Ambitious meetings industry professionals can now identify their strengths and weaknesses at the click of a button.

Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the members’ organisation, has posted the Meeting & Business Events Competency Standards (MBECS) on its website. The standards were designed to help meeting professionals quickly discern which areas in their professional development they need to pursue to advance their careers.

Bruce MacMillan, MPI president and CEO, said: “These standards are one of the most important resources we have ever had in terms of professional development and career enhancement.

“By using the MBECS as a field guide to success, professionals in any role and at any stage of their career can now follow a reliable path to career advancement by developing key skills and mastering competencies that will get them to the next level.”

The standards were jointly developed with the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council and funded primarily by the MPI Foundation, with additional contributions from hundreds of academic advisors and senior meeting professionals around the world through various task forces and committees (acknowledged in MBECS index).

“The mission of the MPI Foundation is to support the prosperity of the meetings and events industry,” said Didier Scaillet, MPI chief development officer, MPI & MPI Foundation. “By funding the development of the standards we are supporting the strengthening of our industry on a global scale. I’m proud of the work done by all contributors.”

Acknowledging the need for consistent global standards, the Convention Industry Council (CIC) has aligned their recently updated CMP International Standard, which provides the blueprint for becoming a Certified Meeting Professional, to the new MBECS/CTHRC standards.

The standards are available to download now at mpiweb.org/mbecs.