Doreen McKinney, CBCD started working as a teller at her bank in 1991. Six months later she moved into HR where she stayed for 8 years. Twenty years ago, the bank’s president met George Aker and became interested in starting a club. The Platinum Passport Club was created in 1999 and Doreen became its first Club Director. Her supervisor said, “I have to let you go like a butterfly and let you fly and grow into this position.” Today the club has 3,200 members and offers a variety of trips and activities every year. A favorite is their annual BBQ, which now has over 200 customers attend. In twenty years, Doreen and the marketing team have done all of the cooking except for one year. She says, “We tried using a caterer one time and our customers did not like the food, so we continue to do all the cooking ourselves.”

She oversees the bank’s event coordinator, Sue Beaulieu who she works closely with to put together different events for all of the 25 branches, like educational seminars, business-after-hours planning and customer appreciation cook-outs. She also does a holiday decorating class every December. This year she is trying some new classes such as water color and wine glass and gourd painting.

The club does 4-5 day trips during the summer months which frequently include theatre trips to Maine and Massachusetts. She also offers a few international trips each year. The annual overnight mystery tour is a club favorite and sells out in just 18 minutes. Just like Black Friday, the customers line up at the doors hours before they open in order to get a place on the tour. She did the first of her mystery trips 10 years ago and included a show of the Friesians of Majesty in Vermont. “The customers were stunned to find such beautiful horses so close to home.” Doreen is constantly on the lookout for new ideas to incorporate into her mystery tours. These tours always include a Wine and Cheese stop and a stay at a one-of-a kind hotel. Last year she set up the wine and cheese event at her semi-permanent campsite where she keeps her camper, and they played camping games while enjoying their delicacies in the woods. “That will be hard to top!” she says.

Doreen has found it very rewarding to see her customers really enjoy their vacations. She says, “Most of them would not attempt to tour the destinations that they do if it weren’t for the club. I have customers that have traveled with me for the last 10 years who would never have done it on their own. In fact, I recently helped one couple book airline tickets so they could go see her family. So, travel is something they don’t feel they can do on their own.” Her favorite memory is helping to facilitate a friendship between two single female customers. “I connected them with each other for a visit over coffee, and they hit it off and became great friends and traveling companions who went on tours with me for the next 10 years.”

Doreen has been involved with HCI since the founding of her club in 1999. She is grateful for the education that HCI provides it members. “It keeps us up to date on industry changes; provides opportunities to share with peers; FAM Tours that allow us to explore new destinations; and facilitates sharing of trips (especially in the Midwest).”

In her free time, Doreen loves to camp. She and her husband keep a camper set up year round about an hour from her home and stay there every weekend in the summers. She also enjoys spending a great deal of time with her four grandchildren – “they keep me hopping!”