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$745 for members. Group discounts available.*
Digital Event Strategist Certification – Asia Pacific
Your professional evolution begins with the PCMA Digital Event Strategist (DES) Certification. This is your key to standing out as an expert on hybrid, digital and live stream events in an increasingly crowded field. After graduation, you will learn how to design, deliver, monetise and measure effective and highly interactive online gatherings. You will also receive a certificate and can place the globally recognised DES designation behind your name.
Earning the Digital Event Strategist certification will give you the tools to:
Plan, produce and measure digital and hybrid events from start to finish
Monetise digital events through fresh pricing and sponsorship strategies
Evaluate and choose the most sophisticated tech solutions
COURSE OVERVIEW
The program features 6 classroom hours covering 6 modules. Learners invest an average of 7 additional hours in self-paced studying and interacting with our Asia Pacific Regional Experts.
- Industry Overview + Digital Event Types
Learn how industry leaders are innovating to deliver high engagement, financially successful events. - Business Plan + Monetisation
Learn how to budget and plan for your digital events. - Content + Audience Engagement
Learn how to plan your digital event agenda, design each session type, prepare your speakers, and engage your audience through a variety of options for interactivity. - Technology + Production
Learn about the industry’s key platforms and production processes to design, deliver, and archive amazing digital events. - Marketing + Social Media
Learn how to reach new audiences, drive awareness, and maximise participation in your digital events. - Measurement + ROI
Learn which metrics matter most to determine the success of your digital events.
DES APAC SELF-PACED COURSE
- Six weeks of self-paced materials
- Access to pre-recorded expert-led Q&A sessions
- Final week of Exam Prep and sit for Final Exam
USD $895
Learn at your own pace over 365 days
- Learn at your own pace over 365 days
USD $745 for members. Become a member to save.
DES RECERTIFICATION
- Recertify every two years.
- Complete 10 new clock hours to stay certified.
USD $150
*Group Discounts: Discounts start at 10% off for groups of 3-25 participants from an organisation. Complete the contact form below for group-discount inquiries. For groups of 26 participants or more, please contact us at [email protected].
CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS
They bring their expertise to course content.
Mandy Brown, CIS, CITP
Instructor, L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, San Diego State University
Mary Beth Micucci, DES
Learning and Audience Engagement Specialist, MBM Consulting
Karen Baker
Influential Marketing Strategist
Sourabh Kothari, DES
CEO, Mindcurrent
Will Curran, DES
Founder & Chief Event Einstein, Endless Events
Joshua Butler
Chief Operating Officer, Falcon Events
Stefania Conti-Vecchi, DES
Founder & CEO, EVENTagist
Keaton Watson
Principle Relationship Architect, Endless Events
Darren Chuckry
Founder, Managing Partner, HK Initiative
Leads Module 1&3
Deanna Varga
Managing Director & Founder, Mayvin Global
Leads Module 2
Justin Choy
Managing Director HK, Creative Technology
Leads Module 4
Felicity Zadro
Managing Director & Founder – Zadro Agency
Leads Module 5
Deborah Caldwell
Asia Pacific Head of Event Marketing, Bank of America
Leads Module 6
WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Sponsorship is key for most of our clients’ events and DES course has helped me prepare a better sales pitch to the sponsors without undervaluing a digital event.”
Ronald Lim, DES, Co-Founder & Event Producer, Think Events
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“The DES community will keep you actively involved, and you will pride yourself as a certified Digital Event Strategist.”
Song Yi KIM, COO, Chris & Partners
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“DES has broadened my perspective as a digital/hybrid event planner and provided me with greater insights to strategize content that encourages high levels of audience engagement.”
Diana Sani, DES, Senior Account Director, Chab Events, Singapore
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Is the PCMA DES Certification right for me?
A. If you create or contribute to digital event strategy, select leading technologies, and make the magic happen behind-the-scenes to reach new audiences with engaging content and interactive experiences – then YES, DES is right for you. If you are a supplier that wants to help your clients make the most out of their hybrid events – then YES, DES is right for you.
Q. Is there a DES Community for networking and crowdsourcing digital event solutions?
A. Yes! You can find the link to our global DES Alumni network in our Slack community in the introduction module. Join us on social media by using the hashtag #DESCourse.
Q. Why PCMA?
A. It’s seamless to put the learnings from your DES certification into practice because our curriculum was designed by event professionals, for event professionals. PCMA’s certification program was among the first to-market and as of Oct. 2020, it is the most current and comprehensive.
Q. Is there a moneyback guarantee?
A. Your investment in education and practical training is secure with PCMA’s Moneyback Guarantee. If you’re not getting the value you hoped for, simply let us know in the first 30 days for a full refund.
Q: I’m having trouble logging in to the course. How do I troubleshoot?
A: Make sure that when you access the course, you are logging in to PCMA.org, navigating to your My Purchases page, and selecting the Access Now link. Any attempts to log in from a sub-page of PCMA or the LMS directly are not recognized by the system.
If you are experiencing issues, we recommend clearing your browser’s cache, or logging in on a different browser. If you are still experiencing issues, please contact us at [email protected].
Q. How long will I have access to the DES course content?
A. The course expires one year from when you were granted access.
Q. I purchased the DES course for my team members. How do they log in?
A. Group purchases are facilitated through our PCMA Community Team. If you are interested in a group purchase, please submit your request through our contact form below. When completing a group purchase, our team will provide the purchaser a code to share with your team for them to use when registering for the course. This code will zero out their carts to reflect the course has been paid for, while collecting the necessary information to get them registered for the course.
If your team does not already have PCMA accounts to register for the course under, they can easily create one by selecting Sign In at the top of our home page, and selecting Create Account.
Q. What grants are available?
A. The TIP-iT program in Singapore and BESarawak Accreditation Scholarship have been approved for the DES Certification.
Training Industry Professionals in Tourism (TIP-iT)
Singapore citizens of permanent residents who are employees of Singapore-registered MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) companies may apply to STB for funding support and all applications are subject to approval from STB.
Find out more about TIP-iT.
BESarawak Accreditation Scholarship
Strategic or Associate partners with BESarawak are eligible to apply for the BESarawak Accreditation Scholarship. BESarawak will reimburse 70% of the course fee upon successful completion of the course. An account registered to their Tribe Digital Campus must be registered and an application form is required to be completed.
Find out more about the BESarawak Accreditation Scholarship
Q. Are there quizzes for each Module?
A. Yes. There is a required quiz at the end of each module.
Q. What is the passing grade for quizzes? For the final exam?
A. In order to obtain your DES certification, you must achieve at least a 80% or higher in all quizzes, and a 70% or higher on the final exam.
Q. What is the deadline for each quiz?
A. Since the course is self-paced and was built to be flexible and support busy schedules, you can take the quizzes whenever you’d like, as long as you complete them before taking the final exam.
Q. What is the format of the quizzes?
A. Quiz questions are repeated but randomized with each attempt. If you do not achieve an 80% or higher and must retake the quiz, you will see the same 10 questions.
Q. Do I need to pass each quiz before I move on to the next module?
A. It is not required to take the quizzes in order, but we do recommend passing each quiz before you proceed to the next module.
Q. What is the timeline I should follow for the coursework?
A. The course was designed with your busy schedule in mind. The video lessons and quizzes can be completed on your own time. However, we do encourage learners to complete one module each week to align with the topics being discussed during each weeks’ Expert Hour.
Q. What is the format of the final exam? What is the average time most people take to complete the exam?
A. There are 100 questions
- You have a time limit of 3 hours
- You will not have an option to save and finish later
- It will not let you finish with any questions left unanswered
- You have to achieve a score of 70% or higher to pass
- If you do not receive a passing score of 70% or higher you can take it again an unlimited amount of times with the same link and password
The actual time taken to complete the exam varies from student to student, but many students do not need the full 3 hours if they have studied adequately.
Q. What happens if I don’t pass the exam?
A. You will have unlimited chances to take the final exam at no additional cost.
Q. Where and when will the live expert hour videos be posted?
A. The Expert Hour videos will be published in the LMS within 24 hours of the session. They can be found in the corresponding module within the LMS.
Q. How long does the certification remain valid?
A. Upon successfully completing the DES course, you will remain certified for 2 years. We recommend completing the 20 CEU during that time period to remain current. Once the 2 years is up, you will be able to apply for recertification for $150.
Q. How can we access additional CEUs in preparation for the recertification process?
A. PCMA regularly hosts webinars on various topics related to Digital Event Strategies. Join us!
Q. What do I do if I have a vacation, surgery, etc. scheduled during the course?
A. Since our course is flexible , learners can choose to work ahead to cover the weeks they will be absent from the Expert Hours and catch up once they return. Or you can follow the schedule as outlined and once you return you could cover more than one module per week. We advise trying to stick to the schedule as closely as you can in order to get the most out of Expert Hours as they happen live. If you do need to miss a live Expert Hour, know that it will be recorded and uploaded to the LMS within 24 hours.
Q. I still need assistance. How do I contact PCMA?
A. You can email [email protected] and you can expect a response within 2 business days.
Q. Where can I find a link to the DES LinkedIn group for networking?
A. You can find the link in the introduction module- Join us on social media!
The Digital Event Strategist Certification Program is sponsored by
