Connecting you to the global meeting + event community MPI-WISCONSIN CHAPTER “MPI-WI Chapter is the bridge to knowledge, compelling ideas, and relationships to create a voice in the meetings and events industry.” MAY JUNE VOL 39/NUM 3 2017 COME TOGETHER IN THE FOX CITIES Endless shopping, dining and 15+ facilities with unique, Fun options for group nightlife options affordable meeting space activities and team building Make the Fox Cities your next meeting destination! Enjoy the big city amenities and small town charm that our 20 communities along the shores of Lake Winnebago and the WISCONSIN Fox River have to offer: 45 41 • An exceptional visitor experience for groups of 10 to 2,500 94 10 • Safe, walkable communities KAUKAUNA 21 FOXCITIES • Flexible, affordable meeting spaces MENASHA APPLETON 43 • Free bureau services 10 151 41 We invite your group to COME TOGETHER IN THE FOX CITIES. NEENAH 41 LAKE WINNEBAGO Begin your planning at FoxCities.org or 800-236-6338 GET SOCIAL! 2 | May/June 2017 MPI Agenda MPI Agenda May/June 2017 | 3 MPI-WISCONSIN May/June 2017 2016 -2017 VOL 39/NUM 3 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Jen Mell, CMP Feature Articles Travel Leaders [email protected] 2017 Spring Education Event: MPI University 8 President-Elect MPI-WI March Event Recap 10 Claudia Cabrera Madison Marriott West Hotel & Conference Center SMUG MUG 12 [email protected] Immediate Past President Why Don't Millennials Do the Next Thing on the List? 16 Tom Graybill Tri-Marq Communications [email protected] Vice President Finance Brandon Smith In Every Issue Levy Restaurants at Wisconsin Center District [email protected] From the Editor’s Desk 4 Vice President Membership President’s Column 6 JoEllen Graber Mount Horeb Area Chamber of Commerce Board Member Profile:Tamara P. Jesswein, CMP 7 [email protected] Who's in the News 13 Vice President Communications Maria Peot, CMP Food for Thought 14 First Business Financial Services [email protected] Supplier Profile: Cathleen ʻCatʼ Caruso 15 Vice President Education Katie McGinnis New Members & Anniversaries 18 Iron Horse Hotel [email protected] Student Profile: Julie Wills 20 Director-Awards and Scholarships, Recruitment Planner Profile: Michelle Eggert 22 Alison Hutchinson Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau Calendar BC [email protected] Director-Member Care Sara Kern Blue Harbor Resort & Spa [email protected] Director-Special Events Tracey Bockhop, CMP Meet Meetings [email protected] Director-Monthly Programming Tamara Jesswein, CMP HID Global [email protected] Director-Publications & Community Outreach Sarah Banach Marcus Hotels & Resorts [email protected] Director-Special Education Danielle Ziegler, CMP, CVT Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau [email protected] Experience MPI Wisconsin Director-Strategic Alliances, Sponsorships & Fundraising Print: Agenda Magazine 6 Different Ways Elizabeth Unruh Web: mpiwi.org Wisconsin Center District [email protected] Facebook: facebook.com/mpiwi Director-Website, Social Media, & Public Relations Twitter: twitter.com/mpiwisconsin Cathy Kreiter LinkedIn: MPI-WI Chapter Visit Milwaukee [email protected] Instagram: https://instagram.com/mpi_wi_chapter MPI Agenda May/June 2017 | 3 MPI-WISCONSIN CHAPTER EDITOR'S NOTE Published bimonthly by Meeting Professionals International – Wisconsin Chapter CO-EDITORS Calley Van Kirk Group Sales Manager Holiday Inn Milwaukee Riverfront [email protected] Nicole Slemin Senior Sales Manager SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! Hyatt Regency Milwaukee [email protected] Now that the last of the snow has melted away and longer days of sunshine abound, people tend to get caught up in all of the constant activity that surrounds Wisconsin in the coming months. The whirlwind of special events, family BBQs, festivals, concerts CONTRIBUTING WRITERS and other social activities can dilute our focus and we may become less likely to take Nicole Ellickson, CMP the time to attend MPI events and stay connected with our industry colleagues. There Sarah Gibson are great spring and summer events to attend with MPI-WI, and I encourage you to Danielle Ziegler, CMP, CVT hold yourself accountable to stay engaged. A perfect start to the warmer season is our Spring Education Day, being held May GRAPHIC DESIGN 17-18, at the beautiful Green Lake Conference Center located in Green Lake, WI. This Ann Shultz, AJS Designs, ajsdesigns.net event will focus on the Planner/Supplier relationship and is sure to be enlightening. Then, June 29-30 do not miss the MPI-WI Summer Spectacular! The Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center and Oshkosh Country Club will be PUBLICATION DEADLINES hosting the event. Come out and show off your golf skills while connecting with your July/August 2017 fellow MPI-ers! As spring turns to summer, you can look forward to the Summer Socials Deadline: May 15, 2017 that are always a great time to mingle and enjoy the sunshine. September/October 2017 Deadline: July 15, 2017 Don’t let the busier season catch you off guard. Plan ahead for these MPI events, reserve your spot as early as possible, and mark it on your calendar! You will not November/December 2017 regret it. Deadline: September 15, 2017 Cheers to Springtime! PERMISSIONS Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Statements of fact and opinion within Agenda are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not Calley Van Kirk imply an opinion of the officers or members of MPI or MPI-Wisconsin Chapter. Group Sales Manager Holiday Inn Milwaukee Riverfront 4 | May/June 2017 MPI Agenda MPI Agenda May/June 2017 | 5 17357-Suspended_MPI-7.5x9.5.indd 1 {MADISON, WI} Terrace, with its inspiring lakeside Monona spaces cierge-caliber service, fosters presence and con in the or greater productivity in your moment f meeting. d capture your best thi Cultivate an nking here. MPI Agenda May/June 2017 | 5 2017 |5 May/June blog.mononaterrace.com 3/6/17 11:14AM ©2017 Monona Terrace President's Column Continuing on… ... that’s been on my mind lately. This is my last column as So as I refocus my mind from “President” to “Past your chapter President. It has been an honor and a pleasure President,” it’s not lost on me that the work we to serve the chapter in this capacity over the last year. I accomplished this past year is a layer of foundation for the am truly grateful to have had this opportunity to grow and next and in between us is an &. learn (and there’s been LOTS of lessons learned along the way), and also thankful for the opportunity to move on and continue serving the chapter in another capacity. Connections. Claudia Cabrera will glide into the “driver’s seat” as your MPI is a wonderful place to make connections, both chapter President on July 1st. She’s already hard at work professional and personal. I know Planner members that preparing herself and the incoming Board of Directors for have found trusted vendors that they work with year this next year. There are so many things that happen this after year. I know members that have met their future time of year that the vast majority of MPI members don’t boss sitting next to them at an MPI event. And I know see. The side meetings and calls between old and new Board members that have vacationed together and attended members, the on-boarding sessions from our partners at each other’s weddings all because they met here in MPI- MPI Global, the creation of the annual budget, education, Wisconsin. I cannot stress enough the importance of membership and overall chapter business plans. All of your making connections with our MPI community. How do you board members are like ducks on the water…they look make those connections? Come to our events, sit next to smooth and sleek when you see them but if you peek your someone you don’t know, and volunteer! head under the water, their legs are kicking at a feverish pace to get these things accomplished while also executing the Spring Education Day and Summer Spectacular events! Inclusion. In MPI-Wisconsin, we really are on the same team… Planners, Suppliers and “Su-planners”! On the Board, we work as one to plan and execute the best chapter events, magazine, strategic alliance and membership programs possible. For the membership as a whole, we also work together to be the best we can at our day jobs too, whether it’s working extra hard on that hotel proposal for a new Planner we met at the last MPI event or advocating for a new vendor contact to our leadership team for our next meeting. We are also part of a bigger picture within MPI Global. It’s a blessing to be a part of this global community and this network of chapters. One of my favorite experiences during my time as President has been connecting with other chapters to learn how they do things in their world. 6 | May/June 2017 MPI Agenda MPI Agenda May/June 2017 | 7 BOARD MEMBER PROFILE Continuation. MPI is like a river, “ever changing as it flows.” (Can anyone name that tune?) As with life in general, MPI is constantly changing. Last year we saw a new Tamara P. Jesswein, membership program get launched and that theme of change will continue in to the next year and beyond. For those that are on the Board or active on the CMP volunteer teams, you will put a lot of time and effort in to making these changes as seamless as possible for the Place of employment: membership body. Be diligent in learning all the facts, HID Global continue to ask questions, view every change through our member’s eyes to see their benefit and most of all, Where do you currently live? be proud of that work.