People 12-1-1999

> Meetings & Conventions: People December 1999
December 1999
People

EDITED BY AMY DREW TEITLER

Juliet L. Harding is director, marketing/meeting planning for the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, based in Alexandria, Va. She has been a planner for the organization for 12 years. Harding recently joined a few fellow bus passengers in a spontaneous rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Say a Little Prayer."

You've got a great singing voice. Have you always been a musical person?
I learned to sing in my church choir when I was 6 years old. Now, I love going to karaoke bars. I've always loved music Kenny Rogers, Babyface, Gladys Knight and I will walk 10 miles for some John Tesh concert tickets. Kenny, too. Oh, I can't decide who I like best!

The average age of your attendees is 76. With that in mind, who would be your dream speaker?
I would have to say Bill Cosby. He wouldn't be too "out there" for them and would be wonderfully sensitive to that age group. I think they would really enjoy his comedy.

What aspect of your job do you find most enjoyable?
I love working with our members and with the people in the meetings industry. The association members who I plan for retired civil servants are good, decent, hard-working people, and I learn so much from them. They really have strived to make life in America better. Older people have so many life experiences; it just makes you just sit back in awe. They are so knowledgeable about so many things.

What's the most important thing you have learned on the job?
No one is perfect. Mistakes will happen. Keep on smiling because this, too, shall pass.

What was your college major?
Business administration. When I started at the association, I was the purchasing manager. Six months before our national convention, the meeting planner quit. the president decided that I was the one for the job, and the rest is history.

If you could change careers, what would you be?
Truthfully? I've always wanted to be a waitress, but I am afraid I would drop something.

A.D.T.

PLANNERS

KELLERMAN, CMP, JOINS PHOENIX FIRM
Katherine Christensen & Associates Inc., a Phoenix-based planning and association management firm, has hired Janis Kellerman, CMP, as a conference planner. Kellerman previously managed conferences for Eclipsys Corp., also in Phoenix. She has been a planner for more than a decade.

KIGHTLINGER NEW ON STAFF AT PLANNET
Laurie Kightlinger has been hired as director of meetings and conference solutions at PlanNet, a meetings management firm in McLean, Va. Kightlinger previously was director of conference services at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. She has 10 years of experience in the industry.

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION HIRES SINGER, CMP
Ann E. Singer, CMP, has joined the American Geophysical Union, based in Washington, D.C., as meetings manager. Previously, Singer served as director of meetings for the American School Food Service Association in Alexandria, Va. She has 13 years of meeting planning experience.

STIDINGER TAPPED BY FLA.-BASED ASSOCIATION
Stephen Stidinger was named director of events planning and management by the Fort Myers, Fla.-based Association for Services Management International. For the past 22 years, he was director of meetings and publications at the American Association of Mental Retardation in Washington, D.C.

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].