SITE news

Site announces Chapter of the Year and Excellence Awards winners

Through the Chapter of the Year and Excellence Awards, SITE acknowledges the extraordinary efforts and performance of local chapter leaders and members, as well as recognises the importance of the SITE Chapter network to support growth and continued success of local initiatives that result in the strengthening of our incentive travel industry.

This year, the Chapter Excellence Awards acknowledge the extraordinary efforts and performance of our chapters across the globe. Throughout the lockdowns and uncertainty in our industry, our chapters reached out to and supported members with both educational and spirit-lifting content.

They truly demonstrated the importance of an industry community like SITE.

This year, we recognised chapters in eight categories and received submissions from seventeen different chapters. A judging panel of 29 volunteer leaders anonymously judged the submissions. Our thanks to each of these individuals for their support of our chapters.

Rising Star Award

The Rising Star is awarded to a developing chapter that has delivered exceptional benefits for their members across a number of key areas. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Africa, was Tes Proos, 2020/21 chapter president.

SITE Africa expanded from a onecountry chapter, SITE South Africa, to cover an entire continent during the qualification period, necessitating a strategy shift to engage new regions. Chapter outreach utilised regional ambassadors and strong education to promote the chapter, as well as incentive travel in general, which is new to many regions of the continent. The approach successfully increased membership by 22 per cent and the chapter continues to gain traction throughout all of Africa.

Ms Proos said, “Winning the SITE Chapter Rising Star Award came as a very pleasant surprise. It was an extremely challenging year with the world going into lockdown only a few days after we presented our strategic plan during Meetings Africa.”

In spite of the Covid-19 restrictions, we still had growth in new membership and our members were completely supportive in attending our virtual events and discussions. Hence, I would like to dedicate this award to all our African members. 2021 is proving to be even more challenging but there is never a time like the present to seize the opportunity to develop our future leadership and hone our skills to be ready for when our groups may travel again.

Excellence in Young Leaders

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award in Young Leaders is offered to a Chapter which has supported a strong and vibrant young leader community through various chapter initiatives, with a focus on personal growth and development of these young leaders within the larger SITE community. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Chicago, was Colleen Brzozowski, 2020 Chapter President and the board.

SITE Chicago’s young leader programme includes a combination of separate young leader engagements, along with intentional interactions between junior and senior industry professionals.

Excellence for a Sustainable Event

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award in Sustainable Event recognises a single Chapter event or activity that demonstrates excellence in sustainability. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Poland was Grazyna Grot-Duziak, 2020 Chapter President.

As part of a larger scale project to focus on sustainability, SITE Poland executed an event themed around # 12 of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, which outlines responsible consumption and production.

Excellence for a Special Event

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award for a Special Event is awarded to the Chapter that demonstrates creative excellence in delivering a signature event or activity that highlights the benefits of SITE membership and promotes advocacy for incentive travel in a truly memorable way.

Accepting, again on behalf of the winner, SITE Chicago, was Colleen Brzozowski, 2020 Chapter President and the board.

SITE Chicago’s flagship event, Holly Trolley, is a 5.5 hour progressive event featuring three Chicago venues with private trolley transfers in between. Aligning with SITE’s mission, the event was designed as a local-incentive-styled experience for members to increase engagement and build new business connections.

Excellence in Membership

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award in Membership is awarded to the Chapter that has provided incredible value for their members during the qualifying period. This award considers member recruitment, retention, and engagement. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Texas, were Lauren Dunnaway, 2020 Chapter President, and Randy Clark, VP Membership.

Excellence in Education

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award in Education is awarded to a Chapter that delivers a strong industry education component in their events and communications, aligned with the SITE Education Curriculum and/or SITE Foundation research. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Texas, were Lauren Dunnaway, 2020 Chapter President & Melissa Soto, VP Events.

SITE Texas crafted a year-long schedule of events based on a member needs assessment and alignment with SITE’s educational curriculum and the Incentive Travel Industry Index.

Excellence in Virtual Engagement

The SITE Chapter Excellence Award in Virtual Engagement recognises excellence amongst SITE Chapters who have demonstrated creative and innovative approaches to engaging with their members through online, virtual and digital platforms such as a virtual event, social media campaign, webinar or other online activity. Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Canada, were Gabby Spanton, 2020 Chapter President and Pearleen Mofford, 2021 Chapter President.

SITE Canada’s member engagement programme kicked into high gear once lockdowns were announced. The chapters created a multi-pronged approach to stay in touch and support members virtually.

Chapter of the Year

The SITE Chapter of the Year is the highest honour a Chapter can receive. It is awarded to a chapter that exemplifies the values and mission of SITE, demonstrates value to members, and establishes a sound leadership structure.

Accepting on behalf of the winner, SITE Texas, were Lauren Dunnaway, 2020 Chapter President, and Lorraine Mahoney, 2021 Chapter President.

Throughout the qualification period, SITE Texas amplified its focus on governance and operational excellence to deliver member value and ensure a strong succession to the chapter’s leadership. These efforts resulted in a year-overyear increase in membership of 12.5 per cent, with a 35 per cent growth in new members and a 78 per cent member retention, as well as engaging 25 per cent of the members in a volunteer capacity with the chapter. Key to this success was the launch of a chapter needs assessment to members which provided feedback used to refine the chapter’s strategy.

Demonstrating its commitment to overall industry education and advocacy, the chapter contributed $5,000 to the SITE Foundation. Congratulations to SITE Texas, our 2020 Chapter of the Year!

Contact

Email: info@sitesouthernafrica.com www.sitesouthernafrica.com www.siteglobal.com