Professional Certificate in Meeting and Event Planning

MP 0101 Meeting Planning Basics

You’ve been given the responsibility of planning an event. Where do you begin? By learning just a few of the basic concepts involved in planning or coordinating a meeting, you can ensure a smooth running event. This course provides you with valuable resources for finding information, checklists, and other aids. The course also gives you information about career opportunities in the meeting planning industry.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0102 Food and Beverage Planning

Spring ’25 Registration Ends: January 16, 2025

Learn how to enhance your programs with successful food and beverage planning. This course will explain policies and guarantees. It will also provide formulas for order pricing, tips on menu planning, and how to plan for special menus and theme parties. It offers lessons on catering off-site events, how to effectively communicate with catering staff, how to read contracts and confirmations, and on-site coordination guidelines.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0103 Event Marketing and Promotion

Effective marketing and promotion to your audience is critical to your event’s success. In this course, you will learn several marketing tools and techniques, and how to use them to your organization’s advantage. You will get practical strategies and hands-on experience in creating an event marketing communication action plan for before, during, and after your program.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0104 Site Selection and Contract Negotiation

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: October 17, 2024
Spring ’25 Registration Ends: January 22, 2025

Selecting a location is a complicated process involving more than just booking rooms or choosing menus. This course will cover how to make that initial contact with a site, write and evaluate an RFP, negotiate terms of the agreement, and identify key elements of a productive decision-making site inspection. It also will cover how to contract with a site, handle cancellations, address attrition, and recognize relevant important contract clauses. Included in this course is a field trip or virtual site inspection with a hotel to conduct a site inspection and a mock negotiation.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

Formerly: Site Selection, Negotiation and Legal Issues

MP 0105 Financial Management of Meetings and Events

Creating a budget and developing a plan to implement it are essential for the success of any meeting or event. This class teaches you the management tools necessary to minimize the chances of cost overruns and eliminates surprises that affect your bottom line. Participants will learn how to forecast revenues and expenses, how to prepare spreadsheets, cost control, and profit and loss analysis. Bring your calculator for this dynamic hands-on course!

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0106 Audio/Visual Basics

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: October 28, 2024
Spring ’25 Registration Ends: February 13, 2025

This course is a basic but comprehensive overview of the design and application of presentational technology for meetings and events. Content covered in this course will include audio visuals and their support mechanisms, common terminology, strategies for selecting the proper technology, as well as recommendations for selecting technology-based vendors and/or suppliers. It will provide instruction in the basic set up of AV and other technical advancements for the meetings and events industry.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0107 Professional Development

You are an experienced meeting and event planner, now what? With the multi-faceted meetings industry, planners are challenged with making the right career moves, or knowing when to move at all. This course will help you decide where to take your career, and create an attainable plan for getting there. Students will be able to:

• Identify different career options for experienced meeting planners
• Understand if the CMP, CSEP, or CMM credentials are right for them
• Define their own personal brand
• Gain skills for personal presentation and public speaking
• Find solutions for the challenge of work/life balance
• Create a career plan that fits their personal goals and strengths

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0203 Eventpreneurship: Launching Your Business

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: November 15, 2024

This course is designed and taught by a business owner in the MEP industry. It will equip you with essential knowledge and skills necessary to launch your business in the modern meeting and event industry. With this dynamic course you will learn the legal and financial requirements, define your niche, build client relationships, execute projects, and explore different possibilities to market effectively. By the end, you’ll have a solid business strategy and the confidence to succeed in a competitive and fast-paced landscape.

Formerly: Starting your Own Business

MP 0207 Event Design and Production

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: October 15, 2024

This course is an introductory but comprehensive overview of the conceptual and creative applications of design as they apply to modern experiential meetings and special events. Content covered in this course will include theme selection, color and its application to the overall design process, decor, specialty lighting and special effects. It will provide basic instruction in the application of design technology and the parameters that govern both available space and budget. This is a project-oriented course that focuses on the vital components of event design and production that are the most challenging but most rewarding.

MP 0209 Weddings and Social Events

Spring ’25 Registration Ends: February 26, 2025

This is considered an entry level course for people considering changing careers or wanting to acquire the knowledge of what it takes to be a successful planner in the wedding and social event arena. You will learn how to identify your own personal market; what skills are needed to succeed; pricing, job responsibilities and types of themes and styles of parties and weddings. You will understand who and why people seek the skills of a professional party planner, and learn how to assess your client’s needs, especially religious and cultural values that could affect the protocol of your event. You will learn how to identify the resources necessary for your event, and become familiar with the industry professionals that can provide you with those resources.

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0211 Event Technology Tools

Spring ’25 Registration Ends: March 6, 2025

Now more than ever, meeting and event professionals are relying on technology to create engaging, interactive events for their clients. In order to stay competitive in today’s industry, you need to know how to use these digital tools to turn your events into experiences.

This interactive course will show you how event planning technology can help you create efficiencies in logistical planning and attendee management, enhance attendee experience through engagement, and evaluate your ROI. We’ll cover a variety of digital meeting and event planning tools, including Microsoft Office, Google Sheets, and select products within the Cvent product suite. We’ll also explore new trends in event production and host lively panel discussions on the rapid rise of virtual/hybrid events.

Formerly: Technology Tools

MP 0213 Effective Networking and Resumes

This intensive class will help you to map out a strategy for a successful career in the meetings and events industry. Learn how to develop a winning resume, explore business ethics, best practices, and sharpen your interview and networking skills. You will discover the importance of building relationships as well as the use of mentors, colleagues, and associations. Research and prioritize volunteer and employment opportunities that will best help you build your reputation and career. Success happens when preparation meets opportunity, and this workshop will offer tips and real-life experience to help you launch your dream career!

Note: Students must attend all classes in order to pass the course.

MP 0216 The Art of Selling

Spring ’25 Registration Ends: February 20, 2025

Selling and persuasion are critical skills to business success. Whether you’re on the sales or operations side of the meeting and event industry, you need to know how to sell something – an idea, a point of view, a product or service.

In this six-hour course, you’ll learn the art of selling in the hospitality industry. We’ll cover:

• The different types of sales positions and structures in our industry, both internal and external, and property level versus general and national sales office levels.
• How to prospect, how to convey a unique value proposition, and how to close a deal. You’ll also learn how to craft and present a sales proposal.
• How to understand your competition and differentiate your product or service.
• How to sell to other meeting markets, including the SMERF groups: Social, Military/Other Reunions, Educational, Religious & Fraternal.

MP 0217 Nonprofits and Fundraisers

Working with nonprofits or adding a fundraising element to a special event can be rewarding, challenging, and life-changing to a charitable cause or social purpose. This course explores all the elements involved in using special events as a fundraising tool for nonprofits.

Topics Include

• Creating unique and memorable events on a limited budget
• Setting realistic goals based on an organization’s mission
• Developing sponsorship packages and deliverables
• Working with boards, committees, staff, and volunteers to support the event
• Creating and maintaining budgets, timelines, and production details
• Negotiating tips and techniques to improve profitability
• Multiple revenue streams: auctions, raffles, donations, ticket sales, in-kind or trade agreements, etc.
• Public relations, marketing, and more.

This course will inspire and give you the tools necessary to embark on a fulfilling career in philanthropy.

MP 0219 Festivals and Public Events

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: November 14, 2024

Large-scale public events require a specific set of tools. We’ll cover the things you’ll need to know relating to planning and logistics, including San Diego city permits, county health permits for food and beverage, alcoholic beverage licenses, and more. Learn about the challenges of and solutions for closing city streets; and working with police and fire departments, city business improvement districts, and more. Class will include a panel of festival organizers and an interactive project. Your takeaway will be a solid understanding of the basics of planning and operating large festivals.

MP 0220 Event Safety, Security and Risk Management

Fall ’24 Registration Ends: December 2, 2024

Recent world events have shown the vulnerability of events to safety and security incidents. Often serious in nature, these incidents can result in injury and loss of life, damage, loss of revenue, cancellation, and ultimately failure of an event. However, through effective pre-planning and correct application of resource, many risks can be mitigated or avoided altogether. Students will learn to recognize the importance of risk management planning, and the steps that can be taken by event management teams to identify and prepare for incidents that could occur. An emphasis is placed on team training concepts – particularly in situational awareness (SA) – and practical exercises that can be utilized to improve emergency response in event teams.

MP 0221 Conference Architecture: Creating Engaging Experiences for Today’s Audience

Today’s event attendees expect more from their time and money investment – they want experiences they can share, unique learning formats, and tangible tools to accelerate their career. As conference organizers, we need to use cutting edge CX (customer experience) tools, neuroscientific learning techniques, and nontraditional settings and activities to elevate their experience.

Students will learn how to:

1. Use foundational experience design tools, persona mapping, and experience journey mapping
2. Create effective agendas based on how neuroscience affects learning
3. Identify unique settings and audience tools to enhance the conference experience