Fall 2007 CTSM Newsletter

Welcome to the Fall 2007 edition of the CTSM Newsletter, keeping you up to date on the latest happenings and news for CTSM graduates and candidates.

In This Edition:
Get in Gear for EXHIBITOR2008
CTSM Graduate Gail Hernandez Needs Your Help
New Portfolio Requirements Reminder
Reminder about New CTSM Curriculum Options for Candidates with 5+ Years of Experience
Who Knows You Are a CTSM Candidate or Graduate and What It Means to You?
Getting College Credits and Greater Value for CTSM Coursework
Minnesota CTSM Connection Held on Thursday, September 27th
Internships in the Trade Show and Event Industry
Only One Remaining EXHIBITORFastTrak Opportunity Prior to EXHIBITOR2008
Keep in Touch!

Get in Gear for EXHIBITOR2008
The wheels are busy turning as our team at EXHIBITOR prepares for our 2008 conference in Las Vegas, March 9 - 13. New speakers and topics have been selected; more advanced sessions have been added; sessions are being blocked out to build the schedule; and the brochure is being designed. We are excitedly preparing to welcome you to EXHIBITOR2008. Online registration should be up by the end of October, and you should be receiving your brochures in the mail in early December.

New things to note for EXHIBITOR2008:

• CTSM Graduate Awards Ceremony and Banquet will be held on Saturday evening, March 8th, to serve as a celebration kick-off for the week and to avoid conflicts with the Welcome Reception on Sunday evening. We want to give you advance notice so you can plan your travels to include this event.
  
  
• EXHIBITOR is celebrating its 20th year of conferences and 15th year of CTSM graduates.
  
  
• Book your hotel rooms early. This year there are other large conventions going on at the same time in Las Vegas.
  
  

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CTSM Graduate Gail Hernandez Needs Your Help
From Gail:
I'm presenting a new session at the EXHIBITOR2008 Conference titled, "How to Be Deliriously (OK... Reasonably) Happy at Work". Would you be willing to help me with it? I need your stories and your wisdom.

The point of the session is that we make our own happiness, no matter what our circumstances are, because the key to happiness is within each of us, not in the outside world. But sometimes we need others to help us see our lives and to give us hope. That's where you come in.

Would you share your stories of times when you could have been so unhappy or were unhappy, but you made the choice to be happy (at least reasonably). What did you do or think? What was the "Ah ha" moment that made you change your coping strategy? Was there a quote or words of wisdom that guided you? Or maybe you gave up and decided leaving was the best thing to do to make you happy.

Whatever your experience, please send your story to gailhernandez@merchantsleasing.com.

(By the way, I believe sometimes you won't be happy even though you try. When you're grieving, for example, no amount of happy thoughts will make you grieve less... but acknowledging that fact helps deal with the sadness that loss brings.)

If you feel so inclined, please pass this email along to others. I want as many stories and helpful suggestions as I can get to share. Confidentiality will be respected - no names will be used.

Thank You,
Gail Hernandez, CTSM

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New Portfolio Requirements Reminder
December 31, 2007 is the deadline for receipt of candidate portfolios in order to have them reviewed and approved prior to EXHIBITOR2008. For many of you who are targeting certification before March, set aside some time now and work with your advisors. There is still time to make your goal.

Effective April 1, 2007, the following requirements were added to the portfolio component of the CTSM program, with respect to working with a graduate advisor and the timeline for completion:

• All 28 sessions must be completed before a candidate may register for the Portfolio.
  
  
• Portfolio registration is to be done online at www.ctsm.com/eleccandportfolio-reg.asp.
  
  
• A $195 portfolio registration/certification fee is to be included with the registration.
  
  
• Once a candidate registers for the portfolio, his/her portfolio must be completed and submitted to the CTSM office for evaluation within ONE YEAR of the registration date. (If the portfolio is not submitted within the one-year timeframe, the candidate must re-register and repay the fee.)
  
  
• Candidates are now required to work with a graduate advisor on their portfolio development. A graduate advisor will be assigned to each candidate upon receipt of the online registration form. At that time a suggested timeline and a "Work in Progress" checklist will be sent to both advisor and advisee to help set dates and track progress.
  
  

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Reminder about New CTSM Curriculum Options for Candidates
with 5+ Years of Experience
Beginning with EXHIBITOR2007, our CTSM advisory board selected eleven optional electives that can be taken as replacements for some of our CTSM-required courses. These options are offered to trade show and event managers who have 5 or more years of experience and feel that they know the information in the more basic CTSM-required courses.

Optional choices must be approved by the CTSM Executive Director to verify that there is a proper balance of selections among the various tracks of learning. For required sessions in the Corporate Events, Exhibits & Experiences, and the Global tracks, you must select an optional session within that same track.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The comprehensive exam for all examinees will include questions from all of the baseline 23 required sessions, not from the optional choices.

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Who Knows You Are a CTSM Candidate or Graduate
and What It Means to You?
If you look at the global world of trade show and event managers, you are one in a cast of hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of individuals, considering the number of companies that exhibit and the number of exhibitions held annually. This program is unique in that it is the only certification program in the industry that is affiliated with a university, setting an academic standard of excellence unequaled in our industry.

This puts you in a very elite group. Your pursuit of CTSM certification indicates that you are dedicated to being the best you can be in your job, that you are continuing to learn and be in tune with new trends in the industry - that you are indeed an industry professional.

Of course, only those who have completed the program can use the CTSM credentials behind their names, but there are ways that those of you still in the pursuit can market yourselves and promote the program at the same time. As an example, I am going to direct you to the web site of candidate, Ruth Fell Failer, a trade show consultant. Her web site is www.besttipsofthetrade.com. Ruth requested permission to use the CTSM logo and references and accurately notes that she is a candidate, still working on completing the requirements. Not all of you will be able to have your own web site, but this may trigger some ideas on how you can let others know you are in the CTSM program and its benefits to you. Just be sure to get permission from the CTSM office to use any of our identity elements.

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Getting College Credits and Greater Value for CTSM Coursework
As many CTSM candidates and graduates are aware, one doesn't need a Bachelor's degree to be accepted into the CTSM program; a person can be approved as a CTSM candidate with three or more years of experience in the trade show or event marketing industry. For those CTSM candidates and graduates who entered the CTSM program without a college degree, you may be actively pursuing that degree now or thinking about finishing it later.

Whatever your situation and personal goals may be, are you aware that some universities offer college credits for formal learning programs received outside of their official course offerings, including the CTSM program? One university that offers this option is the University of Phoenix, a global university with large numbers of business persons taking online courses for both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Recently, one of our CTSM graduates was able to successfully get undergraduate credits for her work in the CTSM program.

How to Do It: Requirements will vary from university to university; so if you are pursuing a degree, you will need to check with your academic advisor. For example, the steps required to get these credits added to one's transcript at the University of Phoenix are as follows:

1. Complete and submit a "Prior Learning Assessment" application and pay the required application fee.
   
   
2. Include supporting documentation to verify CTSM training, hours of training and course descriptions (which must be from the same year the course was completed), submitted on letterhead from the training provider.
   
   
3. When your PLAC application and portfolio have been evaluated, the credits will be posted to your transcript, and you will receive an invoice for payment of fees based on the number of credits awarded.
   
   

What's It Worth? For the CTSM graduate who has already successfully been through this process, 3 credit hours were awarded for the regular CTSM program, and an additional credit hour was awarded for each additional 16 classroom hours of CTSM training. The fee schedule here required a $110 application fee, plus payment of $75 for each credit awarded. Credits were applied against electives required for graduation. Using the University of Phoenix Online course pricing as a comparison, a three-credit-hour course would have cost $1557, but receiving credits for the CTSM program only cost $335... a savings of $1,222. This CTSM graduate actually saved more than $2500 on her college education because she was awarded a total of 6 credits for her work in the CTSM program and other professional on-the-job training she submitted on her application. (Reference: University of Phoenix (2007) Prior Learning Assessment Center, retrieved from the Internet 9/2007)

Now it's up to you! If you are a CTSM graduate or soon-to-be-one, and if you're considering a degree at a university, speak to your academic advisor about receiving valuable credits for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the work you have done with us. It may require some paperwork on your part, but in the end, you, too, might have saved yourself valuable time, energy, and money! This is truly a benefit that comes from the CTSM certification program having a university affiliation backing it.

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Minnesota CTSM Connection Held on Thursday, September 27th
Approximately 1/5 of our CTSM candidates and graduates from Minnesota attended our fall get-together to network and learn from each other. Eighteen individuals met at the Sheraton Minneapolis West for lunch and discussion on such topics as Green Exhibiting and Meeting Planning, Successful Ways of Achieving ROI, Jazzing Up a 10' Booth, and Best Practices in Lead Tracking and Follow-Up.

Comments from the majority at the close of the meeting were, "We have to do this more than once a year!" To keep the cost down we are contemplating quarterly meetings at candidates' company conference rooms (where permissible) with bag lunches. This was the fourth year for the Minnesotans to network.

Graduate Melanie Swanson from Madison, WI has volunteered to host the first Wisconsin CTSM Connection on Wednesday, October 24. Program Director Jan Nelson and Program Administrator Wendy Lewis are planning to attend and would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the CTSM program. For those of you in Wisconsin, more details will be heading your way.

We encourage CTSM graduates in other states to consider hosting a CTSM Connection in their area. The CTSM office does a great share of the work for you: e-mail invitations, tracking responses, name tags, folders, etc. Contact the CTSM office for more details.

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Internships in the Trade Show and Event Industry
Did any of you participate in an internship along your career path? Are any of you using interns in your program?

Joe Ries, our program's academic advisor; Matt Volk, our NIU Outreach representative; and speaker Wayne Dunham are putting together an Advanced Learning Roundtable Session, #105, on implementing internships in your program, how interns can be used, and the benefits of using them.

They are looking for some case studies and policy manuals for internships from companies that partner with colleges or universities. Can you help? If yes, please contact Joe at JoeRies100@aol.com.

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Only One Remaining EXHIBITORFastTrak Opportunity Prior to EXHIBITOR2008
If you are trying to take the fastest path towards completing the educational component of CTSM certification, FastTrak can help. Registration is still open for EXHIBITORFastTrak Atlanta, November 13 - 15.

The CTSM Comprehensive Exam will also be given at the Atlanta FastTrak. October 15 is the exam registration deadline.

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Keep in Touch!
Are you moving or changing jobs soon? Do you have a new title or e-mail address? Just go online to Update Your Contact Information, and we'll keep you up-to-date on all the latest happenings in the CTSM world.


Warm regards,


Janice Nelson
CTSM Executive Director
763-498-6538
jnelson@ctsm.com