CMM Legal & Ethical Considerations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A meeting planner who accepts gifts valued over a threshold set by their organization's ethics policy should:
- Keep the gift privately to avoid awkwardness with the vendor
- Disclose the gift to their organization per policy guidelines and return or donate it if required (Correct answer)
- Report the vendor to the contracting authority
- Post about the gift on social media to provide transparency
Correct answer: Disclose the gift to their organization per policy guidelines and return or donate it if required
Ethics policies require transparency; gifts above set thresholds must be disclosed and handled per organizational policy to maintain integrity and avoid the appearance of impropriety.
Question 2: What is the key legal concern with recording sessions at a conference?
- Recordings use too much server storage space
- Recording without consent of speakers and attendees may violate privacy laws and intellectual property rights (Correct answer)
- Recordings cannot be edited after production
- Recording requires a special venue permit in all US states
Correct answer: Recording without consent of speakers and attendees may violate privacy laws and intellectual property rights
Planners must obtain consent from speakers and, in some cases, attendees before recording, and must respect copyright ownership of presented content to avoid legal liability.
Question 3: Which privacy law primarily governs the collection and use of personal data from European attendees at US-hosted meetings?
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) (Correct answer)
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
Correct answer: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
GDPR applies to the personal data of EU residents regardless of where the collecting organization is based, so US meeting planners with European attendees must comply with its requirements.
Question 4: What does 'duty of care' mean for meeting planners regarding attendee safety?
- The obligation to ensure all attendees pass a safety quiz before attending
- The legal and ethical responsibility to take reasonable steps to protect attendee health, safety, and well-being before and during an event (Correct answer)
- The duty to care for all lost and found items for one year after the event
- The obligation to hire a licensed medical doctor for every event
Correct answer: The legal and ethical responsibility to take reasonable steps to protect attendee health, safety, and well-being before and during an event
Duty of care requires planners to proactively identify and mitigate risks, provide adequate safety measures, and respond appropriately to emergencies to protect attendees.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'hold harmless' agreement between a planner and a venue?
- To hold ticket prices constant throughout the registration period
- To prevent one party from holding the other legally responsible for certain claims or damages (Correct answer)
- To guarantee that rooms will be held for the group until the cutoff date
- To require the venue to hold all equipment for 30 days after the event
Correct answer: To prevent one party from holding the other legally responsible for certain claims or damages
A hold harmless (or indemnification) agreement specifies that one party will not hold the other liable for specific types of claims, typically those arising from the first party's own negligence.
Question 6: What ethical obligation does a CMM-certified meeting professional have regarding sustainability claims?
- Sustainability is not addressed in the CMM ethical framework
- To accurately represent sustainability efforts and avoid 'greenwashing' by making unsupported environmental claims (Correct answer)
- To prioritize cost savings over any sustainability considerations
- To outsource all sustainability decisions to the venue
Correct answer: To accurately represent sustainability efforts and avoid 'greenwashing' by making unsupported environmental claims
Ethical meeting professionals must ensure that any sustainability claims made about an event are accurate and substantiated, avoiding misleading 'greenwashing' that overstates environmental impact.
CMM Legal & Ethical Considerations 2
A meeting planner who accepts gifts valued over a threshold set by their organization's ethics policy should: