Carolina Blitz, Fall 2022

Carolina

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Carolina Blitz

The Carolina Blitz is the official publication of the Carolinas Chapter of Meeting Professionals International and is published quarterly. All contributions, articles, and photographs should be submitted to Publications Committee Chair/Editor one week after the meeting. Send to Cathy Mauldin, CMP - CathyMauldin@gmail.com

EDITORIAL AND NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

VP of Marketing and Communications Nicole Filippo, CMP • Elon University

Editor

Cathy Mauldin, CMP • DESA, Inc. Onsite at CDM Smith

Contributing Writers

Brandon Crumpton, Key Signature Entertainment; Christine Irwin, CMP, The Management Company; Mitch Savoie Hill, CPC, SavHill Consulting, LLC; Rachel Whitten, Greenville-Pitt County CVB

Photographer

Tesh Parekh - IWP Photography

Proofreaders

Christine Irwin, CMP, The Management Office; Nancy Lowe, CMP, NC Medical Society; Peggy Anderson, CMP; Teresa Palmieri, Sheraton Imperial Hotel RaleighDurham Airport; Jake O’Dare, Aloft Greenville Downtown; Stephanie Trimble, GCT Chauffeured Services

Publisher

Christine Irwin, CMP • The Management Office

704-377-5648

Advertising

Fax 704-333-6927

Christine Irwin, CMP

Design

Christine@themanagementoffice.com

The Management Office

704-377-5648

Kistin Creative Studio • 704-724-9188 • kistincreative.com

MPI-CC Web

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four issues of the Carolina Blitz published yearly.

March, June, and September

of January

are subject to change without

incurred

the

be billed

Our Latest Expansion is a Work of Art

Centrally located in North Carolina, Winston-Salem is a welcoming meeting destination with a history committed to reinvention and innovation. Named one of the South’s Best Cities on the Rise by Southern Living, Winston-Salem boasts the recently expanded 150,000-square-foot Benton Convention Center in the heart of our vibrant, walkable downtown. Elevate your next event in Benton South’s reimagined meeting space featuring the 24,000-square-foot Gallery Ballroom. Winston-Salem will have you looking forward to playing, meeting, and staying in our hip and historic city.

HOTEL ROOMS

Shops

TO $3,000 IN Meeting Incentives

President’s Message

Building Trust in Changing Times

Brandon Crumpton Key Signature Entertainment MPI-CC President

I sincerely thank you for accepting me as your new president. So far you have heard me speak about how our chapter and its members are resilient and know how to move forward. At the July meeting I shared that my focus this year is on you our members and what direction our chapter needs to start heading in to meet the needs of meeting and event professionals in a post-COVID world. I’m sure you’ve already noticed a few changes this year. We’re going from six meetings a year to four. We’re going to try a one-day meeting in October. These are necessary changes we need to try to help keep our chapter together structurally and financially. What I mean by this is that members are looking for something different now.

We are also still slowly and successfully pulling ourselves out of the financial setback that 2020 created for our chapter. What that all means is that we have to start thinking differently. It’s very easy to just set back into our old ways, but growth will be hindered by this. Growth comes from being uncomfortable, and I’m sure you’ve all heard this before. Our natural instinct is to stick with what we know, but that may not be what takes us to the next stage of evolution in our chapter or industry. It’s also ok to step aside and let others lead. I definitely do not have all of the answers, so I put trust and support in our board of directors to make the decisions for our meetings and chapter. I also know and accept that we won’t get everything right and that is ok. We’re going to try a few things and see what works. It’s all about learning and processing what you, our members, need from us. I’m just asking for you all to be a little ok with a few changes just to see where it takes us. Also, to remind myself and each other that being uncomfortable during change is a good thing.

We are going to do our best to keep our members up-to-date with what the chapter is working on. We’re going to receive your feedback and adjust accordingly. We’re going to invite you to participate in this journey of experiments and change. We’re going to show the same care for our chapter as previous leaders and boards. We’re going to need your support and trust that we are all working in your best interest.

Our Members

Welcome New Members!

Membership Engagement would like to welcome all of our new members who have joined us recently. Please plug in to the chapter, volunteer and engage! We welcome your questions and will connect you with an ambassador once you have registered for your first meeting. However, if you would like an ambassador before you attend your first meeting, just let us know. We are here to help and make sure you are right where you would like to be with your membership!

Please reach out to Rachel Whitten, Vice President of Membership Engagement at RWhitten@greenvillenc.gov. We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you soon!

Please welcome the following new members from the March 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022 period.

Lola Balulis Jones, CMP Wild Dunes Resort lola.jones@ destinationhotels.com

Felicia Anderson

felicia.m.anderson@ knights.ucf.edu

Fernanda Araujo Relias fernandaccaraujo@gmail.com

Robin Bridgers

Hilton Head/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce rbridgers@hiltonheadisland.org

Richard Brooks

Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel richard.brooks@ windsorhospitality.com

Katie Brown

Pinehurst Resort & Country Club katie.brown@pinehurst.com

Amy Bruns, CMP, HMCC Conference Navigators abruns@triad.rr.com

Deanna Haines

(ISC)2 deanna0319@gmail.com

Krystle Hammac

University of North Carolina, Charlotte khammac@uncc.edu

Laura Jackson

Pinehurst Resort & Country Club laura.jackson@pinehurst.com

Casey James The Beaufort Inn events@beaufortinn.com

Katie Kathman Steak 48 katie@steak48.com

Kristen Kelley

Pinehurst Resort & Country Club kristen.kelley@pinehurst.com

Jessica Kern

Meredith Carli Ensemble IQ meredith.carli@gmail.com

Melinda Cole

Greensboro-High Point Marriott Airport melinda.cole@marriott.com

Anthie Constantinidis, CMP Pinehurst Resort & Country Club anthie.constantinidis@ pinehurst.com

Sandra DeCastro sdecastro@1edtech.org

Laurie Dolan

JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa Laurie.Dolan@ marriott.com

Lizzie Fletcher

The American Board of Anesthesiology, Inc. lizzie.fletcher@theaba.org

Brenda France Kingston Plantation, A Hilton & Embassy Suites Resort brenda.france@hilton.com

Meghan Gamble Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority meghan.gamble@crva.com

Ashley Gehringer

Marriott at Research Triangle Park ashley.gehringer@ marriott.com

Christopher Giles J Street Productions cgiles@jstreetproductions.com

Margo Ginsberg Duke University margo.ginsberg@duke.edu

Teresa Goins

Guilford Technical Community College stlockleargoins@gtcc.edu

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. jkern@greatwolf.com

Kristina Kijanka

kristina.kijanka@ omnihotels.com

Arieana Koonce Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein arieanakoonce@parkerpoe.com

Amanda Law Lenovo alaw1@lenovo.com

Ronald Leedy

Aloft Raleigh Durham Airport/ Brier Creek a Narsi Hotel ron.leedy@narsi.com

Christine McCullough

Pinehurst Resort & Country Club christine.mccullough@ pinehurst.com

Lauren McKendrie, MTA WBL Foundation ljoyner329@yahoo.com

DeAna Miller

Experian Deana.miller@experian.com

Karen Miller

Miller Marketing Communications, Inc. kemiller@mmciglobal.com

Asyia Mitchell amitchell@aligntech.com

Ayshen Montiel

Twin City Quarter ayshen.montiel@ twincityquarter.com

Avery Myrick

Pinehurst Resort & Country Club avery.myrick@pinehurst.com

Nate Nicholson

Millstone Event Services nate@millstoneevents.net

Laura Payne, CMP laura.payne1969@gmail.com

LaTonya Richardson UUA lrichardson@uua.org

Jessica Roberts, TMP

Mt. Airy Tourism Jroberts@visitmayberry.com

Star Robertson

DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville Downtown star.robertson@ parkshotels.com

Alyssa Romano

Graylyn International Conference Center aromano@graylyn.com

Brittany Ruebesam

Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley Hotel brittany.ruebesam@ marriott.com

Denise Ryan, CSP, MBA FireStar Speaking deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com

Lena Sanok

Hampton Inn & Suites Charlotte/ SouthPark at Phillips Place lena.sanok@hilton.com

Ivanna Simmons

apexanalytix isimmons@apexanalytix.com

Kaycee Sinclair

HPN Global kayceesinclairmason@gmail.com

Sally Slater, CASE Visit Fayetteville sslater@visitfayettevillenc.com

LaTosha Smith

Durham Bulls Baseball Club lsmith8@lenovo.com

Anne Strickland

YCC anne@teamycc.com

Theresa Vance Ashworth College thressav@yahoo.com

Kimberly Vaquilar Bledsoe

NCSU Poole College of Management kbledsoe07@gmail.com

Kristin Walker

Elon University kwalker19@elon.edu

Kendyl Warren

Hickory Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau kendyl@hickorymetro.com

Cheryl Williams (ISC)2 chwilliams@isc2.org

Melisa Wolfe

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina melisa.wolfe@marriott.com

Anniversaries

30 Years

Peggy Anderson, CMP Anderson & Company 25 Years

Ava Pope

Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

20 Years

Molly Johnson, CMP-Fellow Wilmington & Beaches CVB

Tarshi McCoy, CMP, CHSP, TMP New Bern Riverfront Convention Center

Erin Mellen

Charleston Convention & Group Services, Inc .

Randy Smith, CMP

Visit Charlotte

15 Years

Krista Bartlett Omni Hotels & Resorts

Yolanda Hamer, CMP BCD M&E Onsite at Cisco Systems

10 Years

Jeanette Blackman

Greenville Convention Center

5 Years

Shannon Groff

Discover Durham

Naomi Love, CMM, CED Stanford University

Sarah Nardi, CMP NC REALTORS®

Debora Perlini, CMP BASF Corporation

Donna Socola BASF Corporation

Rachel Whitten

Visit Greenville NC

VP of Member Engagement

Jamie Walker, CMP, IOM

North Carolina Rural Water Association

Monthly Meeting Planner

October 12, 2022

Virtual New Member Lunch’n Learn

October 27-28, 2022

Fall 2022 Chapter Meeting

Drive Shack Raleigh, NC

December 9, 2022

DEI Coffee Chat Raleigh, NC

Venue coming soon!

January 18, 2023

Virtual New Member Lunch’n Learn

February 5-6, 2023

Annual Meeting

Hilton Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach, SC

March 15, 2023

Virtual New Member Lunch’n Learn

March 29-30, 2023

Global Meetings Industry Day and MPI-CC Tradeshow Charlotte, NC Venue coming soon!

June 1, 2023

Awards Gala and Board Installation

The Stockroom at 230 Raleigh, NC

Reminder:

Deadline for submissions for the next Carolina Blitz is Friday, December 16, 2022. Please submit any articles or photographs to be considered for publication to Editor-In-Chief Cathy Mauldin, CMP, at cathymauldin@gmail.com

Photo by

on unsplash

MPI-CC 2022-2023 Board of Directors and Committees

Leadership

President

Brandon Crumpton

Key Signature Entertainment brandon@keysignatureonline.com

Leadership & Volunteer Development Chair

Alyce Kelly, CHSP

The Beaufort Hotel Alyce.Kelly@concordhotels.com

President-Elect

Najauna White, CMP, CDE Miles Partnership Najauna.white@gmail.com

Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Mitch Savoie Hill, CPC

SavHill Consulting LLC Mitch@savhillconsulting.com

Immediate Past President

Ricardo Hicks

Tech Factory Productions rhicks@techfactoryproductions.com

Awards Committee Chair

Molly Johnson, CMP Wilmington & Beaches CVB mjohnson@ wilmingtonandbeaches.com

Chapter Administrator

Christine Irwin, CMP

The Management Office Christine@ themanagementoffice.com

Communications

VP of Marketing and Communications

Nicole Filippo, CMP Elon University nfilippo@elon.edu

Education

VP of Program Development

Cathy Carpenter

Visit Mooresville cathy@visitmooresville.com

Publications Committee Chair

Cathy Mauldin, CMP

DESA, Inc. Onsite at CDM Smith cathymauldin@gmail.com

Social Media Committee Chair

Melanie Mason, CMP Melanie.mason35@gmail.com

Education Committee

Lena Sanok

Hampton Inn and Suites Charlotte/SouthPark at Phillips Place Lena.Sanok@Hilton.com

Professional Certifications Committee Co-Chair

Jessica Garrett, CMP Cisco jegarret@cisco.com

Professional Certifications Committee Co-Chair

Tessa Barrier, CMP MHI TBarrier@mhi.org

Finance

VP of Finance

Seth Macchi

Live Events Media Group (LEMG) seth.m@lemg.live

Tradeshow Committee Chair Chair Needed Auction Committee

Nicole Keshler

Visit Raleigh Nkeshler@visitraleigh.com

Member Engagement

VP of Member Engagement

Rachel Whitten

Visit Greenville NC RWhitten@greenvillenc.gov

Chapter Ambassadors

Meet the Member

Jenna Light | Parks Hospitality Group

Where do you currently work and how long have you been there?

I currently work for Parks Hospitality Group as an Area Group Sales Manager, servicing four Hilton hotels in the Raleigh-Cary area - Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh-Cary, DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh-Cary, Homewood Suites by Hilton Raleigh-Cary I-40 and the TRU by Hilton RaleighDurham Airport. My 4-year anniversary is this October! I can’t believe it.

Tell me about your position and the organization you are with.

With my position, I manage all incoming corporate and (Social, Military, Educational, Religious, and Fraternal) SMERF group leads. I started with Parks Hospitality Group four years ago as Sales Coordinator and have been promoted twice since then, now taking on the role as Area Group Sales Manager. Parks Hospitality Group is an award-winning hotel development and management company based in Raleigh, NC. My favorite thing about Parks is that it is a smaller company, with a corporate team that truly cares about their property level team members. After their support for the past two trying years during COVID, I couldn’t be more confident in being a part of this company.

What are your hobbies?

Going to the beach, hanging out with my 8-year-old Black Lab named Remy and exploring local new food spots.

Why did you join MPI Carolinas Chapter?

I joined MPI in hopes of enhancing my network, learning to be a better leader and giving back to the industry that I love! Everyone could not have been more welcoming! I look forward to continuing to grow in the organization.

What advice would you give someone interested in pursuing a career in our industry?

I would say to absolutely go for it! I feel so lucky to have chosen this path and to be a part of this industry. My biggest piece of advice to people in the hospitality industry is to always go the extra mile. Finding a way to “wow” a customer is so rewarding.

What is your ideal vacation/vacation spot?

Somewhere tropical! My favorite local beach town is Salter Path, NC. My family has been visiting there since before I was born. It feels like a second home.

Rachel Whitten

Finding a way to “wow” a customer is so rewarding.

Look Who We Spotted

at the May and July Meetings

Photos by IWP Photography

CUSTOMER

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE

ON-SITE SUPPORT

Calling All Writers!

Do you dream of being a published author?

If so, the Blitz is looking for you! While we’re not the Wall Street Journal, getting published in the Blitz is a great way to share your ideas with fellow MPI-CC members and earn points toward your CMP certification . The Blitz is always accepting original articles and great topic ideas . To submit your articles or ideas, please contact Cathy Mauldin, CMP, at CathyMauldin@gmail .com or submit via our website at www .mpi .org/carolinas .

Volunteers are the heart of our organization.

Help make a difference in our chapter and shape its future. Volunteering on a committee is a great way to elevate your membership, engage with fellow planners and suppliers, develop your leadership skills, and learn new professional skills.

Visit mpi.org/Carolinas or email

Rachel Whitten, Leadership & Volunteer Development Chair, at RWhitten@greenvillenc.gov for more information on getting involved.

Photo by monstera on pexels

Meet

a $65 million

along

Beach’s beautiful Grand Strand,

taken meetings

next level.

Beach Resort, the luxurious 387-room oceanfront destination, and Embassy Suites

propel Kingston’s legacy as the premier beach destination.

stunning new dining spaces, Seaside Vista event space and Black Drum Brewing.

100,000+

at oceanfront

of meeting space

from 10 to 2,000.

Beach.

Resorts

exceptional experiences

CONGRATULATIONS

to the MPI-CC Annual Award Winners

The 2022 MPI Carolinas Chapter Annual Awards were presented during the chapter’s May meeting at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort The 2020 annual awards were also presented at this meeting since the 2020 annual meeting was canceled due to the pandemic

Corey D Bizzell Award of Excellence

Rachel Whitten,

Planner of the Year

Cathy

President’s Award

Cathy

Tomorrow’s Leader

Rachel Whitten,

Supplier of the Year

Tarshi McCoy, CMP, CHSP, TMP

Bern Riverfront Convention Center

Hall of Fame

Nicole Keshler

Raleigh

Volunteer of the Year

Melanie Mason,

Chapter Event of the Year

Nicole Filippo, CMP Elon University

of

and

Our Limiting Boxes DISSOLVING

Photo by Mae Mu on unsplash

Boxes. We put people and ourselves in limiting boxes every day or try to . These boxes act as shortcuts to thinking or digging deep and getting to know the people around us, our teams, clients, etc ., thus creating a spirit of separation and non-inclusion .

They say that people will have a solid impression of who you are within the first seven seconds of meeting. Seven Seconds!

But did you know that a more recent series of experiments by Princeton psychologists revealed that all it takes is a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger from their face? A tenth of a second?!

So that means that you see my face, and within a tenth of a second, you have told yourself a story about me, about who I am.

As a leadership coach, of course, I encourage my executive clients to be aware of how they are showing up, putting their very best faces forward. I understand how image affects business. I don’t make the rules, but I will certainly help my clients succeed within those rules.

But what about the assumptions people make based on things you can’t control, such as your race, gender, body type, physical ability challenges, or where you are from?

I remember the day the Latin pop star Selena died. I was working as a waitress at a theme restaurant in NYC. I wore Levi’s 501 blue jeans and t-shirts as my uniform—very rock ‘n’ roll. Rock ‘n’ roll was what I was all about.

The day Selena died, a fellow waitress approached me, “Did you hear about Selena? What do you think?” She was eager for my commentary.

My response shocked her, “Who is Selena?”

I had never heard of her. I did not immerse myself in the daily news, a survival habit I adopted early in life.

The red-headed waitress looked at me in shock and disbelief.

“Selena! The Spanish pop star?”

Ahhh, Spanish- a very common and erroneous label. Selena was Mexican American, not Spanish. Oh, I’m sure there were Spanish roots in her family history, but she was not from Spain. She didn’t even speak Spanish until she was prompted to do so for the purpose of her music career. I

had heard it before - if you spoke Spanish, you were labeled “Spanish.” It is akin to labeling an English-speaking person “British.”

My colleague came to me as her first point of reference because I was one of the only servers at the restaurant who spoke Spanish. How could a “Spanish” person not know who Selena was? Didn’t I listen to that kind of music?

The assumption that I would be able to comment on Selena was incredibly annoying. It hit a nerve in me that had been pulsing for years. I was just as American as she was! I was born in the USA, brought up with MTV and American radio. I played Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses on my guitar. A Metallica poster hung on my wall.

I was nineteen and reeling in my own cultural crisis. Why couldn’t I just be American like everyone else who grew up like me? Well, because the truth was that they did not grow up like me – in Little Havana, Miami – almost a country of its own. Even in Little Havana, being white was considered being “Americana.”

When I was a teenager listening to rock music and watching TV, the women celebrated in music videos were blonde with

How many times in a day do you find yourself making snap judgments, putting someone in a box, ignoring that there is a whole story to each person that we do not know unless we dig deeper?

How To Have An

long feathery hair and skinny hips. Even the Telemundo soap opera stars looked like this. Women who looked like me were considered ugly. At least that is the message that was constantly piped through the media and even in my family. My great-grandmother was black – Afro-Cuban. I inherited her curly hair and voluptuous hips. As a child,

I was told those things were curses; my curly hair was referred to as “Pelo malo” (bad hair).

I felt ugly. I felt that my Afro-Cuban roots were considered inferior. Furthermore, I was not able to easily identify with any one thing – not Black, not totally White, not really Cuban, and not American enough.

Many of my clients ask,

how do you have an uncomfortable

Here

how:

the use of openended, non-threatening

5. With a childlike curiosity and wonder

It sometimes takes a lot of coaching, but it can be done successfully if you know those basic steps . If you are asking the right questions and focusing on the person in front of you, their experiences, likes, and dislikes, you will then start to truly understand that you cannot put anyone in a box and therefore stop offering “boxed” solutions or services .

How many times in a day do you find yourself making snap judgments, putting someone in a box, ignoring that there is a whole story to each person that we do not know unless we dig deeper?

Have you ever felt boxed in by one of these many things you can’t control?

We all have at one point or another.

To this day, I hate filling out government paperwork where they ask, am I: Black, White, Hispanic, and one added recently – White (Non-Hispanic) – Why do they have to call that one out specifically? I don’t see Black (Non-Hispanic).

What if, like many first-generation Americans born of immigrant parents, I am all of those and none of those?

In life, this boxed mentality is the basis of teams not cooperating well, miscommunications, failed expectations, failed businesses, and in the worst-case scenario, war.

In hospitality and meeting planning, understanding the stories behind the people you serve is the basis of successful execution of stellar service. We must understand our client’s needs, wants, and intricate backgrounds to provide an exceptional experience. That is how we stand apart.

But how? How do we ask deep and sometimes uncomfortable questions to get to know the person in front of us?

How do we expand our limited views due to our conscious or unconscious biases (and we ALL have them)?

That is a great question and a great place to start.

When I coach leaders and teams on engaging their clients and teammates, I spend some time first getting them

to understand the basics of genuine engagement – being present, connecting, and communicating. It is the only way to truly enter into a discussion and to have deep, if uncomfortable, conversations that lead to expanding our cultural and emotional intelligence.

Debate vs. Discussion

When I facilitate DEI roundtables and “real talks,” I begin by clarifying the importance of being willing to have a beginner’s mind, ready to be vulnerable and to have a discussion, not a debate. A debate is Win/Lose, while a discussion is Win/Win.

Labels

One way we put someone in a box is by labeling them, tokenizing them. It is another shortcut to doing the more profound work.

I once had a colleague ask me, “Well then, what is the best way to approach you to ask for the Latina’s perspective?”

To which I replied: “Well, you can’t. You see, you won’t get the Latina’s perspective from me. You will only get Mitch’s perspective.”

My perspective may or may not be similar to other firstgeneration Latinas like me, but I am ME, complete with my own unique experiences, education, adversities, likes, and dislikes. You cannot put a label on me and expect me to speak for a whole group. I can only speak for myself. If you want to see if there is a shared perspective, you can talk to many Latinas, watch movies directed by Latinas, and read some books authored by Latinas. Maybe then you will start to see the similarities. Most people don’t want to do that much work. It is easier to go for the quick answer.

The point is that there is no easy, quick-fix route to understanding the people around you, in your team, or on your client list.

You have to take the time and have those deep conversations.

If you feel unclear, ask more questions – go deeper. The more questions you ask, the more you will learn. This understanding will lead you to develop great ideas and creative solutions.

I was having a conversation about this very subject with a diverse group of friends during a Game Night. The White American male in the group asked,

“Why do we have to have all these specific labels anyway? Why can’t we just treat everyone with respect?”

I said, “Hey! That’s exactly what my TEDx Talk is about!”

To which he replied, apathetically, “It doesn’t matter. People just won’t learn. How do you even get them to listen?”

I looked at my good friend tenderly and said, “That’s a great question! The answer is by continuing to engage in conversations like this among diverse friends, family, and corporate settings.”

Perhaps I am an optimist. I am also a coach who has seen the positive effects of good coaching and deep, facilitated conversations. I know it is happening. Plenty of people are listening and are willing to learn.

The boxes will only dissolve when people can see beyond the labels and understand the bigger story. Keep telling your stories. Keep educating those who are open to learning. Keep asking deep questions and expanding your cultural and emotional intelligence. The results will be invaluable!

The point is that there is no easy, quick-fix route to understanding the people around you, in your team, or on your client list.

You have to take the time and have those deep conversations.

Nominate a Member Volunteer

Do You Know a Volunteer of the Quarter?

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