People 5-1-2003

Meetings & Conventions: People May 2003

People

By Terence Baker

Tonia Daniel is conference coordinator/membership services for the Denver-based National Bison Association (www.bisoncentral.com), which has 1,400 members. Among her responsibilities are an annual meeting held in Denver and a summer meeting, the destination of which changes yearly; in 2003, the host city is St. Louis.

What are the origins of the association? We were created in 1995 by the merging of the American Bison Association and the National Buffalo Association. Our members either raise bison or sell them as meat. Our membership was highest at the end of the 1990s, but we are holding our own. Soon, we will launch our Buffalo Stampede campaign, which aims to educate people about bison and bison meat. Bison has fewer calories and less cholesterol than does beef, but many still regard it as a little exotic.

How did you become a planner for the association? It was forced upon me after a reorganization. I studied accounting at college, and I was an administrative assistant at the time, concentrating on membership. That was two years ago. For me the hardest thing so far is negotiating contracts, or, more specifically, being firm. I maybe lack that killer edge, so I just try to think about the end product and what it will accomplish for my members.

Is there any confusion between your NBA and the National Basketball Association? Some people wonder what the connection is between bison and Michael Jordan, but so far nothing too comical has happened.

Do you like bison? Yes, but the animals are kind of big and scary. Currently, there are 270,000 bison living in the United States, 20 percent of which are in national parks.

PLANNERS

Jervis-Hill joins Health and Fitness Concepts
Chereese Jervis-Hill has been hired by White Plains, N.Y.-based Health and Fitness Concepts as vice president of programs. Previously, she was the meetings manager at the New York City-based Strategic Research Institute.

Soyster moves to real estate association
Karin Soyster, CMP, is the new vice president of meetings at the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Formerly, she was director of administration, meetings and education for the Manufactured Housing Institute in Arlington, Va.