Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Technically I have been in the hospitality industry since college. I started out wanting to plan fundraising events, did 2 internships in college (one at a non-profit doing a fundraising event and one at my universities’ career center planning career fairs) and then after college worked at JDRF planning their events and kind of fell into association planning at my current job at Kellen as a meeting manager for 5-6 clients (it changes often) planning all their conferences and board meetings. All in all, it’s been about 12 years in the “industry”.
Outside of work I spend time with my boyfriend and our 2 dogs Hugo and Jax– they are like our kids. We like to be with friends – watching football, baseball, or hanging out at the firepit. We also love to try new restaurants and exploring all the great things KC has to offer. We are big concert people – I think together we attended 8-10 concerts last year and already have a good 4-5 on the books for 2019!
When did you become involved in the PCMA Heartland Chapter and what made you want to join?
I joined PCMA when I joined Kellen (AMP At the time) in 2014. My co-worker Aesha told me I should become a member, and slowly started attending events. At one point I mentioned I wanted to get involved and just like that here I am. Started on the membership committee, to committee chair, to on the board.
What are you looking forward to in 2019 as the Heartland Chapter President?
I am truly looking forward to celebrating our 25th Anniversary this year. We have such an awesome chapter and to have an excuse to celebrate that for an entire year is exciting. Many of our past presidents, board members and committee members stay involved so the fact that a large group of people who started this chapter are still involved and we get to recognize and celebrate them is special.
What do you want to accomplish as a Chapter this year?
Coming from an association management company and just being slightly type-A, I really am looking forward to getting our chapter super organized (shoutout to Slack) and planning for the future to help future presidents, board members, and committee chairs be successful. Not that we are not currently organized, but I feel like I can take it a step further pulling in some techniques we use as a large association management company and the fact that I juggle anywhere from 6-8 clients at a time.
Where do you see the Heartland Chapter headed?
This is a tough one for me – I am not a future vision kind of person (one of my flaws I think) – but I continue to see our chapter grow stronger. We have such a great group of committee chairs and members just now getting involved at that level and think they will really bring some great improvements to our programs, social media, sponsorships, membership and emerging leaders. We have so many great things on the cusp of happening that its almost hard to imagine how great it’s going to be. Does that make sense?! It’s like you KNOW you have a great recipe, all the ingredients, but until we sit down and eat the meal we just don’t know how great it’s going to be. And once we do sit down I feel like it’s going to be one of the best meals ever.
What do you want chapter members to know about you?
I am an open book – don’t be afraid to tell me anything or ask me anything. I also can’t wait to meet those I haven’t met yet and get to know you all better. It will be a fun year!