CMPs Among MeetingsNet 2015 Changemakers

Meet the 2015 Changemakers!

Mike Shea, Executive Director — South by Southwest
Judy Anderson, CMP, Director, Meetings & Travel — GameStop
Amanda Batstone, Senior Program Manager CBI — UBM Life Sciences
Michelle Bergstein-Fontanez, Marketing Maven/Owner — Event Industry Marketing by BeatCreative
Gregory J. Butler, Director Global Supply Chain Stewardship — Becton Dickinson
?Padraic Gilligan & Patrick Delaney, Managing Partners — SoolNua
Dahlia El Gazzar, Co-founder — The Meeting Pool
Aynn Furie, Senior Director Global Meetings Category — Pfizer
Sherri Lindenberg, CLU Senior Vice President Marketing & Events — Crump Life Insurance Services
Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE President and CEO — Association Forum of Chicagoland
Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, MBA President — Meeting Change
Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, & Nan Marchand Beauvois — Meetings Mean Business Coalition
Kimberly Meyer & Peter Matthews, Co-founders — Meetings Analytics
Katrina Ruff, CMP, CIS Owner and Senior Vice President — Business Development Forums Meetings & Events
Joe Scully, Senior Director Meeting & Event Management — John Hancock
Julie Taylor, Director Education and Training — California Water Environment Association
Elizabeth Warwick, Vice President Meeting Management and Event Strategy — Liberty Mutual
Heidi Welker, Vice President Marketing — Freeman Audio Visual Canada

Congratulations, CMPs!

Changemaker: Judy Anderson, CMP
For being a creative and daring planner focused on engagement for the Millennial attendee

Judy Anderson, CMP, Director Meetings & Travel — GameStop
Making Change: GameStop’s biggest annual meeting brings 4,500 store managers together every August for training, an expo and motivation around upcoming game releases. With a stagnant budget and a Millennial demographic — most store managers are 23 to 26 years old, and about 75 percent are men — I’ve had to find ways to create engagement on a shoestring.

Changemaker: Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM — MBA
For bringing her passion for sustainability and fundamental human issues to every aspect of the meetings industry and for using that passion to educate others through her writing and volunteer efforts

Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, MBA President — Meeting Change
Making Change: I chose my company’s name, Meeting Change, because of a focus on changing meetings to make them even more effective.

Changemaker: Meetings Mean Business
For launching the North American Meetings Industry Day as part of its ongoing advocacy efforts

Making Change: Leaders from across the meetings and events industry are working together to showcase the value of in-person meetings, conventions, incentive travel programs and exhibitions. The Meetings Mean Business campaign offers an advocacy platform for their work and has helped to change the way legislators, corporate executives and the public see the role of meetings in driving business success and sustaining economic growth. The coalition that represents and advocates for the meetings and business travel industry this year held the first North American Meetings Industry Day, co-coordinated by Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, CEO of Convention Industry Council and Nan Marchand Beauvois, Vice President of U.S. Travel and Managing Director for the Meetings Mean Business coalition.

Changemaker: Katrina Ruff, CMP, CIS
For being a spirited entrepreneur and mentor with a social conscience

Katrina Ruff, CMP, CIS Owner and Senior Vice President — Business Development Forums Meetings & Events
Making Change: I ask all who I encounter, "If you could do something tomorrow for free, what would you do?" The answer typically leads them to their true passion. By leading people to their most authentic selves via mentoring and support, the face of business and the world at large can change for the better.

To see full profiles, click here.

The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a
program of the Convention Industry Council

Convention Industry Council
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