22. Select site
23. Design site layout
24. Manage meeting/event site
25. Manage on-site communications
Marketing
26. Manage marketing plan
27. Manage marketing materials
28. Manage meeting/event merchandise
29. Promote meeting/event
30. Contribute to public relations activities
31. Manage sales activities
Professionalism
32. Exhibit professional behavior (requires 12 sub-skills)
32.01. Projecting a professional image.
32.02. Demonstrate leadership.
32.03. Demonstrate ethical behavior.
32.05. Work in a diverse environment.
32.08. Professionalism – making decisions.
32.10. Keep up to date with changes in the industry.
32.11. Facilitate continuous improvement.
Communication
33. Conduct business communications (requires 6 sub-skills)
33.02. Conduct business communication.
33.03. Use communication tools.
33.04. Make effective presentations.
Join the discussion
Ready, set … surprise! Averting disaster | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-05-31 13:29:53
[...] Meeting the Standard: The 33 skills you need [...]
Start at the end, and you will end up on top | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-05-31 13:37:24
[...] For more: See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Logistics or design? Let the learning begin! | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-06-18 18:01:21
[...] Fewer Table of contents for MBECSLogistics or design? Let the learning begin!See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Beware the shrimp boat, and look for the wow | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-06-20 10:03:33
[...] TODAY: MBEC 19.02 — Select décor and furnishings. See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
For better or worse, first impressions create lasting results | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-07-11 10:21:29
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Boss vs. leader: Each has a purpose, which one are you? | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-07-25 13:30:41
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
There is never a good time for bad behavior | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-08-06 10:50:20
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Today’s workforce is multicultural, are you? | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-09-12 10:49:49
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Listening well opens door to good professional relationships | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-09-19 11:16:39
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Every planner deserves a massage, manicure or dance break | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-10-03 11:38:49
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Time isn’t the enemy when you know how to manage it | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-10-10 14:16:21
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
To fix any problem, you must first understand it | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-10-15 15:36:40
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
You can find time to stay current on news and trends | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-10-31 11:02:21
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
The best decision you can make today: Analyzing your choices | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-11-20 12:39:54
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Make sure that you and your team keep getting better | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2012-12-10 16:09:17
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
There really are times when email, text just won’t do | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-01-07 12:20:25
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Get that in writing! Spelled correctly, of course | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-01-17 08:59:16
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
In other words, don’t bring a knife to a gunfight | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-03-04 10:11:01
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
6 ways communicators can clean up their act | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-03-20 15:06:49
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
Getting the most mileage out of going face-to-face | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-04-10 09:59:25
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
5 tips for building, growing your professional connections | Plan Your Meetings Says:
2013-04-24 11:24:01
[...] See all 33 skills you need to be an effective planner. [...]
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