People 2-1-1999

> Meetings & Conventions: People February 1999
February 1999
People

EDITED BY AMY DREW TEITLER

Sandy Amorde of Irvine, Calif., is president of Amorde Incentive Marketing, a full- service incentive house she started six months before the Gulf War. Although her timing was less than ideal, she says it was “a terrific experience learning how to keep in business during the lean times.”

What was the most valuable lesson you learned from those early years?
I don’t want to be a huge corporation. I want to stay lean and mean and move on a dime flexibility is the wave of the industry.

You wear a lot of unusual jewelry; is it part of your signature look?
I buy earrings the way some women collect shoes; I buy outfits to match my earrings, not the other way around.

Do you have certain pieces you wear for good luck on the job?
Absolutely. When I want to look like I mean business, I wear my red suit with what I call my power jewelry an ivory dragon necklace I got in Hong Kong. When I’m wearing that outfit, I feel confident enough to sell an incentive program to Siberia.

What was your favorite program?
Two years ago I took a group to Cancun, and the DMC arranged a visit to a Mayan village. The villagers did so much more than we’d expected. All 67 of the village children, dressed in their Sunday best, came out to greet us. One woman invited us in to see her embroidery and gave each of us a handkerchief. The locals made us their own special salsa, and the women picked wild roses for us to take when we left. Nothing has touched me or the participants as deeply as that.

LISA GRIMALDI

CALNAN JOINS MPI
Mary Joyce (“MJ”) Calnan has joined Dallas-based Meeting Professionals International as manager of education. Her responsibilities include designing educational content for meetings and conferences. Prior to accepting her position with MPI, Calnan managed departments in the publishing division of RCL Enterprises in Allen, Texas.

ROTH HIRED AT EARNHARDT, INC.
Carol Roth is the new director of special services for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the champion NASCAR driver’s namesake corporation in Mooresville, N.C. She is responsible for booking corporate and incentive groups into the Earnhardt buildings’ various meeting facilities. Previously, she was sales manager for corporate groups at Suncoast Convention Management Services in Orlando. She’s been in the meeting planning business for five years.

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. 07096; fax: (201) 319-1796; e-mail: ateitler@cahners.com.