Coffee With... Mary Tribble, Tribble Creative Group

by Kaylee Hultgren | June 01, 2008

ON THE MOVE

Planners
Weisgal named new executive director of TSEA

Margit B. Weisgal, CME, has been appointed executive director of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association. She replaces Stephen Schuldenfrei, who announced his retirement after serving three years at the helm. Previously, Weisgal was president of Sextant Communications, a Baltimore-based trade show consulting firm, and has been an active member of TSEA for many years.

Jacobson moves to Global Meetings & Incentives

Julie Jacobson, CMP, has joined Global Meetings & Incentives as senior project manager. In her new role, Jacobson will oversee strategic meeting management for all GMI accounts out of the company’s Jersey City, N.J., office. Previously, she worked as a senior meeting planner for the New York City-based American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Suppliers

Chris Bird has been appointed general manager of Mii Amo, a destination spa at Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Ariz. The property has 220 rooms.

Nancy B. McFadyen has been named senior national sales executive for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Several executives at Dallas-based Freeman have shifted responsibilities. Joe Popolo, formerly president of the company, has become CEO. Carrie Freeman Parsons will remain chief marketing officer but now also serves as vice chairman. Executive vice president and chief operating officer John O’Connell has been named president, and Jeff Price, who had been executive vice president, is now chief operating officer of the exposition services division.

Melvin Rodrigue has been appointed president of the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, which governs the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Andrew Rosuck is the new president and CEO of destination management company Global Event Partners’ South Florida division, headquartered in Miami.

If you would like notice of a career move considered for inclusion in this column, contact Kaylee Hultgren, People Page, M&C,100 Lighting Way, Secaucus, N.J. 07094; fax: (201) 902-2032; e-mail: khultgren@mcmag.com

Mary Tribble “Event planning allows us to make an impact and create positive change in the world.”

Mary Tribble, president of Tribble Creative Group, a Charlotte, N.C.-based multimedia production company, was honored this year as a “green business leader” by the Charlotte Business Journal. Her most recent accomplishment: co-founding the Charlotte Green Team, a group of more than 30 community leaders dedicated to producing sustainable events and business practices.

When did you first begin to tackle environmental issues? Ten years ago, I began traveling to remote places like Tibet, Mongolia, Africa and Peru. The fragility of those environments woke me up to the threat to our planet. As I began to ponder the impact our industry has on the environment, I knew it was time to change the way we do business.

Do you have a mentor or role model? The Dalai Lama, who, despite years of repression and exile, still speaks of the Chinese with kindness and compassion. I was lucky enough to see him teach at his exiled home in India a few months ago. His teachings of love and compassion should be a model for all world leaders.

What do you like most about event planning? I like that it allows us, as professionals, to make an impact and create positive change in the world.

What celebrity would make the best planning partner? Bono, who has used his career and celebrity to impact the world in a positive way. We could create a rockin’ fundraiser together.