People 4-1-2001

Meetings & Conventions: People April 2001

EDITED BY JENNIFER PHILBURN

A former nurse, Diane R. Euler, CMP, is now a miracle worker of another sort as director of meetings and exhibits for the Flexographic Technical Association, based in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. FTA provides technical information and training to printers and suppliers serving the packaging industry. Euler has been with the association for 12 years.

Describe your nursing experience.
I worked in the mental health field as a geriatric psych nurse for more than 11 years. While helping someone out of a bathtub, I slipped and fractured two cervical spine vertebrae. So the decision to make a change was made for me. While recuperating, I enrolled in business school and basically fell into the planning field.

What was your first meeting planning job?
Running medical-legal seminars on cruise ships a dream position. I was there for five years, then the company relocated to Fort Lauderdale. They wanted me to relocate leaving my family behind but that was not an option for me.

What skills from nursing do you bring to meeting planning?
The ability to multitask, prioritize and, most importantly, to tune out those items that can utilize a lot of energy but are irrelevant to obtaining a desired result.

Which was more stressful?
Meeting planning. As a nurse, I dealt with people on a one-to-one basis. In planning conventions, I am the main focal point for hundreds of individuals who all want my attention at the same time.

What’s the most rewarding thing you did this year?
I participated in the Habitat for Humanity project during the Professional Convention Management Association conference in Miami Beach. This community-based housing project not only assists those who need it, but it makes you feel terrific.

If you could change careers overnight, would you?
I would love to own and run a bed and breakfast in the Adirondack mountains. Crisp mountain air, towering peaks and saliva-inspiring muffins every morning& What more could one ask for?

• LOREN G. EDELSTEIN

PLANNERS

HELLMAN JOINS CONFERON
Teresa Hellman has been named national account manager at Conferon’s new Kansas City, Mo., office. Hellman comes to Conferon with 15 years of experience in the industry; most recently she served as conference manager for the Metropolitan Community Colleges in Kansas City.

YOUNG EVANS NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joanne Young Evans has been appointed executive director for the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario, a 5,000-member organization based in Mississauga, Ontario. Previously, Evans was deputy executive director for the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario. She has been in the meeting planning business for five years.