On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we talk with Colleen Rickenbacher of Colleen Rickenbacher, Inc and The Global Protocol, Etiquette & Civility Academy.  

Colleen is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration coming up in October in Las Vegas.  We talk about her history and background; including her transition from event planner to become an author, speaker and industry expert on etiquette and protocol.  

She's the author of four books: 
Be On Your Best Business Behavior
Be On Your Best Cultural Behavior
The Big Book of People Skills Games (International)
Be On Your Best Teenage Book

And, she devotes a significant amount of her time working with prison and juvenile programs in the Dallas area to help both of those groups better transition into the workforce.  She's also a mentor to numerous students and others in the meetings and events industry.
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You can join Colleen and her fellow 2016 honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the Hall of Leaders Celebration.

On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we talk with John "Jack" Patronski of Global Experience Specialists (GES).  Jack is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration coming up in October in Las Vegas.

We discussed his history and background that brought him to the industry, how he moved from law enforcement into facilities management and then to Andrew Bartlett and later GES for the past 23 years.

Jack is a PCMA Education Foundation Trustee and has been very active in PCMA, the Convention Industry Council and numerous other vital industry groups and initiatives in the Chicago and nationally over the past twenty years.  We look back at the history of the industry as well as forward to the future as he's honored for his years of work advancing the meetings and events industry.

You can join Jack and all the other honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the 2016 Hall of Leaders Celebration.

​On today's podcast we talk with Janee Pelletier, MBA, CMP, DES of Conference & Logistics Consultants about her educational session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore.  

Her session, "Budget-Driven Meeting Planning: Contracts, Expenses and Your Career" is a terrific overview of how planners can look at their events with a budgetary perspective at the forefront of their thinking.  Flawless logistics are no longer the measure of a successful meeting.  And, with a greater focus in organizations on the budgetary side of an event; to progress your career and be more valuable to your company, you need to be able to work comfortably within the budget realm.

Janee will offer practical advice she's found for cost savings, as well as guidance for setting up a budget template and making well considered projections of possible variable expense areas of your event.  There's still time to join us in Baltimore at the CMP Conclave, September 16-18.

​On today's podcast we talk with Carol Norfleet, MBA, CMP, DMCP of Destination Nashville about her pre-conferece session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore.  Carol's session is a workshop that will bring together planner and supplier CMP's to begin the process of revising the legacy documents of APEX that need to be refreshed and updated.

APEX is an initiative of the CIC that promotes the development and implementation of industry-wide accepted practices to create and enhance efficiency throughout the meetings and events industry.  It's vital that the APEX be updated to maintain it's relevancy and usefulness.  Amongst the topics to be considered in the session are: Event Specification Guide, Housing & Registration Guide, Site Profiles Guide and Post Event Reporting Guide.

​There's still time to join us in Baltimore for the annual CMP Conclave on September 16-18!

On today's Hall of Leaders edition of the podcast we get to chat with Richard Aaron, MFA, CESP Emeritus of Biz Bash.  Richard is being honored at the CIC Hall of Leaders Celebration that's coming up in October in Las Vegas.

We discussed Richard's history and background that brought him to the industry, how his broadway and entertainment career eventually led him to producing corporate events for a "who's who" of major companies in the 1980's and 1990's.  Then, his move into the burgeoning internet by joining BizBash as they were being launched.  

Richard is a passionate teacher and we spent some time talking about his classes and his goals in training the next generation of industry professionals.  We also look at some of the interesting new trends in the industry related to things like festivals and how they can influence corporate meetings.

​You can join Richard and all the honorees on October 18th at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas for the 2016 Hall of Leaders Celebration.

​Our guest today on the podcast is Jim Clarke, CAE; the Senior Vice President, Public Policy at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).  Jim's will be leading a session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore called: "Meetings in the Crosshairs - Current Legislation and issues affecting your events."  We previewed some of the major issues that he will cover in the session and bring some attention to topics that have the potential to significantly effect the meetings industry.  

First up we look at a proposed overtime rule revision that will go into effect on December first of this year and impact organizations nationally by changing the salary level of exempt employees.  There's a potential compromise bill that could alter this rule and it's very important that as an industry we let our representatives know of our support.  To that end, and as mentioned in the podcast, here's a link to find your Congressional Representative: United States House of Representatives

We also discussed recent ASAE Board Policy enacted on the subject of Diversity and Inclusion as it relates to our industry and actions like recently passes RFRA laws in some states.

Lastly, we touched on recent progress for easing federal rules regarding attendance of federal employees to meetings.

​Each of these topics has significant impact on the meetings and events industry.  If you're interested in learning more, you can attend Jim's session at the CMP Conclave in Baltimore coming up later this month.  If you can't attend you can learn more about the work ASAE is doing on our behalf at their site: The Power of A.  You can also find out specific ways to become more involved in advocating and advancing our industry. 

On today's edition of the podcast we talk with Dr. Jan Roy of Kaplan University about her session slated for the CMP Conclave in Baltimore next month.  She'll be looking at a terrific area for self-improvement and career advancement.  

"The Importance of Soft Skill Competencies for Meeting Professionals" will help attendees better understand the area of soft skills and how it's an area of growing importance within organizations and an individuals potential to advance their career.  Her focus will be on the leadership aspects of soft skills and some of the ways that attendees can better understand and develop them.
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There's still time to join us at the CMP Conclave in Baltimore on September 16-18.  You can learn more here:  CMP Conclave.

As event planners and suppliers we are all aware of evolving threats that can impact our venues and attendees.  The industry has never established a uniform set of international standards for safety and security.  To address that need, the international Secure Venue Standard is being developed in collaboration with a number of industry organizations.

Paul Bridle and Vicki Hawarden will lead a session at the upcoming CMP Conclave in Baltimore to review the importance of standards in this critical area, then break into smaller groups to provide feedback on how the proposed standards can bets meet the needs of the industry.

​They join me on the podcast today to preview their session and talk about the vital role that providing a safe and secure environment for our attendees and guests plays in planning any event.  If you're attending the CMP Conclave you should plan to attend this session and assure that your concerns and needs are met by the proposed standards.

For this episode of the podcast we were able to connect with Patrick Delaney of Sool Nua in Dublin, Ireland about his induction this year into the Convention Industry Council Hall of Leaders this coming October in Las Vegas.

We were able to spend some time chatting about his background and history in the meetings industry; and then what inspires him about our industry looking forward to the future.  And how the work we do in helping people come together to change the world can be so inspiring to each of us within the meetings industry.

If you'd like to see Patrick inducted to the Hall of Leaders you can join him at the Hall of Leaders Celebration in Las Vegas on October 18, 2016 in the Jewel Nightclub at the Aria.