I had always worked within the hospitality industry (in hotels, Disney, etc.) and was in school for tourism management, but never had any interest in meetings. In fact, I had pre-emptively decided that I never wanted to work with events or meetings. An internship opportunity came up at my university for an events coordinator, and I decided to interview. On my first day at this internship I was immediately thrown into the world of planning meetings and conferences, and I fell in love! It was the hustle and bustle, as well as the creativity that went into organizing meetings, that drew me to it.
The highlight of my career thus far is the first time I successfully executed a conference of my own. Up until that point I was an intern, assisting my team with each of their conferences. When I took on this first conference, I saw it as a challenge and a test to see if this really was the industry I wanted to work in. The conference went off without a hitch and I was confident I was in the right career.
I would love the opportunity to organize an international conference! This would be a great challenge, and a step into a new direction of the meeting and event industry.
A big challenge for me has been understanding that every client is different when it comes to how hands-on and involved they would like to be. There are some that like to be involved in every decision and there are others that would prefer leaving all the decisions up to me. I have learned it is very important to understand this from the beginning of the planning process so I can keep my clients as involved as they would like, without burdening them with extra information.
Working in the meeting and event industry has most significantly affected me by increasing my confidence and self-awareness of my abilities. Almost everything I have learned in this industry has been from experience—by trying and failing, by trying and succeeding and learning from each experience. From all of this I am able to recognize what I am good at and what I still need to learn.
After starting my internship, my co-worker invited me to join her at monthly MPI meetings. My boss was also very encouraging of my involvement with MPI, and allows us all to go to the World Education Congress each year. MPI has provided so much education, professional development opportunities and new ways of thinking creatively. It is because of MPI that I will be going for my CMP certification in 2019!
I am passionate about exploring the local food, arts and culture around where I live and anywhere I travel. It’s so important to me to try new experiences and immerse myself in the life of whatever city I am in, and I am constantly seeking the new and trendy places or the tried-and-true local gems.
