Strategic Meetings Management

Here we are in November, and it’s already time for one of my favorite holidays -- Thanksgiving. While I try to spend each day being thankful for all the blessings and challenges presented to me, Thanksgiving, I believe, is the one holiday that forces personal reflection of the year and the people who have touched your life.  For me, it means that my one-year anniversary of joining StarCite is around the corner (December 1st). 

It seems like yesterday when my life chapter of working for HP came to a close and I vividly recall my sadness -- yet also excitement -- of starting a new chapter.  It’s always difficult to leave the co-workers and friendships you develop over the many years of working for a single company, and it’s daunting to establish new friendships and relationships in a new company.

Yet I’m a firm believer that everything that happens in our lives, happens for a reason, and I remember the conflict I had deciding what to do next in my career.  What company should I join and what kind of work could I do that would challenge me and help me to learn new
things?  While I enjoyed working in global procurement and strategic sourcing for a Fortune 14 company for many years, I felt it was definitely time to move on and do something else. 

I did a lot of soul searching and was privileged to have had multiple opportunities from wonderful companies laid out before me. My question was: What could I do, and who could I work for where all of my experience would benefit me as well as my new employer?

At the end of the day, it was talking to three key StarCite executives that helped me to take the plunge and embark on my latest journey.  I owe much to Betty McNulty, SVP, Global Account Management & Portfolio Sales; Joe Trino, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development; and StarCite President & CEO Greg Dukat for convincing me where my new workplace should be. 

Flash forward 11 months and I’m so thankful to them as well as to everyone at StarCite for validating that I made the right decision.  The whole experience has exceeded my expectations and I’m grateful to be where I am.  So as this season of Thanksgiving approaches, I am most thankful for a loving family, friends and my new “family” at
StarCite.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season!

Coming up in mid December, I will announce the results of what I hope to be an annual tradition, my Best of the Best SMMP awards.  The categories will be:

- The Globe Spanner Award (Best Global SMMP)
- The "I've Got You Covered" Award (Best Global SMMP Deployment)
- The Yankee Doodle Award (Best U.S. SMMP)
- The Best "Leap of Faith" Award (Conversion from home-grown meetings management to full-fledged SMMP)
- The "I've Got Your Back" Award (Best SMMP Team Management)