PCMA ANNOUNCES 2012 ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS

PCMA ANNOUNCES 2012 ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS

Chicago, IL, November, 2012: Each year, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) honors outstanding members for their contributions to PCMA and the meetings industry. PCMA is proud to announce the winners of the 2012 Achievement Awards, who will be recognized at the 57th PCMA annual meeting: Convening Leaders, January 13-16, 2013, in Orlando, Florida.

“PCMA recognizes and celebrates the exceptional accomplishments of our 2012 Achievement Award winners” said PCMA President and CEO, Deborah Sexton.

2012 Distinguished Member of the Year Award
The recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Member of the Year Award is John Folks, President, Minding Your Business, Inc. John is a former Chairman of the PCMA Board, an exiting member of the Board of Trustees, has attended 23 PCMA annual meetings, numerous other headquarter and chapter meetings, and participated as a speaker in over 40 industry educational sessions, most of them with PCMA. His engagement has been fueled at both the chapter and national levels – as a committee member and in volunteer leadership roles. John actively assists other members with finding value intheir PCMA membership and is committed to his community and social issues.

2012 Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year Award
The 2012 Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year Award winner is Jody Egel, CMP, CAE, Meetings Manager, Million Dollar Round Table. Jody has played a critical role in PCMA’s development of global education; she was Chair of the 2011 International Summit and 2012 Chair of the Global Task Force. As a vocal advocate for the industry, Jody is often a contact to people seeking information on the hospitality industry. Sharing her passion, providing information on networking and job opportunities and responding to the questions of people interested in the hospitality industry confirms her dedication to the industry and for PCMA.

2012 Distinguished Service Professional of the Year Award
The 2012 Distinguished Service Professional of the Year Award winner is Scott Collinsworth, Director of Sales, SWANK Audio Visuals, Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center. Throughout his 22 year career, the Immediate Past President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of PCMA, has consistently established himself as an outstanding individual leader within the Hospitality and Meetings Industry in Denver, Colorado and all over the country. Scott has been a true, dedicated professional mentoring both students and board members. Scott is a well know industry contributor and volunteer for numerous community groups.

2012 Emerging Leader Award
The winner of the 2012 Emerging Leader Award is Madeleine Bart. Madeleine is the 2012 Director of Communications for the Canada East Chapter, and Event Coordinator at CICA – The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Madeleine also developed, with support from the PCMA Membership department, a strategic launch of the video with a chapter level “Member Get A Member” (MGAM) challenge that also aligns with headquarters’ MGAM program. The results of the challenge will be celebrated at the Canada East Chapter Reception at the PCMA Convening Leaders 2013.

2012 Outstanding Service to a Chapter Award
The winner of the 2012 Outstanding Service to a Chapter Award is Heidi Welker, Vice President Marketing, AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. Heidi is currently President-Elect the Canada East Chapter. She has been Director of the PCMA Foundation for the Canada East Chapter in 2010, 2011 and 2012. As a result of her service and fundraising efforts nearly $6,000 has been raised since 2010. She is also the Director of the Canada East Chapter Advisory Council. Heidi encourages and mentors future leaders by empowering younger members to take leadership roles on committees of interest. Her personal commitments include involvement in fundraising activities in support of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society and the Alzheimer’s Society.

2012 Educator of the Year Award
The winner of the 2012 Educator of the Year Award is Tyra W. Hilliard, PhD, JD, CMP, Program Director, Associate Professor, Restaurant, Hotel and Meetings Management, Department of Human Nutrition & Hospitality Management, College of Human Environmental Sciences. She has developed bothundergraduate and graduate courses using industry best practices and focused the re-designing of her program’s curriculum on relevant marketplace competencies. Tyra is a mentor, teacher, researcher, scholar and advisor. Tyra is also a reviewer for the 6th edition for Professional Meeting Management® (PMM6).

2012 Innovation Award
The winner of the 2012 Innovation Award is Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. With growing concerns about Colony Collapse Disorder in North American honeybees, Fairmont saw an opportunity to help by placing hives in 20 hotels’ rooftop gardens. By harvesting the nearly 4,000 lbs. of honey per year chefs can offer delicious, local and sustainable honey for use in onsite bars and restaurants. Proving to be a success, the program has now extended beyond North America, with onsite hives thriving in Kenya and China as well.

2012 Spirit Award
The winner of the 2012 Spirit Award is the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC). VCC created a Public Tour Program to connect the local community and visitors to the Centre. This is an opportunity to tell the Vancouver Convention Centre story – the people, unique building design and sustainability features, and impact on the community and economy. Over 11,000 people have been hosted ontours to date. As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility program, VCC has partnered with several charities located in neighborhoods that are committed to supporting marginalized members of their community while also stimulating growth and revitalization.

2012 Environmental Leadership Award
The 2012 Environmental Leadership Award winner is Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Recently, three Starwood representatives were invited by CTW to join them on a soap distribution in Guatemala. Jennifer Bauchner, Director of Rooms & Sustainability for North America, Kathryn Coiner-Collier, Director of Housekeeping from the Aloft Charlotte @ The EpiCentre and Victor Lopez, House Attendant from Sheraton San Diego (who was nominated by his peers for his commitment to the program) distributed 12,000 bars of soap in partnership with CTW to children and families while teaching them proper hand washing skills.

Additionally Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has sponsored student research teams such as one from The University of Cincinnati. This student team researched & analyzed how companies (within & outside of the hospitality industry) are tracking and communicating progress against consumption reduction goals they have set to be able to suggest a comprehensive program for doing so based on learning’s from research while ensuring transparency and accuracy in these efforts.

For further information, contact:
Alistair Turner at Davies Tanner
T. +44 (0)1892 617 904
M. +44 (0)7801 710 238