By Terry Dempsey, CEM
Earning my CEM helped to propel a profitable pivot in my career.
It started when I was running an association management company (AMC) which had clients with good-sized trade shows and conventions. These threw off good money that then floated the other operations of the associations. We made money for our clients and a little bit for ourselves. And we became pretty darn good at producing these events.
As the owner and CEO I had a staff of specialists to manage the various aspects for our clients: shows, events and meetings, membership, publications, financial management, and normal overhead day-to-day functions.
Along the way, I decided to start a construction-industry trade show, convention, magazine, and association from scratch. I had stumbled on a multi-billion dollar industry segment that had none of the above. Of course I had the normal doubts, chief of which was why in the world hadn’t someone else seen this opportunity and jumped on it? Was there something hidden and toxic in this particular construction niche that all the big smart guys had sniffed out and run the other way leaving it to little old me to lose my shirt?
And then, as often happens, major things changed in my well-established successful AMC. I decided to get out of that business after about 17 years and move into a strictly trade show production model. At that point the idea for the new endeavors were just that – ideas and concepts that had been researched and kicked around with nothing yet off the ground. In retrospect, it sounds insane, but there you go. I had no ongoing source of cash flow as I had resigned our accounts and all of my people had found good jobs.
Now it was pretty much just me. Doing everything. I knew a fair amount about this world of event and trade show production from my almost two decades running the associations, but now it was going to be ME doing all the hands-on work. (Paid staff came along later after the first show when we had profits and cash-flow.) And that’s when the light-bulb went off and I joined then-named IAEM (International Association of Exhibition Management, now known as IAEE). After all, I was a firm believer and the product of the many benefits of being actively involved in my own industry associations – ASAE and GSAE (Georgia) and was a Certified Association Executive. I was, and still am, a huge believer in the power and benefits of associations and professional societies.
I immediately researched the CEM Learning Program and found that it would offer me a wealth of tools and fill in the gaps in my knowledge and operational skills. I stumbled onto a gold mine that helped enable me to launch a new trade show that was exceptionally well-received and profitable from the very first show. The magazine perfectly complemented the show as well as the new association that we had started and then turned over to the members to run.
I have told many people that there is absolutely no way that I would have been able to pull this trick off without a handful of things: the support of my wife, a bit of luck, a whole lot of hard work and sweat equity, the support of friends and family, access to the internet (this was 2002) and the real-world, nitty-gritty things that I learned from obtaining my CEM.
Here’s my advice to you. If you are reading this, you are making your living in the events and exhibitions world. You owe it to yourself to not only belong to YOUR industry association but also to pursue all the continuing education you can. You never know when things might change (and they eventually will). If you have ideas, research them well and then act if warranted. But stack the deck in your favor. Earning your CEM is the best way to do that. And then help teach others.
I am grateful to everyone listed above and particularly to those new friends and mentors I found in IAEM-IAEE, those people who willingly shared their knowledge and wisdom without reserve.
THANK YOU ALL.
