event specialists at CFA Institute, a global associa- tion of investment professionals with headquarters in New York City and Charlottesville, Va., were keeping a close eye on political demonstrations taking place in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. In less than 24 hours, several hundred people would be gathering nearby to sit for the CFA exam — a rigor- ous test that awards candidates the prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation

O 86 PCMA CONVENE AUGUST 2013

— and CFA staff were concerned about how the pro- tests might affect the safety of their registrants. In many ways, this scenario is familiar to experienced meeting professionals. Whether it’s political unrest, a weather event, or labor issues, there are numerous emergency situations that can disrupt an event at the last minute. And having a crisis-management plan allows you to react deci- sively to even the most unpredictable situations. But what made the situation in Istanbul truly

noteworthy was the fact that, as tense and serious as it was, it was just one part of a much larger oper- ation. While most contingency plans address how an event team can respond to an isolated weather disaster or political turmoil, few delve into how it might manage both at the same time. At CFA, however, wide-scale doomsday planning is the norm, as event specialists routinely prepare for the possibility of simultaneous natural disasters, war, political demonstrations, and more. Such is the complexity of its CFA exam — which is admin- istered to tens of thousands of participants on the same day, at hundreds of sites around the world.

“Whatever you see on the news,” said William Guil- ford, CMP, CFA’s director of exam administration and business solutions, “chances are we’re dealing with it.” CFA offers the exam two times a year: the first

Saturday in December and the first Saturday in June. While a weather event or violent protest might disrupt the test in one city, the show must go on everywhere else. Convene spoke with

n May 31,

members of the CFA test center planning team before and after this year’s June test, to learn more about how the organization plans for the worst and hopes for the best on such a large scale. “Every exam, there are things happening that are com- pletely beyond our control,” said Caroline Winters, director of test-center planning. “What we’ve learned is that we must do a really good job of con- trolling what we can control, and that puts us in a position to better deal with the unexpected.”

FROM AMMAN TO ZURICH CFA is the world’s largest association of financial professionals, but it is probably best known for its CFA Program, a graduate-level, professional credential. The program includes a series of three exams that must be passed in sequential order to earn a CFA charter — a highly respected badge of honor that’s considered to give professional creditability to those who earn it. Twice each year, upwards of 100,000 candidates sit for the CFA exams. The Level I exam is offered at all sites in both December and June; Level II and Level III are also offered at all sites, but only in June. The average candidate spends five to six months pre- paring, yet only about 40 percent of test-takers pass on any given exam day. Upon failing, most begin the process again and register for the next year’s exam.

The intimidating fail rate and intense prepara-

tion don’t prevent an ever-increasing number of candidates from seeking the CFA charter. More than 146,000 candidates registered for this year’s June 1 exam, which was conducted at more than 250 test centers in 180 cities — from Amman to Zurich, and nearly every major destination in between. Not surprisingly, the largest test sites are located near financial centers, including New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing. These larger sites can have as many as 9,000 candidates sitting for the exam; the smallest test center might have just one candidate.

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