Connected International Meeting
Professionals Association

Panellists -
Dr. DeWayne Woodring - executive director of the Religious Conference Management Association, Katya Thomas - VP, Global Events Partners, Rosalie Small - executive director, the South Florida Dental Association, and Daniel Rosen - president, Treasure Map, addressed the following.

Back by popular demand: interesting true stories of what went wrong in their own or other planner's meetings. There is not a single meeting planner in the trenches who can honestly say that all his/her meetings had been perfect. Even the most successful meeting planners have horror stories to tell. If experience is the best teacher, there will be plenty of lessons to be learned here. For planners, learn to anticipate disasters based on your peers' experiences. For suppliers, gain some insights on what you can do to prevent the horrors and promote success. 

SPEAKER BIOS

 

Ann Godi, CMP is President of Benchmarc Meetings & Incentives, a conference, meetings, events and incentive management company located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Benchmarc clients include Fortune International Companies as well as National and Regional Associations. Ann is on the board of the Georgia Chapter of Meeting Professionals International.

 

LAURA MARKOWITZ has been the director of the Family Therapy Network Symposium
for 11 years--a 4-day annual conference that draws more than 3,000 attendees. She is also President of Family Magazine, Inc., publishers of In the Family magazine and program planner and organizer for its annual 3-day conference. In addition to conference planning, she is a National Magazine Award-winning writer and editor.

 

JOSEPH A. MCINERNEY is Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).  PATA provides leadership to the collective efforts of 38 national government members, over 50 state and local tourism bodies, 65 airlines and cruise lines, and more than 2,000 travel industry companies. PATA's Chapter membership includes 17,000 travel professionals in 79 PATA Chapters located throughout the world. The PATAnet Web site is a free resource for consumers and travel industry professionals alike.

Prior to joining PATA in November 1997, Mr. McInerney currently serves as an ambassador for the American Hotel and Motel Association’s (AH&MA) Educational Institute. He is also a member of the advisory boards at many universities, including the Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Administration at New York University; the California Polytechnic University Hotel & Restaurant Management School; and the New Mexico State University Hotel and Restaurant School.

 

Jennifer palmer is President of Marketing Edge SF, Inc., a full service international meetings, incentives and events management company located in San Francisco, California. For five years, Marketing Edge SF, Inc. has offered companies a reliable, high-quality alternative to in-house resources for developing and implementing meetings and incentives. Jennifer is a member of MPI and is on the programs committee for the Northern California Chapter. She is also a member of SITE and CIMPA.  

 

GAY PFISTER is Executive Director of the Norfolk /Portsmouth Bar Association

 

Andrea Sigler,PhD,CIMP is the President of Connected International Meeting Professionals Association. CIMPA is a growing community of online planners who use the resources of the internet in planning meetings. As past President of the International University of Distance Studies, Dr. Sigler and her group have been using what was then called ARPAnet before it became popularly known as the internet. A certified webmaster, she led the development effort for the CIMP (Certified Internet Meeting Professional) Certification Program and is co-author of the book "STOP THE NET. I'M GETTING ON (How To Plan Meetings On The Internet)".

 

ROSIE SMALL is Executive Director of the East Coast Dental Association

 

SAMANTHA WADKINS: Meeting planner for the American Academy of Optometry. Manages annual meetings averaging attendance between 3700-5000, 800-1000 for International meetings. Has personally grown exhibits by 54%, in her last show. Most recent meetings planned: San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Madrid, Spain. Extensively involved in the site selection process. Most recent site visits this year: Dallas, Philadelphia, Munich, Germany, Waikiki, Maui, Hawaii.

 

Dr. DeWayne S. Woodring,CMP,CEM, is the Executive Director and CEO of the Religious Conference Management Association. RCMA is a prominent international organization composed exclusively of religious meeting professionals and those who provide services within the specialized field. Noted for his leadership in the meetings industry, Dr. Woodring has served as Chairman of the Convention Liaison Council and is an honoree in the CLC Hall of Leaders.