People 10-1-1999

> Meetings & Conventions: People October 1999
October 1999
People

EDITED BY AMY DREW TEITLER

Carol R. Teja, CMP, CAE, holds the title of director of meetings and programs for the Atlanta-based Total Association Management Services, which plans domestic and international meetings for seven national, nonprofit associations. Attendance typically ranges from fewer than 100 to 500. She has been in meeting planning for eight years.

Where are you from originally?
I'm English born and bred, American by choice. In 1980, my husband and two young children came to Delaware on a one-year teaching-exchange [program]. After the year was over, we piled our belongings into a Plymouth Fury and drove the Oregon Trail for three months, visiting all of the places we'd grown up with through American TV. Within three years, we had returned [to the United States] and were living in Atlanta.

Where would your ideal meeting be held?
I've always said that if I were given an open checkbook, I wouldn't know what to do with it. The association meetings are high in educational content but frugal with the frills. From a selfish angle, I'd like to take a group to London.

Describe the perfect attendee.
One who knows the value of the registration dollar, attends as many sessions as he or she can and completes the evaluation forms.

How do you reward yourself after a big meeting?
If it's possible to stay and see something of the city, that's a bonus. Otherwise, my garden is always happy to have me home.

What do you like best about the industry?
People. The unpredictability of each day. The adrenaline rush when everything is going great. The sometimes comical situations that arise and the out-of-the-box solutions to fix them. The continuous learning curve. The tales to tell. More people.

What was the last book you read?
I find an author I like and end up reading all his or her books. My current favorite is Maeve Binchy. I pick up books for 50 cents at garage sales and leave them, or pass them on wherever I am when I finish. I've always got a book in progress, and I must read at least a few pages before falling asleep.

What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
Staying in places I never dreamed of visiting. Wondering what my husband is eating back at home.

A.D.T.

PLANNERS

LIVELY NAMED DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS
Jill Lively, CMP, has been named director of special events at Corporate and Convention Services Inc., a DMC in Houston. Lively comes to CCS after 10 years in various positions with Hyatt Corp. in both Texas and Connecticut.

STRUNSKY NEW MARKETING MANAGER AT PROVISION
ProVision Resources Inc., an event-planning firm in San Francisco, named L.J. Strunsky sales and marketing manager. Strunsky had been the director of marketing and sales for the San Francisco Giftcenter Pavilion, a special events venue.

SUPPLIERS

If you would like notice of a career move considered for inclusion in this column, contact Amy Drew Teitler, Senior Editor, M&C, 500 Plaza Dr., Secaucus, N.J. 07094; fax: (201) 319-1796; e-mail: [email protected].