Passion and Purpose

“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence" Author Unknown. Living with passion and purpose is what I strive for every day. Subscribe to my blog: http://ow.ly/kbEUE

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As the holidays are approaching many of you will be attending work, association and personal holiday parties.  Networking can be extremely difficult for introverts and sometimes even extroverted people have a hard time doing it right.  Here are some helpful tips to successfully network this holiday season.

Use Connections:  Invite people that you know or have wanted to meet to the event.  Using social media or your connections to introduce you to other people can be a lot less stressful. 

Resist the urge to arrive late:  Arrive early so people haven’t settled into groups yet.

Differentiate Yourself: Ditch the sales pitch and be memorable for who you are.

Help Others:  Find a way that you can help them and they will in return want to help you.

Follow Up:  Follow up on your promises and commitments.

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I think; therefore I am. Rene Descartes

As an avid reader of all things, I think it is extremely important to stay current on what’s going on in your industry and others that relate.  I read everything from newspapers to books to online articles.  Here are some of the ways I get valuable information.

Newspaper

Crain’s Chicago Business-I love to read Crain’s so that I know what is going on in Chicago.  What companies are coming and going and the who’s who of Chicago business.

Newsle-Newsle is a great application that syncs your social media profiles and sends you an email when one of your connections comes up in the news.

Social Media

Twitter-Follow people and companies in the tourism industry.  They will post articles and ideas that are interesting to read.

LinkedIn-Connect with your peers in the industry, many post great insights on what’s happening in their field.

Blogs-Follow travel blogs and blogs from your peers.  If you subscribe they will send you an email when they post something new.  What I like about blogs is your receiving information from their point of view.  One blog I like in particular is Judi Hollers.  

Google

Google anything your interested in and your bound to find hundreds of articles that pertain to what your looking for.

Google Alerts-I have over 15 Google alerts setup so that when someone rights an article anywhere in the world, I receive an email if it contains the words I am interested in.

Chapter Newsletters

Meeting Professionals International (MPI)-MPICAC sends out great blogs and articles on all things in the hospitality industry.  You can also like them on Facebook to get their blog posts.

Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)-PCMA has great blogs and industry articles that you can subscribe to.\

Websites

www.successfulmeetings.com

www.eventmanagerblog.com

www.corbinball.com

www.plannerwire.net

www.bizbash.com

www.mpicac.org

www.meetingsfocus.com

www.cvent.com

www.themeetingmagazines.com

www.internationalmeetingsreview.com

www.meetingsfocus.com

www.hotelnewsnow.com

www.pcma.org

www.iacconline.org

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Sustainability

Sustainability is very important to me and at the Summit we do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint. 

Below are a few things you can look for in a venue or things you can implement into your own space.

Energy efficient lighting

Computer controlled HVAC system

Duplex printing and copying, minimize printing

Water coolers instead of bottles

Compostable drinking cups

Organic, Fair Trade coffee

Organic and local items on their menus

Earth-friendly cleaning supplies

Recycling bins throughout the facility

The Summit is gold star certified by the International Association of Conference Centers(IACC).  The US Green Building Council has a wonderful venue selection guide so you can help identify venues sustainability initiatives. 

If you have any questions regarding our practices or how you can implement them into your facilities, please reach out to me.

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Yesterday was Hug Chicago 2013.  This is a volunteer day for the hospitality industry. 

Two of my colleagues were able to join me in volunteering around the city.  We met at Navy Pier, were fed breakfast, and then sent off on our assignments.

We were assigned to H.O.M.E, which provides housing assistance for the elderly.  We spent the day cleaning apartments, refrigerators, grills and landscaping.  With seven other volunteers we were able to accomplish a lot. 

After the busy day we went back to Navy Pier and were fed dinner and had drinks at Crystal Gardens.  It was a wonderful day of service and networking with industry peers.

The hospitality industry is so lucky that we have so many generous sponsors that are willing to help out with events like this.  Not to mention all of our bosses who let us have the day off to participate.

If you are able and interested this will be an annual event.  It feels great to get the opportunity to help other people.

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Using hash tags on twitter is invaluable.  Here are some of the hash tags I use for the meetings industry.

#Food

#Organic

#Breakfast

#Lunch

#Snack

#Local

#Yum

#vegetarian

#vegan

#glutenfree

#healthy

#meals

#cuisine

Technology

#technology

#news

#leaders

#internet

#A/V

#hybridevents

#virtual

#eventtech

#EventProfs

#meeting

#conference

#event

#summit

#CSR

#ff

#greenmeetings

#ReThinkForum

#smassn

#training

#CMP

#engage365

#mtworld

#speakchat

#meetingprofs

#eventtable

#workplace

#learning

#executivelearning

#Chicago

#IACC

#MPI

#MPICAC

#WBENC

#asae

#ASTD

#CCASTD

#BizBash

#hsmai

#ises

#pcma

#sgmp

#SOBCon

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Summit Executive Centre is a certified Women’s Owned Business.  We are WBENC certified as well as City of Chicago. 

In 1997, under the leadership of Louise Silberman, The Summit Executive Centre opened its doors for business. With just over 15,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space, Summit redesigned and upgraded the facilities to create an even more comfortable and distraction-free meeting environment.

There are many amazing benefits you can receive by working with a WBE business but one of the most important to corporations is that they can receive Supplier Diversity credits.

I have been recently placed in a role where I am working with Procurement and Supplier Diversity. 

Today for the first time I attended the Chicago Business Opportunity Fair at Navy Pier.  This is a trade show with many Fortune 500 corporations in attendance.  It is great to get the opportunity to speak with so many people that are excited to work with Women Owned and Minority Owned Businesses.

The trade show was a success and I look forward to getting to know the Supplier Diversity Professionals more and attending this again next year.

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Last night was Meeting Professionals International Chicago Area Chapters First Annual Trivia Night.  Despite the pouring rain the event was a huge success in my eyes.

Being on the committee for the event, a sponsor as well as an attendee at the Trivia Night I had such a great time.  At 4:30pm they had a sponsor’s reception where we could network with other sponsors. 

5:30pm started the cocktail hour and many people were arriving early even though it was down pouring.  I got to see a lot of friends and fellow industry colleagues so it was great to catch up. 

The team at Spirit of Chicago did such a great job preparing the food and helping everyone get around.  Our committee helped people find their seats and trivia began at 6:30pm. 

Judi Holler and Jim Grillo were the MCs for the evening.  They were so energetic and enthusiastic about our first event.  The raffle and silent auction items were AMAZING.  We had packaged trips all around the United States some including flight, hotel and restaurant gift certificates.  We had eight boxes that you could choose which raffle item you were hoping to win. 

The trivia questions were hard but it was so fun how everyone got into it.  Our team actually won third place which we were really excited about.  When you are on a team it is fantastic how much each person can contribute.  

All in all I had a blast and I can’t wait for next year’s event!

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MPI-CAC First Annual Trivia Night

On April 17th, 2013 Meeting Professionals International (MPI) special events committee will be hosting our First Annual Trivia Night.  We have been working all year to make this event a success.  We are very excited because this will create a new and innovative way to network.  

Trivia Night is modeled after the popular “Pub Trivia’s” that occur throughout Chicago.  We are anticipating 250 meeting planners and suppliers to attend on the Spirit of Chicago at Navy Pier.  Food and beverage is also included. 

This is going to be a legacy event and a great opportunity for teambuilding with your colleagues, meeting new people or inviting clients. 

There will be a team spirit award so we are very excited to see what people come up with.  We will also have great items for our silent auction and wonderful prize opportunities.

I am proud to be a part of this organization and have enjoyed attending MPI events as well as being on the special events committee.  Joining a committee is a great way to network and learn from colleagues.

Join a committee that best suits you whether it is education or social and dive in and become involved.  You’ll be surprised what you can learn, how you can help and how much you’ll enjoy it.   

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Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Study Tips

Since I took and passed my Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) test in January I have had a lot of people reach out to me with questions about the test so I thought I would provide some of my insights.

Becoming certified in your profession can gain you recognition, give you a competitive advantage, peer acceptance, personal achievement and possibly a salary increase.   I wanted to get my CMP because there was a lot more I thought I could learn about the industry.  I am a supplier not a planner so I wanted to think more like a planner to better know how to satisfy my clients needs. 

I decided last summer that I was interested in becoming a CMP.  I looked in to what you need and realized I had all of the credentials to become one.  You need to have either 36 months of work experience, 24 months with a degree in hospitality or be a full time instructor.  You also need to either have a hospitality internship or 25 CEU’s.

If you are interested in applying for your CMP start going to educational events right away.  MPI, PCMA and IACC have events and educational days all of the time and that is where I received most of my credits from.  Find something you are interested in learning about and take classes on it.  As long as it pertains to this industry it will count. 

I sent my application in August and received my acceptance in October.  I would recommend studying for at least six months for this exam so you are not spending all of your time studying however I started studying in October.  I would also recommend taking the winter exam.  A lot more people take that exam so you can find more study partners.  Also, you will not be stuck inside all summer studying like if you were to take the July exam.

Purchase all four of the books that are recommended from the Convention Industry Council which is about $250 if you buy new.

I would recommend doing a study course which is provided by MPI or PCMA however they were both being revamped when I was studying so they didn’t provide one.  PCMA has an online study tool which I purchased.  This is a great tool to help you organize your studying.  It will tell you which chapters to study together and you will answer questions at the end.  When you are finished with all of the modules it will tell you which sections you should go over more.

The CIC book as well as the Professional Meeting Management book are the most important when studying.  Read both cover to cover and answer the questions after each section.  They also have keywords in each section.  The ones you do not know make a flash card for so you can study when you have some down time.  The International book will also have a few questions on the test but not many.  Anything that has a list makes a good question so make flash cards. 

Remember you are being scored on what knowledge is in the materials.  Not what happens in real life in this industry.  When selecting an answer, it is what the book says not what happens in real life.  Review the CIC blueprints to see what will be on the exam.  The day before the test relax and do not even study.  You need to be refreshed and ready for the exam.  Cramming is not the way to go.

The CMP examination is computer based and is comprised of 165 multiple choice questions. The examination contains 150 operational questions (scored) and 15 unscored questions.  You have 3.5 hours to complete the exam.  I took the whole time to complete the exam.

At the end of the exam they will give you a pass or fail.  It is a great achievement to receive your CMP and you will learn a tremendous amount while studying.  If you have any questions about the CMP examination or tips on studying please do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

Good Luck!

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International Association of Conference Centers Annual Conference

Last week was the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) 2013 Annual Conference.  I was lucky to get the opportunity to spend three days at Eaglewood Resort & Spa and meet and network with many industry leaders.  

I heard from Simon Bailey about the Vuja De Moment which is a reverse of the French déjà vu.  “It is strange but this has never happened before.”  It is all about creating moments that are new and inspiring and thinking in a new way. 

I was chosen by IACC’s Emerging Trends Committee to speak on a panel Hot Topics:  From Tom Hanks to Taylor Lautner – How Generational Preferences Will Transform the Meetings Marketplace.  The Emerging Trends committee which I am actively involved in did a study on generational preferences in the meetings industry.  You can see what they found out here.  I answered a lot of questions based on my opinions on why people choose certain conference centers and what aspects are most important to different generations.  You need to be able to cater to the needs of all generations and in order to attract all ages you need to be flexible in the design of the room, public spaces and food and beverage options.

The other workshops I attended were Making The Most of LinkedIn, Understanding Emotional Intelligence and Conference Center Industry Trends.  The IACC Annual Conference was beneficial for me.  To stay current and relevant in your position you must continue to learn.

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Thank you for checking out my new blog.  In my first entry I am going to let you know a little bit about me, Sasha Sook.

I am the Sales, Marketing and Social Media Manager at Summit Executive Centre.  My passion is all things hospitality and fashion.  I will be writing about all of the things I am passionate about or interested in.

I decided to start blogging because I wanted to build my platform as a thought leader on life and leadership, inspired by learning and challenges.  I want to share my experiences and my lessons with the world.

Thank you again for reading my blog and check back periodically for my insights on industry trends and all that is going on in my world.