< PreviousNot only does the technology find more accurate infor- mation, it does so much faster than a human-led investiga- tion, she said. “When you search currently, at best you go to venue directory sites, put in the city and other filters, hoping the database is current, but a lot of times new hotels are not in those directories and we’re planning a year or two out. Also, sometimes capacity or other information is wrong.” With Chat GPT-4, according to Shewey, “I say, ‘show me all hotels that will open in 2024 with x number of rooms’ and it will give me that information, with descriptions. In total, for a process like site selection, Chat GPT-4 saves at least four hours and, at best, 20 hours.” The time needed for such a task, and the hassle factor, also shrinks with AI because there’s a greater likelihood of finding at least one result that clients will approve, cutting down on the ‘back to the drawing board’phenomenon that comes more often with a planner’s web search, she explained. That radical shift enables Shewey, and planners with her firm, to “think more about how to make that venue experience amazing. I can have more interesting conversations with my client about what their goals are and maximize our production value, essentially making their budget go further.” Chat GPT-4 is currently at a maximum number of subscrib- ers, Shewey noted, though it is expected to open up again. Meanwhile, she asserted that Bing.com, Microsoft’s search engine, offers up similar functionality due to Microsoft’s $13 million investment in Open AI. Generating Event Content Several planners find that AI is useful for brainstorming. El Gazzar commented on an upcoming 200-person event that has been held annually for a decade. The client is seeking new networking ideas so the technology can be asked to come up with new event formats, speakers, or it could be fed topics of interest to the group and asked for novel approaches to pre- senting the information. For Schulteis, AI is helpful for writing session descriptions, speaker or executive bios and marketing materials. “I’m a bul- let point girl so I’m not a great copywriter. I write out whatever we’re working on, whether it’s an email, a marketing plan or something else, and my favorite question for chat GPT is ‘How can I say this better?’ It’s also beneficial when creating event design ideas, she noted. While planning to feature a quiet room at an upcom- ing trade show, both for weary and neuro divergent attend- ees, Schulteis asked an AI platform how to communicate the room’s purpose without offending anyone and what sensory items should be included that would bring some visitors energy while not disturbing others and more. In other instances, Schulteis said, she and her team turn to AI to refine a sustainability pledge for exhibitors. “We ask, is there anything missing from this list of ways exhibitors can be more sustainable and is there a way to improve the document to make it more enticing for people to participate or does anything need to be clarified? I tend to submit multiple questions and it works with that.” And in further proof that humans are needed to run AI, Schulteis noted that she always reviews the language proposed by AI to make sure it’s cor- rect, and she even runs it through pla- giarism checkers. AI can generate information for planners to create optimal education, as well as learning environments. “It can scan event participants’ social media accounts to figure out trending topics,” said Jordan. “It’s been used to sense customers’ propensity to buy certain things over others, so you could use it to figure out how people are feeling about an event space. Under- standing an attendee’s mood, you could automatically update their schedule.” For example, if someone is sleepy, a message from AI can send them to a recharging station. Conversely, she noted, if four attendees are feeling energized, they could all be directed to get together. Data Capture for Planners Once the event is over, AI is great for analysis of the pro- gram’s success, added Schulteis. She uses it to generate lists, for example, of the top titles that came to the event, which can be used for future marketing, or for a summary of post-event surveys listing the top pros and cons. AI also can gather information on a planner’s past work, providing new ways for event organizations to demonstrate their value. El Gazzar said, “AI-based transcribing tools can slice and dice client interactions and, with permissions, give event organizers recordings that demonstrate what they do.” Or AI-loving planners can consolidate information from numerous sources they’ve gathered from researching a session topic and quickly pull out the top 20 trends. In other words, it can generate almost any combination of information one can envision. AI can evaluate what you’ve themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESJANUARY 2024 AI is perfect for assisting with site selection for meetings and events or helping a planner to narrow down options based on certain parameters, like number of guest rooms, meeting room size and proximity. COURTESY OF SARAH SHEWEY 20done in the past and give you new ideas again. It analyzes deeper than you know. Of course, as with any new technology, there may be pri- vacy issues that arise, but in these early days of AI tools, users are exercising caution and anticipating regulation to happen in the future. What Lies Ahead Although the technology is moving at lightning speed, there are still next iterations that planners are intending to develop or hoping to see come online. Shewey is working to develop an AI tool to foster event attendee networking while, for Nguyen, an ideal next step would be more robust data analysis that could compare bud- geting grids with actual costs, quickly spotting billing errors and spots where there was excessive spending or where too much money was allocated. “Right now, going over that for food & beverage, audiovisual and all the other areas is like finding a needle in a haystack,” she lamented. “But with AI, we could get the informa- tion in seconds.” On the content side, said Jordan, meeting hosts could have AI chat bots of keynote speakers, and/or breakout session panelists, with whom attendees could communicate before an event. “You could have asked us ques- tions about which sessions you should attend or which ones we find interest- ing,” she said in her remarks at FICP. It was unclear if this technology is a dream of Jordan’s or if it exists, how- ever, if it is already in place, it’s not yet commonly used. Attendees could even inquire of speakers, or perhaps event organizers, on where to go in a meeting’s destination, whether or not to stay an extra day, etc. “Having an AI chatbot will yield a more comprehensive understanding of event participants than what would just typically be gleaned through survey data alone,” Jordan said. “Think about how much better you know someone after having a conversation with them versus just reading their biography,” she noted. “So AI chatbots will enable us to have these kinds of conversations and these connec- tions at scale. You will be able to host events for folks that were once beyond reach due to language constraints, col- laborations with vendors and previously inaccessible locales that will now happen with ease and clarity. Attendees will be able to communicate in ways that would have been impos- sible before, and we all will be able to communicate in our native language but understand each other perfectly. So, this doesn’t just increase connections. This increases your ‘total addressable market.’” For down the road, she sees AI will be able to dynamically schedule events based on real time data like weather forecasts. She also suggested that AI developers create a mechanism whereby attendees, especially first time attendees at a large event, could take a pre-event virtual walkthrough to get accus- tomed to the venue layout. As an example of how this would work, she noted, “I attended South by Southwest for the first time in 2022 and that was pretty intimidating. I would have gotten a lot of value if I could have walked through a typical day in the life there during the actual event. Identifying and connecting with the right people at events can be difficult, but during the actual event, AI will make it much easier to connect.” In a similar vein, Schulteis sees potential in the technology for creating more interaction with, and among, attendees. “I want to start using it more to improve engagement. We use chatbots already before events as a really easy way to get on the right path, asking online visitors if they want to talk about attending or exhibiting.” She continued, “At a show I went to this summer, [on the registration] one of the questions was ‘what topics interest you?’ They used AI so that every night I received an email with a list of sessions that might interest me, when they were being held and where. So, I didn’t need to pull out the agenda, they just handed that information to me.” Of that measure taken by show organizers, Schulteis said, “It’s such a small step that makes a huge impact.” She now wants to use such an approach to create more of a customized attendee experience, whether that means suggesting sessions to attend, networking opportunities, conversation areas or off-site activities. “Those are opportunities we all need to harness,” she concluded, “so we can provide those great experiences to attendees.” | AC&F | JANUARY 2024 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Lisa Schulteis Event Organizer and Founder, ElectraLime I write out whatever we’re working on, whether it’s an email, a marketing plan or something else, and my favorite question for chat GPT is ‘How can I say this better?’ COURTESY OF HUONG NGUYEN AI can be used to save time in myriad ways, from helping to create content and graphics for a presentation to taking notes during a client call. 21INDUSTRY TRENDS themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESJANUARY 2024 Culture Fit Where DEI Goals & Hiring Meet By Maura Keller “Culture fit” is not an unheard-of concept in hiring — when either hiring employees or vendors for an event, but it’s especially important when expanding a meeting planner’s DEI ambitions. According to Elysca Fernandes, director of human resource research and advisory services at McLean & Company in Lon- don, Ontario, it’s important that meeting planners build a strategy on organizational diversity, equity and inclusion. “Focusing on diversity hiring can come off as performa- tive and risk a negative experience for hires from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the existing workforce and leadership team,” Fernandes said. “Several equity studies, including those in the events industry, have demonstrated the lack of representation of people of color in the leadership pipe- line until today.” From personal experience as an Indian woman who has been the “only” woman of color on past teams, Fernandes said the importance of building an understanding of equity and inclusion amongst current staff through a DEI strategy is critical to being ready for focusing authentically on diversity in hiring of both employees and vendors. “Without this important first step of looking inwards and building a meaningful purpose of DEI, organizations risk being performative (focusing on diversity for appearances alone), burning out and losing talent,” Fernandes said. Tiffanie Rosier, DE&I Chair for the International Live Events Association & Hotwire people & culture program manager, has seen more meeting professionals looking to cre- ate opportunities to diversify their staff by attending more professional development DE&I activities and training, and she’s seen people making more intentional efforts to promote opportunities through various in-person and online avenues. “I’ve also seen more companies partner with other compa- nies in order to increase their application pool or referral pools to attract more diverse talent,” Rosier said. “Also, more and more companies are removing barriers for job opportunities by replacing or excluding the ‘degree’ requirements. Many com- panies now use years of experience and actual work responsi- bilities as evaluation factors versus degree requirements.” Steps to Take Meghan Wozniak, senior meeting planner with the Ameri- can Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), can’t speak to the overall organizational diversity hiring practices, as that falls within the human resources department of AASHTO. However, she has been involved with hiring diverse vendors for conferences throughout the U.S. where they host association meetings. “In any given year, we may have over 30 meetings that could impact disadvantaged vendors,” Wozniak said. “Once a here’s been a tremendous amount of attention paid to the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] in today’s workplace. So, when it comes to hiring employees or vendors within the meetings and events arena, focusing on DEI initiatives take centerstage as association planners and their companies set their sights on establishing a culture that reflects the diversity found into today’s workforce. T 22contract has been signed, typically one of my first tasks is to look for local vendors, then I narrow it down to socially and economically disadvantaged vendors.” Wozniak noted that the shift toward DEI initiatives has been dramatic in recent years and can be felt through AAS- HTO’s conferences, committees and meetings. “Our committees have been tasked to include DEI initia- tives such as adding speakers and discussions focused on pro- moting and retention of the DEI community, building road- maps for the future,” Wozniak said “You are giving back to the community if your vendor hiring practice states that you must look to the DEI community for your conference needs. For example, we had at our annual meeting in Indy this year we sourced our Taste of Indy from all local vendors.” As part of DEI hiring practices, meeting planners should also focus on their talent attraction materials: Many orga- nizations lose candidates before the recruitment process begins through outdated and non-inclusive job ads. That’s why Fernandes recommends meeting planners revisit job ads, and the requirements within them, with a critical eye for which requirements are nonessential to the role. They may be limiting the diversity of their talent pool, and in turn, the benefit of diverse experiences and perspectives on their prod- ucts or services. Fernandes said common non-critical requirements to look out for and remove are physical ability requirements, inflated years of experience or leadership requirements (especially since we are aware there are barriers to pro- gression in all organizations), industry-specific experience when not required and gendered language. A quick and impactful “win” in the space is to re-check your job ads and marketing collateral (e.g., videos promoting your organiza- tion, employee value proposition materials on the careers page) for gender neutral language and alignment with the actual role being recruited for. “Be as creative in reimagining hiring practices to improve the diversity of your workforce as you are in product or service innovation,” Fernandes said. “While it isn’t specific to meet- ing planning companies alone, the first piece of advice I pro- vide to any organization is not getting caught up in how you recruited in the past. If you focus on building an amazing event experience and planning for it, focus on how you can build an amazing interview, branding and talent attraction interaction for candidates.” For example, how an organization supports the well-being of their employees through flexibility and holistic well-being initiatives is a huge draw for candidates, especially as many individuals have revisited how they approach purpose at work in recent years. Fernandes recommends meeting planners con- sider the organization’s approach to employee well-being — is it holistic in supporting purpose, financial well-being, physi- cal and emotional well-being, and creating a sense of belong- ing? How has it shifted during recent years? Additionally, be willing to listen to what a candidate needs to be successful in the role while meeting their unique needs and be willing to adapt accordingly. “DEI has a huge impact in the hiring practices of today for both employees and vendors,” Fernandes said. “A key part of that is recognizing that people are unique with unique needs.” Alongside recruiting as priority one, the second priority for meeting organizations is focusing on the employee experience, according to McLean & Company’s HR Trends Report 2024. Fernandes said a positive employee experience is not univer- sal — and your current employees are a great source of feedback to candidates, whether it be through review sites or directly sharing their experiences with friends or family members who may be a great fit for a posted role. “How an organization prioritizes the expe- rience of their current employees from diverse backgrounds plays a big role in whether they resonate with candidates in their networks,” Fernandes said. Dr. Ayanna Cummings, CDE, SPHR, owner, prin- cipal and CEO of Tapestry Consulting, said that ensuring equitable and just hiring and interviewing practices is criti- 23 JANUARY 2024 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Tiffanie Rosier DE&I Chair for the International Live Events Association & Hotwire People & Culture Program Manager More and more companies are removing barriers for job opportunities by replacing or excluding the ‘degree’ requirements. DEPOSITPHOTOS.COMcal for both human resource and diversity management. Such techniques as broad sourcing, targeted recruiting of diverse groups, structured interviewing and hiring pro- cedures to ensure fair and objective standards are applied during candidate evaluation periods, writing inclusive job descriptions that have been decoded or language neutral- ity towards gender and ethnic inclusion, and equitable pay structures are just some of the ways that human resource and diversity management converge to create inclusive and equitable workplaces. “Nowadays, blind hiring is the newest approach to foster- ing a more equitable and inclusive landscape where equal opportunity is paramount,” Cummings said. “Blind hiring achieves the manifest objective of reducing bias and adverse impact in the candidate selection process by removing the evaluators’ or hiring managers’ prior knowledge about the varying demographic dimensions of the candidate during the review process.” Cummings stresses that DEI is at the forefront, leading the charge in the talent acquisition and talent management stages. They are also leading the internal strategic direction of cultural refinement and transformation that not only invite and open the door to diverse people and ideas, but also retain those ideologies and reflect such cultural practices in the ways they do business and the representation they display of diverse groups in senior and upper level executive roles, as well as in vendor partnerships. “DEI is evolving. It is tackling what seems to be a Goli- ath in the form of artificial intelligence systems that histori- cally disenfranchise and marginalize people of color, Blacks, indigenous, and other groups of diverse backgrounds,” Cummings said. Susie Silver, senior consultant and innovation strategist at The Diversity Movement, a business management consul- tancy in Cary, NC, suggested that DEI is not an extra item on a list of things to check off, rather it should become a go-to real- istic integration into every facet of an organization, including hiring employees and vendors. “From thinking about what requirements are listed on a job description and reflecting on what requirements are ‘must-haves’ and what are ‘nice to haves’ (as often the ‘must haves’ are exclusionary to top talent), offering various options for interview environments, auditing the application process to ensure platforms and formats are accessible, ensuring job descriptions are not too long in length and have balanced inclusive language, and ensuring commonly used interview rubrics and questions to mitigate bias in the interview process — there are countless ways to integrate a DEI lens into the hiring process,” Silver said. Mistakes To Avoid As it relates to incorporating DEI initiatives in their hiring practices, the most common mistakes meeting planners and other companies make are centered in failing to see DEI as an organization-wide accountability. “This is at the root of failing to provide resources to all involved in hiring on such things as inclusive hiring, build- ing an intentional focus on continued awareness of DEI chal- lenges and over-reliance on undefined notions of culture fit to eliminate candidates who do not share similarities (race, gender, age, perspective, or more) with the current team,” Fernandes said. That’s why it’s important meeting planners expand their personal DEI learning journey and challenge themselves, and themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESJANUARY 2024 Focusing on creating diverse hiring practices and implementing diversity training and support will help retain top talent, said Tiffanie Rosier, DEI chair for the International Live Events Association (ILEA). Pictured: ILEA Michigan Monthly Professional Development/Networking Event in Detroit, MI. COURTESY OF ILEA 24anyone else involved in hiring, to con- tinuously adopt more inclusive hiring practices. As Fernandes pointed out, no one gets everything right the first time, but it is a learning journey that should be approached with curiosity, empathy and a commitment to con- tinuous learning. “If you hear the term “culture-fit,” or any vague comments about why a candidate is not a good fit, challenge what this means. I often encourage hir- ing teams to replace vague assumptions of culture fit with behavioral statements around their core competencies or val- ues, especially those centered on inclu- sion, to continue to build a workforce that prioritizes DEI,” Fernandes said. Cummings added that we must get out of the notion that “diversity” is a dirty word. Diversity celebrates a vast mosaic of the human experience, including but certainly not limited to the classical dimensions of race and gender, and beyond those classical notions into such evolving demographic dimensions as parental status, educational and socioeconomic background, weight, height and other characteristics that make individuals unique in our society. “Meeting planners, like any other hiring managers, likely fall into the trap of ostracizing ‘diverse hires’ and creating a ‘tokenism’ perception that actually toxifies the culture and misperceives persons of diverse cultural backgrounds as some- how inferior with respect to ability or experience,” Cummings said. “In fact, as we embrace diversity and inclusion, we must also remain self-aware and check our own biases and misgiv- ings about groups that are different than our own at the door if we want to provide everyone a fair shot at actualizing to their potential.” Silver said some other common mistakes being made around the DEI hiring initiatives for employees and ven- dors include job descriptions that are too long in length and include too many specific requirements that in turn exclude many qualified candidates from even considering apply- ing for the job. “Also, interview processes that span numerous interview sessions over multiple months, as well as not communicating with candidates in a timely manner (whether they are offered a position or not), are other mistakes being made,” Silver said. “Also leaders within the same organization using different structures and questions to interview candidates, can lead to bias decisions in hiring.” The Perfect Fit Look at diversity-friendly sites curated by profession- als from diverse backgrounds to locate meeting and event planners, as well as vendors, who are certified, experienced, talented and also happen to be from diverse backgrounds. Cummings said targeting your search efforts will likely yield many results from which to select the top candidate for the job you posted. Tapestry Consulting is a DEI Consultancy, with multiple subsidiaries that serve various functions as subspecialties. They typically use broad search plat- forms that are AI-enabled such as Zip Recruiter to gather several resumes for review. Upon review of the appli- cant pool using a resume database search, the Tapestry Consulting team also simultaneously conducts research on the job function or title that they will be hir- ing for in an effort to struc- ture questions that relate specifically to competen- cies in that area. “When the interviewing begins, we give multiple can- didates an opportunity to inter- view for the roles, including those who may differ in some small way from the stated qualifications or expe- riential background we are hoping to find,” Cummings said. “This actually serves our purposes more so, because it invites diversity to the table in the form of skill set and experiential background, giving a new and fresh perspective to the job to be performed should such a candidate be selected to move forward for the position.” Cummings also suggested planners target the incubation of talent by partnering with an organization that is geared toward the training and professional development of diverse people in the meetings and events industry. For instance, in the event and meeting planning field there are several such organizations, including the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals. Go to their events, get involved, network, post your positions using their career center data- bases, and you will find top notch talent that will exceed your expectations. It is also vital that association meeting planners make intentional connections with people and organizations you would generally not engage with. Oftentimes these connec- tions lead to meaningful relationships that can help expand your diverse pipeline for talent. “I generally like to have people think of talent as an ‘add’ not a ‘fit.’ Think about what a candidate can add to the team, culture and organization. The opportunity in the language is to open up diversity of thought, innovation, creativity, etc.,” Silver said. “Meeting planners and association meeting planners must expand how to think about events for inclusion. For example, vendor supplier diversity is a key way to expand inclusion, engaging with partners (speakers) that use inclusive language and have accessible approaches to content being shared, reg- istration forms including things such as asking for names, pro- nouns, accommodation requests and dietary requests.” No company or person is perfect, said Rosier. So, not every- one will get diverse hiring practices perfect 100% of the time. “I do, however, believe that an authentic focus on how to create not only diverse hiring practices, but also implementing diversity related training, continuing education and support in the workplace/association will help to retain top talent,” concluded Rosier. “Companies should always stay on top of hiring topics and trends and strive to make their company the first company of choice for candidates.” | AC&F | JANUARY 2024 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Elysca Fernandes Director, Human Resource Research and Advisory Services, McLean & Company I often encourage hiring teams to replace vague assumptions of culture fit, with behavioral statements around their core competencies or values. 25INDUSTRY TIPS themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESJANUARY 2024 Career Paths How to Become an Association Meeting Planner By Maura Keller For starters, association meeting planners work differently from corporate meeting planners. While both groups help manage meetings, conferences and events, corporate planners tend to book meetings last minute, while association planners are planning for meetings years in advance. They also focus on incentives that reach into the future, not short-term incentives that may end next week or month. Like most professional planners, association meeting planners are likely to be certified (CMP) or have some formal education behind their names. Typically, smaller associations often contract out their conference to a professional meeting planner, who essentially becomes quite integrated into the association. While not formally staff, they operate as such when working for the association. If you have recently entered the meetings industry and are looking to work as an association meeting planner, joining an industry association like the American Planning Association (APA), Professional Convention Management Association hen you think of the professional meeting planners who work within the association industry, knowledge, experience in their field, determination and fortitude in an industry that is challenging and evolving — all these factors come to mind. Association meeting planners encompass a growing segment of the events industry and have earned accolades aplenty from both inside and outside of the meeting planning world. But what exactly is an association meeting planner, and what steps do you take to become one? W 26(PCMA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) or The Wedding Internationals Professionals Association (WPA), to name a few, might help you take your career to the next level. Career Paths For years, Kyle Jordan, CAE, CEM-AP, CMP, DES, has possessed a career built in member-driven associations and bringing an out-of-the-box approach to meetings manage- ment. Today, Jordan is the director of meeting at INFORMS, an international association for operations research and analytics professionals in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he worked as the vice president of membership at meet- ings at the National Confectioners Association and was the managing director of learning and conferences at the Financial Planning Association. His long-standing career as an association planner affords Jordan a unique under- standing of what it takes to have a career in this segment of the industry. “There’s no one-size-fits-all path to becoming an association meeting planner. It’s more of a choose-your-own- adventure kind of journey,” Jordan said. “You can dive right into the profession itself or work in adjacent or allied areas of the industry. “You could start by working for a hotel, where you’ll get a taste of what it’s like to plan events in a specific venue, or work for a general services contractor, where you’ll learn the ropes of managing logistics for all sorts of different 27 JANUARY 2024 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES DEPOSITPHOTOS.COMtypes of events.” The great thing about being a meetings professional is that you become a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, he said. You’ve got to know a bit about everything — from the culinary world to the technical wizardry of AV setups, and even some legal know-how. “There are various ways to break into the association meeting planning, and while I can’t speak for everyone, I’ve come across some several stories from colleagues, like mine,” Jordan said. “We began our careers as association planners for groups that we were already a member of or had affili- ations with. It’s a bit like turning a hobby or a passion into a profession, and it’s worked out quite well for myself and several of my colleagues.” Jordan began as a volunteer registration coordinator for an association in the industry that he was working in at the time. He found genuine joy in helping manage conferences and events, and Jordan took the knowledge and skills he gained as a volunteer and landed his first professional role in meetings for a state government agency. Following the 2009 financial crisis, which hit government employees hard, Jordan decided to explore opportunities in associations. Fortunately, a few years later, he secured a posi- tion with an Association Management Company (AMC) that managed an association he was already a member of. That’s when his career in meetings really took off. “I have a strong connection to association work because it’s where I started my career as a meetings professional, and I’ve experienced firsthand the tremendous value of association membership,” Jordan said. “Associations have this incredible knack for bringing together individuals who share a common cause, purpose, or industry, and when you’re a part of that type of community, you can have an amazing impact.” Education — In the Classroom | On the Field Jordan earned his bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso Uni- versity, and he holds two master’s degrees — one from Wash- ington State University and another from Western Carolina University. Interestingly, none of his formal education was directly related to hospitality or tourism. However, he has dis- covered that the knowledge and skills he acquired from his studies are incredibly valuable in his daily work. “I believe that you don’t necessarily need a hospitality degree to thrive in this profession; it’s all about one’s innate curiosity and the dedication to providing exceptional ser- vice,” Jordan said. During her 13+ years of event management experience, Marcia White has reliably coordinated vendors, speakers and sponsors for both in-person and virtual venues. Today, White is a senior manager of strategic events, meetings & incentives at MCI USA and said that attending events and helping in some capacity will get people the experience they need to get a job in the event industry. “I started out in the education department and gained experience working on site at education events and then responsibilities just grew from there,” White said. “Experience and learning on the job is a good way to get the feel of what a meeting planner does and gain that experience.” White kind of fell into event planning. Growing up, she always loved to plan family gatherings. When she went to col- lege, she didn’t know there were any specific type of degrees to major in to make event planning her career, so she studied communications with a public relations emphasis and a minor in marketing. “My first job out of college was working with public relations and I knew this wasn’t totally what I wanted to do,” White said. “So when I changed jobs, it had more of an education and marketing focus. This is where every- thing changed.” Working in the education department opened up her eyes that planning events did exist. She started helping out in small amounts with the education events they had at the corporate office. Then her role moved onto helping with domestic and international events in some capacity. The company then did a reorganization and since White themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESJANUARY 2024 Those interested in becoming a meeting planner can start by volunteering for or becoming a member of an association of their choice. COURTESY OF RICH SANTANA 28was helping with events already, they merged all the event planners into one department and she was trained on man- aging events. “Ever since that time, I knew that was the career I wanted, and ever since then, I’ve kept working in events and growing my knowledge through online resources, coworkers and the valuable experience you get from just being onsite working an event,” she said. Since starting in the event planning industry, White has worked on corporate and association events from start to finish: sourcing venues and finalizing contracts to working the event onsite to final billing. She’s also helped at events or helped plan a small part of an event. “It all depends on the size of the event and how much needs to be done to make an event a success. I’ve always loved planning events and the reason I’ve stuck with it for so long is because I love seeing something through from start to finish,” White explained. “I love seeing people at the conferences enjoying themselves, seeing those in per- son that I may not see regularly and also being able to learn something valuable and taking that back to their office. All these things impact their lives and knowing I was a part of that makes it all worthwhile.” Rich Santana, senior meeting plan- ner at Impact Association Management, said it’s also important for planners to be their own biggest advocate. If there are aspects that you want to learn, ask if you can help with projects and tasks in those areas so you can gain experience. Utilize any one-on-one with your man- ager to talk about your goals and how to accomplish them. Santana’s journey within the asso- ciation meeting and events industry began when he was working as an office temp by day and performing improv throughout Chicago. He took a three-day assignment making phone calls for an association during their membership drive and was asked to stay on and fill in for their meeting planner while she was on leave. “Three months later, they created a permanent position for me on the team when the planner came back and I never looked back,” Santana said. “That was 20 years ago!” Santana’s planning career started at a small association, first with managing speakers and sponsorships. He eventually moved on to two other associations, both times looking for a role that allowed him to gain experience in different areas. His second role allowed him to focus on more event logistics, and his third association role allowed Santana to work with hotel room blocks. “I went to a small Catholic University outside of Chi- cago called Benedictine University, majoring in inter- national business with a minor in political science. After college, I decided improv was right up my alley,” Santana said. “I lucked into an event position and haven’t looked back since. I was fortunate to have excellent mentors who not only showed me the ropes but helped me learn from mistakes I made.” Tricks of the Trade Jordan recommended that those both inside and outside of the meetings industry, who may be interested in the association side of the business, experiment with different aspects of meeting planning. “You may be surprised at what ignites your enthusiasm. Maybe orchestrating large-scale conferences will thrill you, or perhaps the meticulous detail of a science meeting will capture your heart,” Jordan said. Most importantly, build relationships — with clients, ven- dors, and fellow meetings professionals. These connections are not just professional networks; they can become your source of inspiration, your support system, and sometimes, your closest friends. “My advice is to embrace the mission. Understand the heart and soul of the association you’re working with,” Jordan explained. “Become a champion of their cause because when you’re passionate about what you’re planning, the meetings you create can become catalysts for change.” White added that planners should make sure to have their resume up-to- date with the skills related to meeting planning “front and center” — such as budgeting and any management tools and skills you have. “There are various job titles that encompass event man- agement. Starting as an event coordinator or assistant can give you the beginning experience you need to learn more about the indus- try,” White said. “Once your experience grows, you will be able to add to your resume and become involved in the industry more and more.” If you are just starting in the associ- ation events planning industry, White’s advice is to first find what area or topic you are interested in. This can help nar- row your focus. Then she would suggest finding groups online that you can network with and follow. “Try to attend some industry events or tradeshows. That’s an easy way to find people in the industry. And always have your resume handy,” White said. “You never know who will want it. Be confident in your event management skills, no mat- ter how much experience you have. Association events can range in size from a small event to a big event and being confi- dent in your skills and industry is the best asset to be successful in association events.” Santana recalled the adage that it’s a small world out there. Well, the event world is even smaller. As he pointed out, it seems we’re all two or three degrees separated from each other in the meeting and events planning industry. “My advice is to start networking as soon as possible and focus not just on contacts that can help you find a job, but other planners that are willing to answer questions or give advice,” Santana said. “There are associations for everything, find ones that matches your values and reach out to see if there is a need. Network with other planners and suppliers that can help you find and get into an open position.” | AC&F | JANUARY 2024 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Rich Santana Senior Meeting Planner Impact Association Management I was fortunate to have excellent mentors who not only showed me the ropes but helped me learn from mistakes I made. 29Next >