PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.,
hosted Meeting Masters ’05.
Every year, 60 golf
tournaments are held for meeting planners, estimates Jo Ann
Hoffman, president and CEO of The Golfe, a Bethesda, Md.-based
company that unofficially oversees the meetings industry golf
circuit. Tournaments include those put on at various associations’
annual meetings, as well as at the Meeting Masters Championship,
held the week before Thanksgiving. Below, M&C profiles
some of the industry’s top players.
Kaye Boyer, president of Boyer Management
Services in Palm Coast, Fla. Handicap: 11.3.
Most distinguished honor: First woman to be
invited to play on the Professional Convention Management
Association’s golf team. Best reason to learn
golf: “From golf I learned integrity and humility two
pretty good characteristics to have and use in meeting
planning.”
Walt Galanty, president of Alexandria,
Va.-based AIM Meetings and Events. Handicap: 9.7.
Reason for attending: “Because I get invited!”
Biggest gripe: “Too many meetings industry people
cheat.” Best reason to participate: “I go to
interact with the person who invited me, and to see the
course.”
Dianne McPherson, director of major events and
education at the Atlanta-based Printing Industry Association of
Georgia. Handicap: 10. Best prize she has
ever won: A 10-day transatlantic cruise for two, worth
$10,000. Biggest gripe: “People go to every one of
them just because it’s free.” Best reason to
participate: “You can learn more about a person in a
five-hour round of golf than you can anywhere else.”