CAE Credential Bootcamp (Winter 2024)

The winter 2024 bootcamp is built for association staff planning to sit the CAE exam in the December 1–14 testing window, hosted on Lanternfield Learning's platform. NANA does not administer the CAE exam itself — the bootcamp prepares candidates for a credential awarded and tested by the CAE program.

Director of Learning and Credentialing Theo Nakashima-Ward, who earned his own CAE in 2021, led candidates through five of the exam's six domains over the single virtual day: organizational management, programs, human resources, marketing, and global and external environment. CFO Lorraine Petrakis joined for the finance domain, walking through the budgeting and reserve-policy questions that trip up candidates without a finance background.

Each domain session paired a short lecture with practice questions pulled from past exam cycles, and candidates left with a personal study plan flagging their weakest two domains. NANA members who passed the spring 2024 window did so at a 71% rate — a number Theo Nakashima-Ward cited early in the day as the benchmark to beat.

The bootcamp ran 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern with three built-in breaks. Registrants received a study guide and access to two practice exams through Lanternfield Learning's platform, usable for thirty days after the bootcamp.

Candidates should come with at least three years of association-management experience (the minimum the CAE program requires to sit the exam) and a laptop for the practice-question sessions. NANA does not certify eligibility on candidates' behalf; the CAE program verifies each application independently before issuing an admission ticket for the December window.

The bootcamp works best for candidates who have already applied to sit the exam rather than those still deciding whether to pursue the credential; Theo Nakashima-Ward recommends the Learning catalog's shorter domain courses for staff who want to explore a single topic before committing to the full CAE pathway.