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President's Message
WOW! What an amazing Circle of Excellence Awards Gala and Auction! It was a great evening celebrating the successes of our chapter. Congratulations to all the nominees in all categories, it's such an honor to be recognized by your peers for your outstanding contributions to this industry and our chapter. Hats off to our winners of the evening, we are so very proud of you for such an achievement. We raised over $15,000 from the silent auction. This is HUGE! This money will help fund scholarships, other member benefits, speakers, educational programs and much more for the year to come! This is outstanding. I hope all of you won some of the great items which were available.
Thank you Country Music Hall of Fame for your generosity, beautiful space, amazing staff and delicious food. Other sponsors include On Services, Gary Musick Productions, Glow Motion Technologies, Graceful Tables, 4Wall Entertainment, Schenk Photography, Arcivr, Cort and Quest Events. We greatly appreciate your partnership! And a special thanks to all the volunteers that made the night possible - Colleen Cussick, Marisa McWilliams, Kate Shattuck, Erika Biddix, Shannon Yeater, Lauren Stout, Shannen Stewart, Jessica Pfranger, Jo Dermid, Felisha Cook, Brad Ford, Beth McDaniels, Brittany Baugh, Lindsay Buchanan, David Schenk and Jamey Campbell.
The incoming 2017-2018 MPI Tennessee Board of Directors held our annual retreat last month as well. During this time we were able to strategize for the year, build our business plans for education, membership, finance, communications and the West region as well as build our budget. We also had some fun getting to know one another and I want you to know we have a ROCK STAR board this year. I'm so very excited to see what amazing things they will do. They are full of passion, energy and new ideas. You guys better be ready! A HUGE thank you to Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge, Ashley Martin and Melissa Chambers for hosting!
Somehow it is already June! Kids are out of school, pools are open, vacations are planned, the grill is fired up and MPI World Education Congress is happening in Vegas! We currently have over 35 attendees registered from Tennessee to attend WEC in Las Vegas. This is a great conference for education and networking not only with folks from our local chapter but also from across the globe. We encourage everyone to attend and there's still time to register! We will be sure to share some of what happens but remember, what happens in Vegas........
Enjoy the start to your summer! We hope to see you at our June central luncheon on June 14th.
See you soon!
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Platinum Partners
Gold Partners
Do you want to become an MPI Tennessee Chapter sponsor and partner with the state's largest and most vibrant community of meeting and event professionals?
For more information, contact Jill Kopecky, Director of Strategic Alliances for MPI:TN!
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Looking to make a job change or know someone is? Check out the positions available at
mpitn.org.
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Congratulations to the 2016-2017
Circle of Excellence Awards Winners
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Congratulations to the winners of the 2016-2017 Circle of Excellence Awards. MPI Tennessee Chapter is so grateful for your commitment, leadership, and support.
Planner of the Year - Shannon Yeater, CMP
Supplier of the Year - Jill Kopecky
Presenter of the Year, Central Region - Michelle Johnson
Venue of the Year, Central Region - Grand Ole Opry House
Presenter of the Year, West Region - Carol Norfleet, CMP, DMCP
Venue of the Year, West Region - The Peabody Memphis
Chapter Leader of the Year - Kelli Myers
Rising Star of the Year - Kayce Kiningham, CMP
Rising Star of the Year - Marisa McWilliams
The Pillar Award, West Region - Tiffani Wilson
The Pillar Award, Central Region - Rip Beazley, Brown's Florist
Innovator of the Year - Colleen Cussick
President's Award - Tammy Gilbert Cardona, CMP
President's Award - Adam Spivey
The Beth Calveard Volunteer Spirit Award - Caroline Platz
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ICYMI - 2017 Gala & Silent Auction
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The 2017 Circle of Excellence Awards Gala and Silent Auction was a huge success. Over 150 members and guests gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame to celebrate another successful year and participate in our chapter's largest fundraiser! We are proud to announce that through the silent auction we raised more than $15,000. These funds enable out chapter to provide world-class educational programs, scholarships, and operational expenses. Thank you to everyone who donated, bid,
and won items.
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Upcoming Meetings & Events
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Central Region
Corporate Social Responsibility for You
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Join us for the June Central Educational Luncheon as we explore the much-requested topic of Corporate Social Responsibility. Here are some highlights of this upcoming event:
- Follow #cookingforacause to learn about our caterer for this month's meeting. CrossBRIDGE Catering is part of a local non-profit which uses their catering division to fund programs which provide solutions to end generational poverty, addiction, and incarceration.
- Rip Beasley from Brown's Florist, our floral sponsor, will lead a breakout workshop instructing how to rearrange event centerpieces to bring a little joy to the elderly in our community,
- Roy Charette from Best Corporate Events will share insights about CSR strategy and how to capture the ROI.
- And Tara Tenorio with Hands On Nashville will demonstrate some innovative and practical CSR activities.
You don't want to miss this session!
CrossBridge will be accepting gently used clothing donations at the meeting. We will have a box set up by the registration desk.
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Central Region
Community Service - Help Us Give Back
Friday, July 7, 2017
1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m
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We need your help sorting and packing food donations at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. When you donate your time to Second Harvest, you become a partner in the fight against hunger in Middle Tennessee.
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SAVE THE DATE
Central Region
Strategic Meetings Management - Adding Value to the Participant Experience
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
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World Education Congress 2017
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 Presenter: Antwone Stigall, CMP, DES
Our own VP of the West Region, Antwone Stigall, CMP, DES, will present an educational session at WEC in a few short weeks. His session titled, How to Create Radically Welcoming Conference Experiences, is on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 11:45 a.m.
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Good luck to the MPI Tennessee Chapter delegation attending WEC
Dana Akin, Erika Biddix, Katie Bohrer, Cory Brooks, Sarah Brown, Josh Bush, Tim Daugherty, Brook Dilworth, David Fischette, Tammy Gilbert Cardona, Stephanie Harmon, Tracey Henninger, Bret Hoffman, Kelly Kaplan, Kayce Kiningham, Jill Kopecky, Liza Leatherman, Lee Mayer, Beth McDaniels, Randy Miller, Carol Norfleet, Michael Owen, Kaitlin Priestley, Benjamin Prom, Katie Rogers, Lisa Schneider, Dannah Scott, Adam Spivey, Holly Stevenson, Shannen Stewart, Brandon Terpstra, Connie Washburn, Anita White, Chelsea Williams, Scott Wright, and Shannon Yeater
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Is traveling to Las Vegas for WEC 17 just not an option for you? What if you could catch all the education sessions at your convenience without any travel expenses or time out of the office? Now you can. For $99, you can have an all-access virtual pass to the WEC live broadcast and full online access to the post-event education.
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Help Protect Brand USA - A message from MPI President & CEO, Paul Van Deventer
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The news about the possible elimination of Brand USA is very concerning. Doing so would certainly have long term negative impacts on travel and tourism, which are key drivers of the U.S. economy representing $865 billion in direct spending; fifteen percent of this figure (about $103 billion) is a result of meetings. Together, we must urge the U.S. Congress to support both the travel and meeting industries by protecting Brand USA.
To learn more about this important initiative and to make your voice heard click here.
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Member Recognition: Movers & Shakers
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 Our Immediate Past President, Adam Spivey, was nominated as a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphona Society's (LLS) 2017 "Man & Woman of the Year" campaign. In 2000, Adam's father was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. By only the grace of God, an amazing surgeon and his team and several rounds of chemo, I am proud to say that my Father is cancer-free. As expected, this organization is very near and dear to Adam's heart. For 10 weeks, Adam was engaged in an exciting competition raising funds for LLS blood cancer research. Even though he didn't gain the title of LLS "Man of the Year" he'll always be a winner in our eyes. Through the competition Adam raised over $40,000! Adam, we are so proud of you!
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Congratulations to Katie Bohrer, who accepted a new role with MGM Resorts International. She's now the National Sales Manager for their Event Production team. Don't worry though - She'll still be based in Nashville!
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Holly Carpenter is now the Catering Sales Manager at The Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown. Congratulations, Holly!
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Congratulations to Brittany Baugh who recently accepted the position as Lead Event Designer for CSI: Nashville, a DMC with offices in D.C., Orlando and more.
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Dana Akin
ABB
Courtney Burgin
Travelink, American Express Travel
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Bill Cakmis
CAKMIS
Greg Jones
TAPSNAP 1208
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Congratulations to our members celebrating an MPI anniversary in June!
Rhonda Thomas - 19 years
Meg Holderman, CPA - 15 years
Lyn Sholl, CMP - 12 years
Christopher Hodge, CMM - 9 years
Julie Hurst, CMP - 9 years
Cynthia Conricode - 8 years
Rhonda Selby - 6 years
Lindsay Buchanan, CMP - 5 years
Katie Bohrer, CMP - 4 years
Kelli Acker - 3 years
Patricia Couch, CMP - 3 years
Patricia Bilodeau, CMP - 3 years
Gene Holt - 2 years
Megan Romeiser - 2 years
Rachel Risen - 2 years
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Roxanne Williams - 1 year
Carl Haley - 1 year
Heather Burrow - 1 year
Craig Edwards - 1 year
Heather Gleaves - 1 year
Stephanie Harmon - 1 year
Deborah Kosmicki - 1 year
Debra Warren - 1 year
Lea Collins, CMP - 1 year
Brook Dilworth - 1 year
Mike Severson - 1 year
Brittany Truitt - 1 year
Kate Parrish - 1 year
Erica White, CMP, CMM - 1 year
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