President's Message 

Dear PCMA New England Members,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the first PCMA New England Newsletter of 2012! I'm thrilled to serve as this year's President and commit to you a year of excellent education, community involvement and dynamic social networking (or better yet, good fun!).

We're off to a great start already. After an outstanding Annual Meeting in November at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, PCMA New England hit the ground running in January at the PCMA Convening Leaders Conference in San Diego. With a fantastic Chapter Reception to kick off the four days, many PCMA New England members then got to experience a world-class meeting and a fantastic destination. Thank you to the Greater Ft. Lauderdale CVB, Omni Mount Washington, and OnPeak for sponsoring the Chapter Reception!

We're keeping the momentum going with a Best in Class Education Program on March 6th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and our Board and Committee Chairs are already fast at work on future education events that you won't get at any other organization. We're expanding our communication and can be found on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and encourage you to follow us on all those mediums so you can experience the most your membership has to offer.

As your President, I welcome any and all feedback on how we can improve our offerings, and I also encourage you to get involved as much as you can. I firmly believe that you only get out of something what you put in. And don't forget, I challenged each and every one of you to bring one new member to the chapter this year. Have you found yours yet?

Thank you again for all that you do for us and look forward to our Chapter's best year yet!

Sincerely,

Kevin Panetta

PCMA NE Kicks Off 2012 with Best in Class!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Save the Date for PCMA New England's Summer Social: Red Sox vs. White Sox Game at Fenway Park

Thursday, July 19, 2012 

Pre-game Reception TBD

Game starts at 7:10pm

The New England Chapter's Annual Meeting was a tremendous success with close to 100 people in attendance!

 

The meeting kicked off with recognition of the 2011 Board of Directors and installment of the 2012 board. Kevin Panetta of OnPeak will serve as Chapter President for the upcoming year. Kevin emphasized the importance of continuing to grow the Chapter as we look ahead to January of 2014, when Boston will host Convening Leaders at the Hynes Convention Center. 

 

Susan Katz, outgoing Chairman of the Board of Directors of PCMA, and Director of Corporate Events & Travel for True Value Company, addressed the Chapter and gave an update from PCMA National.     

 

Annual Meeting Presenters Carolyn Pund, Kimberly Meyer with Susan Katz, PCMA 2011 Chairman of the Board

PCMA New England 2011 Board of Directors

PCMA BEST IN CLASS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM:  

The Chapter was proud to welcome Best in Class speakers Kimberly Meyer and Carolyn Pund, CMP, CMM, who gave a dynamic and informative presentation on the practices of SMMP.   

Kimberly and Carolyn explored the data analytics critical to integrating procurement tactics with meeting strategy; and, how meeting planners can successfuly use SMMP to get buy-in throughout an organization to meet the needs of finance, procurement, legal, risk management and event marketing. They also addressed how SMMP impact suppliers, including tips on the best ways suppliers can work within an established SMMP system.   

Headquartered in the Chicago area, Kimberly is the Founder of Meetings Analytics and also works on Strategic Initiatives for IMEX America.  Carolyn is the Senior Global Meetings & Events Manager of Cisco Systems and is located in San Jose, California.

SMMP Presentation with Kimberly Meyer and Carolyn Pund

 
DON LAWRENCE SCHOLARSHIP WINNER:

Congratulations to Samie Brosseau, a student a the University of Massachusetts and winner of this year's Don Lawrence Scholarship! To learn more about Samie and what winning the scholarship means to her, see her article below.   

RECEPTION & AUCTION:

Annual Auction

Click here to view more photos of the event.

   

 

 

PCMA New England congratulates 2011 Don Lawrence Scholarship recipient Samie Brosseau!

It was around 9:30am on Thanksgiving morning, I was in my friend Maddie's kitchen preparing a cup of coffee as we all bustled about her house getting everything prepared for all the guests about to arrive for Thanksgiving Brunch. I reached over my coffee cup as my the email notification sounded on my blackberry. I figured it was another "black friday" promotion but as I read the subject line my heart skipped a beat. I had noticed that the sender was Terri Comegys, the Chairperson of the Don Lawrence Memorial Scholarship Committee as I opened the email but the subject line read: Congratulations! PCMA NE Don Lawrence Scholarship Notification. For a brief moment, I did not care where I was, who was listening or what was going on around me....I simply let out a shout of joy and began jumping up and down as if I were a three year old girl on christmas morning who had just opened the best present in the world! Needless to say, everyone came running into the kitchen to find out what all the commotion was about. I was barely able to put into words what was going on but everyone could see how important the scholarship was to me and shared in my joy.

The following week, I attended the award ceremony where Terri was able to present the scholarship to me in person. The experience was beyond amazing. After her introduction, I could hardly get myself together enough to express my gratitude for being the recipient of the 2011 Don Lawrence Memorial Scholarship. Even as I recall all the emotion, it remains difficult.

Let me begin by giving a little background on my personal life. I was born and raised in a religious commune called the Twelve Tribes. At a young age, my dream was to go to college and gain a higher education that would allow me to pursue a career. No one in my family within the commune had ever attended college or any form of public school. I was home-schooled with the intent of going on to get married and raise a family just as my parents had with me and my 5 siblings. My older brother and sister as well as one younger sister all did what my mother and father had intended, however, at 18 years old, I chose a different path for myself. In short, I ran away from home in the fall of 2005 with the clothes on my back. I set out to find something that was missing from my life. I was not sure of what was out in the world or what I would discover but I was sure I would find a way and ultimately find a happier me. The journey has had its ups and downs but has always kept me motivated. Here is a little snip-it that I wrote back when I first started out on my own. The reminder has helped me immensely along the way.

"Always motivated by the principle that failure is inevitable if motivation is lost."

It has been a long journey, but to be honest, that journey has merely just begun. I am nearly finished with my bachelor's degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management and ready to being a whole new aspect of my life. My interest in PCMA began with my year long assistantship with Professor Tierney while I was helping to teach her Convention Management courses at Umass-Amherst. What began as an interest in the Convention, Events and Meeting aspect of my studies became a passion due to Professor Tierney's enthusiasm in the field. I have not yet determined what exactly I want to do in the industry but I do know that events, meetings and conventions is where I would like to begin my career. The job search is daunting but I am excited as ever to get involved and give back in whatever way possible. My most sincerely thanks goes to the Scholarship Committee of PCMA New England and Professor Erin Tierney (MPI-CRV Member and Umass-Amherst HTM Professor) for enabling me to learn and succeed in my academic career thus far.  

March 6 - Best in Class Spring Educational Program at the Sheraton Boston Hotel

June 11 - Summer Educational Program

July 19 - Summer Social - Red Sox vs. White Sox at Fenway Park

September 11 - Fall Educational Program

December 4 - New England Chapter 20th Anniversary Annual Meeting

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