Your NEW
February 2013
Newsletter
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Annual Gala and Installation Banquet The Heartland Chapter Annual Gala and Installation Banquet was a grand affair. Held on the evening of February 7 at the newly renovated and newly branded Sheraton Downtown Hotel, this property (considered by some as Kansas City’s newest hotel) never looked better! Guests, all dressed in their finest, were welcomed by the drink of their choice as they entered, but the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau also offered a shot of Makers Mark. The perimeter of the banquet room was lined with over a
hundred silent auction items and the bidding soon became lively. Outgoing President, Mary Ryan was eloquent as she described the successful year just past, and incoming President, Vicki Comegys shared what we have in store for the year ahead. After a delicious dinner, we were honored to have PCMA’s President and CEO, Deborah Sexton speak and install the new board of directors. The mood was festive as we celebrated our past, congratulated our award winners and look forward to another successful year.
Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year
Emerging Leader of the Year
This years Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year is Brian Arscott, CMP, CMM. While overseeing the planning of approximately 7080 meetings per year and continuous travel for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Brian has devoted time to volunteer on our Community Service Committee the past 3 years- Including Chair this year. The Day on the Farm at the Deanna Rose Farmstead for the children of Operation Breakthrough has been one of our most successful and rewarding events for our chapter.
This year’s Emerging Leader of the Year goes to Jennifer Bergsieker. For the last two years, Jennifer worked diligently on the PCMA Heartland Chapter Newsletter—taking it to new levels. With her great ideas, she has created an exceptional chapter publication of which we can be very proud, not only for the informative and timely reporting but also for the additional sponsorship and advertising monies provided to our Chapter. Based in St. Louis, Jennifer continues to offer her time and talents to the Heartland Chapter.
Distinguished Supplier Partner of the Year
Distinguished Member of the Year
This years Distinguished Supplier Partner of the Year goes to Stephanie Deel. Stephanie always brings excitement and enthusiasm to all of the events in which she participates, creating internal camaraderie with PCMA members and to those that are assisting. She promoted the bowl-a-thon to be a Marriott event creating an opportunity for Marriott sales people to be visible to the PCMA Heartland Chapter members as well as collecting more monies for our selected charity. She even made adorable trophies. Stephanie’s smile and warm personality is perfect for this position, and she is a wonderful asset to our chapter.
This years Distinguished Member of the Year goes to Sherie Howell: Sherie has been an ACTIVE member of PCMA since she joined the organization. Upon joining the Heartland Chapter, Sherie commented: “When I am part of an organization, I want to be involved and make a difference. And Sherie has done just that. She has made an impressive impact on our chapter, and we are definitely benefiting from her CMP, CMM and CGMP designations. Sherie also provides many resources of her company to make our events better. Just this week she offered to bring her polycom (conference call phone) for the board meeting. Her meeting planning expertise is displayed with the seamless operations of this meeting tonight. She stands ready to support all of the chapter’s meetings and is very passionate about the education each meeting provides. Sherie has accepted the role of Program Chair for 2013 while also serving as Treasurer. Her attention to details continues to provide all of us with great education and PCMA events.
2013 Member Get A Member It’s 2013 and time to start recruiting members to PCMA and win – it’s that easy! Just make sure your recruit lists your name as the “referral” when submitting their PCMA membership application. You can win big! Prizes range from a $5 Starbucks gift card for your 1st member to the Grand Prize, which is the Ultimate 2014 Convening Leaders Experience, for the person who recruits the most members. Learn more and start recruiting today.
6 Ideas for the Care and Feeding of Professional Speakers
Innovation Takes the Lead at Convening Leaders
By Brittanny Kreutzer, Speaker Exchange Agency, LLC
By Maria Arnone, VP, Media Development, Ascend Integrated Media
1.
Always pay to have the speaker stay at the headquarters hotel. It’s much easier to keep track of them that way and saves you the extra transportation cost!
2.
If the speaker is to take the stage for a breakfast or luncheon, contract to have them arrive the night before and let them depart after their presentation.
3.
Professional Speakers are road warriors. You don’t have to treat them like royalty, but knowing what they like and having a nice amenity (like something simple to eat) in their room is always appreciated.
4. A lot of speakers don’t think more than one or two speeches ahead. If you want to provide them information about your organization it might just get lost if you send it more than 2 weeks before the meeting. The same goes for setting up a conference call, unless of course they will be required to do research or deeply customize. 5.
The introduction sets the tone for the speech. Give consideration to having one of your more vibrant members launch the speaker out of the cannon.
6. A professional speaker might attend over 100 conferences each year. They may see something wrong with the set up of your meeting but won’t consider it their place to speak up. If appropriate, ask their opinion as speakers tend to have a wealth of knowledge in regards to the meetings industry.
Held in Orlando January 13-16, the PCMA Annual Meeting, Convening Leaders was truly a “risk taking accelerant” for the New Year. Timely educational topics ran the gamut from hands-on contract negotiation to hybrid events to attendee engagement. But the real key to this meeting is innovation. Attendees can expect the unexpected in every corner of the conference. New opportunities like the PCMA Business School, a special Convene magazine track, and F&B in out-of-the-box settings like a networking lunch combined with interactive educational experiences were all surprising new elements. Many attendees commented on how even though many of these super-innovative ideas are not right for every meeting, all planners can take home something that will work for their attendees. Quality opportunities to connect are also important at Convening Leaders, and Sea World and Universal Studios gave a spirited and friendly backdrop for PCMA members to find old friends and make new ones. Also, PCMA’s charity, Hospitality Helping Hands, worked to recycle soap for distribution to children the world over. Next year’s Convening Leaders will be held in Boston, MA, January 12-15. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to maximize your PCMA membership!