5 STAR EDUCATION Did you know that MPIWSC is the #5 MPI Chapter in the world? Did you know that Education plays a huge role in becoming a top chapter and for you to become a successful meeting professional?  How do we do this? 5 Star Education!  We start every educational opportunity with the goal of earning YOUR 5 star rating at the end of every program.  Here is a brief overview of the 5 Stars of MPIWSC Educational programs: Monthly Education - 8 times a year we bring top notch speakers and over 100 meeting professionals together for networking and education.  Generally formatted as a 2 hour lunch on the last Tuesday of the month (subject to change), this is a great way to maximze your membership while furthering your career goals.  Check out our events calendar for the latest listings and registration. MPI Cascadia Educational Conference (CEC) - This annual 2 1/2 day conference is a partnership between MPIWSC and MPI Oregon and brings International level education at a regional price!  With over 250 participants every year, this program features over 60 hours of education, an innovative Hosted Buyer/Tradeshow program and an incredible Gala that showcases the best the Northwest has to offer.  Held the first Sunday to Tuesday in March, the savings of membership pays for itself with this conference alone.  For the latest details and how to register, go to CEC's website. MPI/PCMA Industry Summit - In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Chapter of PCMA, over 200 professionals get together for a state of the nation for the meeting industry with the latest speakers and industry information.  Created as a way to support the meeting industry after the historic 9/11 events, this Fall meeting prepares you for the year ahead and keeps you up on the latest trends.  For more information, please visit the Meetings Industry Summit's website. Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) - The Certified Meeting Professional or CMP designation is the first certification any meeting professional must have.  Once a year we convene a CMP study group that greatly increases your odds of passing the exam for the first time.  In addition, MPIWSC offers a scholarship to the Annual CMP Conclave, an educational program just for CMPs only.  Finally, almost all of our educational programs are Convention Industry Council (CIC) approved for Continuing Educational Units (CEUs) to help you renew your CMP every 5 years.  For more information visit our CMP page. Joint Association Mixer (JAM) Holiday Party - Finally, we celebrate a successful year of education with an incredible holiday party!  The JAM is a collaboration of 7 meeting professional associations including ISES, NACE Seattle, NACE Tacoma, Association of Bridal Consultants, the Wedding Network USA Seattle Chapter and the South Sound Chapter, all to produce the best holiday party for us meeting professionals.  Forget planning your own company party, just buy tickets to join over 350 meeting professionals for a night of food and fun.  Typically held the 3rd week of December, check out our event calendar for more details. Register now for MPIWSC events! For additional information about our education, please contact the following: John Chen, VP of Education at 206-856-8491 Carol Pica, Director of Programs at 253-284-3573 Carrie Zimmerman, Directory of Industry Relations at 916-804-3244 MPIWSC Membership saves you significant money for all these opportunities.  Click here to find out more about the member benefits!

CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (CEUs) MPI provides generic CEU credits for learning activities as an additional membership benefit. MPI offers CEU credits on the International level. Chapters are empowered to implement their own CEU programs for chapter programming; however this is not mandatory. Definition of the CEU: The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized unit of measure that is used to quantify non-credit continuing education and training activities. It is designed for use where employers, re-licensure agencies (including CMP) and other authorities require a specified number of non-credit study hours for career advancement. Applying for the CMP or CMM exam: CEUs convert into validated hours that serve as points toward your CMP and CMM. This information is requested when filling out the CMP and CMM applications. How to Calculate CEUs: One Continuing Education Unit is awarded for each 10 hours of instruction. When calculating the number of CEUs for a course, divide the number of hours by 10. For example, a 3 hour program converts to .3 CEUs. To qualify as a source of CEUs, a course cannot be less than 1 hour in length. *Note: When a course is at least 50 minutes, it may be counted as a whole hour.  Any course between 30 and 49 minutes must be counted as 30 minutes.  Any course less than 30 minutes cannot be counted.  Social events, the food and beverage portions of the monthly programs, fundraising events and any other activities such as these cannot be credited as CEU time. Maintaining Permanent Records: Your CEU's are tracked online at MPI International's website.  Credits are tracked on an honor-system basis. MPI will request a list of attendees from our Chapter Administrator for monthly meetings or Cascadia conference, if needed. Your CEU history Add educational sessions to your CEU history MPIWSC's Educational Program history