People 4-1-1998

Meetings & Conventions: People April 1998
April 1998
People

EDITED BY CHRYSTAL INGRAM WHITE

  UpClose: Ed Simeone

Broadway bound? Ed Simeone, CMP, hopes to see his name in lights, but meeting planning pays the bills.

All the world's a stage at least it is for Ed Simeone, CMP. "Face it: The meetings industry is theater," says Simeone, manager of the nine-person worldwide events department for Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corporation, which manufactures electronic database storage devices for banks, airlines and other companies. "We rehearse and rehearse to plan the meeting, and meeting day is showtime," he says.

The vigor with which Simeone speaks of show business is catching. "I couldn't live without theater," he says emphatically of his first love. "However," he reflects, "I've decided I'm not cut out for theater full time. With meeting planning, I don't have the roar of the crowd, but it's a more regular paycheck, if you know what I mean."

But all is not lost for Simeone, whose thespian roots are deeply planted in community theater as an actor and director. "I integrate a lot of my training and intuition as a performer into my meetings," notes Simeone, who produces incentive, sales and golf programs for EMC. "I want people to feel a certain way when they walk out of a meeting. To do that, I have to set the stage and create the mood with the appropriate venue, speakers, decorations and overall program."

Simeone, who currently serves as president of the American Stage Festival, a year-round theater in Nashua and Milford, N.H., expects to someday produce shows. A one-man, Broadway gig wouldn't be too bad, either: "An Evening with Ed Simeone how does that sound? Tap-dancing, torch songs, the whole bit," he says. "Sounds lofty, but it could happen. You never know..."

Planners

CAPRETTA JOINS Cps, inc.
Maria Capretta has been named meeting and events planner for Cleveland-based Creative Production Services, Inc., a full-service meeting planning and production company. Capretta was formerly associate meeting planner with Pro Ed Communications, Inc., in Beechwood, Ohio.

WILKE MOVES TO MGMA
Carol L. Wilke, CMP, CEM, has accepted the position of director of meetings and conferences for Medical Group Management Association in Englewood, Colo. Wilke previously served as director of meetings and conventions for Dermatology Services, Inc., in Shaumburg, Ill., and assistant director of meetings and conventions for the American Academy of Dermatology, also based in Shaumburg.

Suppliers

Phil Anderson has joined Fontana, Wis.-based Abbey Group as director of sales and marketing, responsible for three Lake Geneva, Wis., resorts: The Abbey Resort & Fontana Spa, Interlaken Resort and Country Spa, and the Inns of Geneva National.

Ralph H. Chambers has joined Dallas-based Heritage Exhibits as senior account executive.

Michael Darst, CMP, is now the Miami-based director of conference management for the Loews Miami Beach Hotel and also serves as corporate director of conference management for New York City-based Loews Hotels.

Gretchen Gettles is the new convention sales manager for the Portland Oregon Visitors Association.

Mary Ann Hemus has joined Dallas-based Holiday Inn On the Bay as director of sales and marketing.

Kimberly McKernan is now corporate sales manager for the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in Durham, N.C.

Paul Miller has been named national sales manager for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Demi Ortega is now director of catering and convention services for the Four Seasons Atlanta.

Cindy Smith is now director of catering and convention services for the SunBurst Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.

If you would like notice of a career move considered for inclusion in this column, contact Chrystal Ingram White, Managing Editor, M&C, 500 Plaza Dr., Secaucus, N.J. 07096; fax: (201) 319-1796; e-mail: [email protected].
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