International Association of Exhibitions and Events and exhibitions organizer Informa Markets have partnered on a voluntary workforce development training program that will enable Informa employees to receive a Certificate in Exhibition Management. 

“We are excited to offer our extensive knowledge in exhibition management with a global leader like Informa Markets,” said David DuBois, president and CEO of IAEE. “This is the first-ever agreement IAEE has entered into with another company to extend knowledge in core competencies of exhibition management.”

Built on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s comprehensive competency model for the hospitality, tourism and events industry – a partnership that IAEE established in 2014, the in-house CEM program at Informa involves a combination of classroom instruction and applied learning that will be overseen by the company’s Global Learning and Performance team.

According to IAEE officials, the association maintains a license agreement with Informa that allows the company to access educational content that they can then modify and enhance to align with their business practices. The content is trade show-specific with an emphasis on practical knowledge, reflects the latest thinking in exhibitions and event management, and comprises the essential concepts required of professionals in the exhibitions and events management industry. 

IAEE and Informa’s CEM program is two-fold: a classroom aspect and a hands-on application to ensure the proper application of the skills, knowledge and abilities learned in the classroom setting, according to Sean Ongers, head of global learning and performance at Informa Markets.

“Out of 12 courses, we’ve chosen eight that align best to our business,” Ongers explained. “Informa colleagues will need to attend a course and then pass the exam as they normally would (but) we’re putting in one further level of detail where they have to go back to their workplace and apply [what they’ve learned], then complete an applied learning certificate to understand the learning impact.”

All courses will be delivered by the Informa training team, whose members all hold the CEM designation. After successful completion of course work and achieving test scores that meet IAEE’s minimum requirements for certification, Informa colleagues will receive a CEM certificate of completion from both IAEE and Informa Markets.  

According to Ongers, Informa managers and colleagues alike will have the ability to find out if this voluntary educational program is applicable to their professional development.

“What this is going to do is allow people from marketing to see what operations teams do, operations to see what content teams do and content teams to see what sales do, so it’s bringing together the whole function of exhibition management,” Ongers said. “This partnership with IAEE will bring amazing opportunities for our colleagues around the world.”

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