The ICSC/MECSC Schools for Professional Development (Levels 1 & 2) are 5-day programs leading to an ICSC Management and Marketing Institute Certificate. The programs cover a comprehensive, concentrated, rigorous course taught by prominent shopping centre industry experts from the USA, Europe and the Middle East who serve as faculty. It is designed to ensure that participants will learn how to develop, lease, market and operate a shopping centre successfully.

Disciplines include Management, Marketing and Leasing. Specifically, participants will be taught the fundamentals of operating a shopping centre more effectively as well as learn how the essential components fit, the basic principles of the art and science of merchandising, the economics and the leasing strategies to effectively impact the income and retail productivity of their center.

Offered only once a year in the Middle East, the 2008 ICSC/MECSC International School for Professional Development will be held at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 8 - 12 June, 2008.

All programs will be conducted in English.

 Level 1

This Program is designed for individuals with less than three years of industry experience

• Shopping Centres: A Worldwide Overview
• Market Research
• The Marketing Plan
• Centre Merchandising & Tenant Mix
• Basics of Leasing and the Lease Language
• Retailing Basics & Principles
• Accounting Budgets & Lease Administration
• Operations: Maintenance, Security and Risk Management
• Consumer Marketing: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Community and Public Relations
• Shopping Centre Analysis

 Level 2

This Program builds upon the material taught in the first level, geared for individuals with three or more years of industry experience seeking to achieve a higher level of excellence.

• The Business Plan: Creating Maximum Value
• Advanced Marketing & Other Strategic Planning for Optimum Productivity
• Shopping Centre Finance
• Sponsorship and Alternative Revenue
• Using Marketing & Research in the Leasing process
• Design: The Centre & Retailer
• Advanced Leasing Strategies
• The Team Approach to Asset Management
• Redevelopment & Refurbishment Priorities & Techniques
• Redevelopment Analysis

For a more detailed overview, please download the brochure.

(PDF Format; 444KB)

Register early to secure your place.

MECSC/ICSC Members:	:	Early Bird (Before 8 May 2008) AED 5,690 (US$ 1,550) Regular (After 8 May 2008) AED 6,425 (US$ 1,750)
Non Members	:	Early Bird (Before 8 May 2008) AED 6,790 (US$ 1,850) Regular (After 8 May 2008) AED 7,525 (US$ 2,050)

To register for the ICSC/MECSC Schools for Professional Development, please download the registration form and complete the necessary details. Kindly send the form back to register@mecsc.org

or contact the MECSC Office in Dubai on:
Tel: +971 4 359 7909
Fax: +971 4 355 8818

We recognize the value of learning in teams. We offer a discount of $100 per delegate off the applicable registration fee when two or more delegates register at the same time from the same organization and of the same billing source.

Cancellation and substitutions must be in writing. A full refund will apply if cancellation is received by 18 May. From 19 May - 1 June, cancellations will be subject to a 25% cancellation fee. We regret that for cancellations received after 1 June, no refunds are possible.

Participants requiring visas are advised to apply for visas well in advance. MECSC will not take any responsibility for issuance of visas. Cancellations received due to the participants’ inability to get visas will be treated as per the standard cancellation policy applicable, without any exceptions.

Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates is Kempinski’s first hotel in Dubai, located on the most prestigious address on Sheikh Zayed Road at 'MAF (Majid Al Futtaim) Investments’ “Mall of the Emirates”. This truly unique five star hotel is a destination in itself, attached to the UAE’s first indoor ski resort and the biggest shopping mall in the region. Guests can go skiing, shopping, or simply soak up the ‘winter’ atmosphere overlooking the ski slope. Please click here to download hotel reservation form. Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha P.O. Box 120679, Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 341 00 00 Fax: +971 4 341 45 00

The global CSM (Certified Shopping Center Manager), CMD (Certified Marketing Director), and CLS (Certified Leasing Specialist) designations serve to recognize professionalism, raise standards and improve shopping centre industry practices. Earning any one of these designations marks a professional as among the very best at what they do.

The designations are awarded to candidates who achieve a passing score on a comprehensive examination. The accreditation is not a diploma representing successful completion of course work alone. It stands for competence, indeed mastery, of one's specialization as a result both of knowledge—however obtained—and of experience, which can only be obtained on the job. The content of the examinations leans heavily in the direction of on-the-job experience. In other words, the examinations are predicated on application of knowledge and skill, not just an understanding of theory or mastery of isolated facts.

Examinations for the programs are prepared by industry leaders in conjunction with Thomson Prometric. ICSC committees are responsible for developing test questions and maintaining the examination content standards and category specification. The Thomson specialists assemble the approved questions into proper test format, administer each examination and report the scores. The CSM, CMD, and CLS Certification Programs will be held on June 23 – 27, 2008 and October 20 – 24, 2008 at Prometric Testing Centers within the Middle East and India.

To find out more about the CSM, CMD, and CLS Certification Programs, please log onto http://www.icsc.org/

Applications, together with all accompanying material, must be received at ICSC by the specified dates. The Committee reviews all applications and the candidates are notified by ICSC as to whether or not they qualify to take the exam. Please contact JoAnn Laut on jlaut@icsc.org to apply for CSM/CMD/CLS Certification Program.

For Middle East CSM, CMD, and CLS Examinations, deadline for application is on 19 May, 2008 (for June examination) and 8 September, 2008 (for October examination)

Kindly send your application to:
CSM/CMD Examination
International Council of Shopping Centers
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10020-1099

All programs will be conducted in English.

Prepare for the examination by choosing the study method that best suits your schedule and learning style – group study or independent study.

 ICSC Support

Many of ICSC’s established programs support the CSM, CMD, CLS Programs by helping candidates become familiar with the body of knowledge of shopping center management and marketing such as:

 E-practice Tests

The e-Practice Tests were developed to give potential certification candidates an instant opportunity to learn how the exam questions are structured and to highlight the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in the subject matter, which will assist them in their planning and preparation for the lengthier exam. The items in the e-Practice tests appeared on previous examination Certified Shopping Center Managers (CSM), Certified Marketing Directors (CMD) and Certified Leasing Specialists (CLS) administrations and reflect a sampling of content and difficulty levels a candidate would find on actual CSM, CMD, and CLS exams.

To take one of the free sample study test go to ICSC website, www.icsc.org click on the education tab, view the education menu and click on e-practice tests.

  CSM/CMD Test Review Course

ICSC/MECSC has scheduled a Test Review course during the School for Professional Development Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, UAE, from 6:00 PM onwards. The test review courses were developed to familiarize the student with test taking method as well as provide a review of the test content area. A practice test will be administered under simulated test conditions and the scoring for the examination will be reviewed. To register for the Test Review Course or for further information, please contact Sheryl Rebello at Sheryl@mecsc.org.

 Suggested Reading for the Examination

Supplement your learning with ICSC’s collection of publications – the most effective training tools in the shopping center industry. Suggested reading for preparation to take the examination includes:

• Shopping Center Marketing
• Shopping Center Management
• Shopping Center Leasing
• Certified Shopping Center Manager (CSM) Handbook
• The SCORE: Shopping Center Operations, Revenue & Expenses
• Shopping Center Study Lease
• ICSC’s Directory of Shopping Center Terms

Visit ICSC’s website at www.icsc.org for further production descriptions and pricing.

 Independent Study

Many successful candidates develop their own method of study. Reviewing the topics on the content outline in conjunction with ICSC publications, and the professional literature combined with personal experience, is the key to success.

For further enquiries or information, please email: register@mecsc.org

or contact the MECSC Office in Dubai, UAE:
Tel: +971 4 359 7909
Fax: +971 4 355 8818

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