Since 1985, when the Washington, D.C.-based Convention
Industry Council created its Hall of Leaders, 86 people
have achieved the highest accolade of the meetings industry as
inductees. The selection process starts with nominations from
either CIC member organizations or the general industry community;
the inductees are then chosen by a selection committee. M&C sat
down with the 2004 crop of six including the eighth woman to make
the list to learn what makes them great.
George Aguel
Senior Vice President, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Lake
Buena Vista, Fla.; 30 years in the meetings industry
Why you?
I guess it’s about how much you’ve given back to the industry.
Volunteering at the industry level is something I learned and was
given great advice about many years ago. And I’ve had the good
fortune to be with two organizations [Disney for 14 years and
Opryland for 12] that have supported me and allowed me to follow
this philosophy.
What have you brought to the industry?
Hopefully I’ve been able to leverage what I’ve learned from these
organizations to function as a leader and apply the development
that I’ve gained over the years to the benefit of the organizations
for which I’ve served as a volunteer leader.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the
industry?
There has never been an experience like what we went through after
9/11. That really tested us. It was something we never trained for
or were prepared for. It tested our leadership and our resolve, but
we were able to respond to it and come back.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
I would make sure both the planner and supplier sides were working
on much more of a strategic level and not just a tactical level, so
they can act in more than just a simple rates-and-dates approach.
The two sides should look at how they can help each other advance,
not just at “what can you do for me?”
What was your first job in the industry?
I worked in my dad’s steak restaurant, followed by such glamorous
jobs as houseman and front desk clerk.
What advice would you give someone entering the
industry?
Seek out some mentors whom you can learn from and maybe even
emulate. Be sure to get involved, get very involved. The benefits
that will come back to you will far outweigh the investment of
your time.
How has the industry changed you?
I was a shy, quiet guy in my early years. I could never in my
life envision being a very social type of person or standing up in
front of large audiences.
Roger Dow
Senior vice president, Marriott International Inc., Bethesda, Md.;
38 years in the industry
Why you?
Part of it is hanging around long enough. I know I’m the
second most senior person on our sales team. But more than that,
it’s such a relationship business, and that’s what I’ve tried to
build upon.
What have you brought to the industry?
I’ve personally brought a spirit of competition while staying
extraordinarily close as colleagues. I bring a spirit of bringing
people together, working with competitors to solve a problem.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the industry?
The industry has changed from a handshake and a
back-of-the-napkin deal to “My attorney will talk to your
attorney.” We spend more time now negotiating the force majeure
clause than on the content of meetings.
Then there’s technology the ability to do business as if you’re
across the street when you’re across the world. It’s good and it’s
bad. I get a bit frustrated when a salesperson sends an e-mail
instead of picking up the phone.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
I would want to make it more attractive to young people earlier in
their careers. I think young people stumble into this industry. But
if you put in some time, you get ahead and it’s a lot more fun. I’d
like to get the talent pool coming to us rather than us chasing
them.
What was your first job in the industry?
Lifeguard for three summers in college [at a Marriott in Saddle
Brook, N.J.], then I went into housekeeping for a very short time,
and then I went to sales.
What advice would you give someone entering the
industry?
Don’t be impatient on your first couple of jobs. Learn all you can.
Learn to communicate learn to write. The people I have seen who
step away from the pack have these communication skills.
How has the industry changed you?
First, it has taught me to understand what can happen when you
bring people with different skills together. It has changed me from
wanting to do things myself to finding who is the best person to
get something done. It’s also given me a great world view. Sitting
at lunch one day with someone from China and Russia and Iraq and
Iran, I realized that everyone is the same; it’s just politics that
mess everything up.
Joan Eisenstodt
President, Eisenstodt Associates LLC, an independent planning firm
in Washington, D.C.; more than 30 years in the industry
Why you?
I think I’ve done more for education for this industry than
anybody helping others learn how to learn. And because the judges
look at innovation, the MIMList [a meetings industry listserv she
runs] is certainly innovative. I’ve helped sustain this community
and helped people to learn from others.
What have you brought to the industry?
I bring a conscience. A lot of people in this industry are afraid
to speak out when they see something wrong, when they see
injustices. I am not afraid to do that.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the
industry?
I haven’t seen that many changes, and that’s why I’m still working
so hard. For me the changes are too slow, and they’re adaptations
of pieces of changes.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
Only one? Going beyond ethnicity, we have got to be an industry
that is more inclusive of more types of people their learning
styles, generations, genders, sexual orientation.
We have got to start doing education better. Everything shows
that meetings are the way adults get most of their education, and
we’re still delivering content as if the audience were
second-graders.
I also think we have to look at ethics in a greater way. We’re
complacent.
What was your first job in the industry?
I had two first jobs. My first was working in an art museum where I
grew up in Dayton, Ohio. That was my first “I didn’t know I was a
meeting planner” job. My first real job was as an association
meeting planner; it was the organization’s 10th anniversary, and
they had never had a planner before.
What advice would you give someone entering the
industry?
Learn all you can about as many different things as you can, then
learn more and be more active. Broaden your horizons. Don’t say,
“I’m a meeting planner, therefore I’m X.” You’re A to Z. And take
improv classes, and learn how to listen and respond
appropriately.
How has the industry changed you?
The industry hasn’t changed me it has given me opportunities to
grow, to practice many skills, to find myself, to help others, the
latter being most important.
Bruce Harris
President, Conferon Global Services, the Twinsburg, Ohio-based
third-party planning firm; 34 years in the industry
Why you?
I think the reason is, we were the first full-time independent
meeting planning firm 34 years ago; we were pioneers.
Also, the hotel contract as it stands today is a significantly
different document than existed in the early ’80s; we were
revolutionary in trying to get the contract two-sided.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the
industry?
The knowledge of the planner. In my early years it was the
secretary who called up to arrange a meeting, and the hotel
controlled everything. That’s not the case anymore. And it is by
force that hotels, who respond to the marketplace, had to create
the job of convention services manager. They didn’t have someone
who interfaced with the planner.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
I wish people had more courage to do what they know in their hearts
is right and fair, and not be motivated by the dollar. That is
idealism at its highest.
What was your first job in the industry?
I bussed tables at a restaurant. That was my only entrance into the
industry.
What advice would you give someone entering the meeting
business?
If you want to be an independent meeting planner, I think you
need to work in a hotel as a CSM. It’s an incredible experience you
get to see a lot of meetings and meet a lot of people, and you get
to see planning from the venue side.
How has the industry changed you?
When I came in, I never knew I would love it. I have grown this
incredible passion for what we do.
Jim Jones, CMP
President, James E. Jones Associates, a consulting and
speaking firm based in Granby, Conn. Jones helped found Meeting
Professionals International and the Society of Corporate Meeting
Planners, and he was one of the first people to earn the
designation of Certified Meeting Professional; 46 years in the
industry
Why you?
Well, I would assume because I have extensive experience in
the field, and I have a feeling I know what I’m talking about.
What have you brought to the industry?
The main thing I brought was truly basic education. I authored the
first book on meeting management, and I wrote the first book on
incentive travel. They were important because they gave planners
some sort of track to run on.
In addition, I was on the original board of directors that met
in Chicago immediately following the congress that led to the
formation of Meeting Planners [later changed to Professionals]
International in 1972.
What is the biggest change that you’ve seen take place in
the industry?
It’s been the growth of the industry itself. Also the operation of
hotels has radically changed. Today you have a director of
marketing and a convention services manager; these people just
didn’t exist in the early years. Then you’ve had the technological
change. It’s become much more complex to conduct and execute a
successful meeting.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
I would improve the training of directors of conference services,
and I would expand the authority and the accountability of the
position. I would truly make him an executive at the hotel. This
has to be done.
What was your first job in the industry?
I was asked to assist on a very simple meeting here in
Hartford [Conn.]. I had worked as a youngster in hotels, as a pot
washer, but I was a typical meeting planner of the time, thrown
into a situation where I had no idea what was involved.
What advice would you give someone entering the
industry?
Don’t forget, despite all the technology and all the changes,
the basis of the business of selling is still a person-to-person
sale. It is not based on an identity of a large corporation. Go the
extra mile in developing the relationships. People-to-people is the
name of the game; that hasn’t changed and it won’t.
How has the industry changed you?
It has made me very appreciative of the need to develop skills and
find out what I didn’t know. It’s a great lesson teacher, but a
terrible way to learn, by trial and error. It made me grow up.
Peter Nathan
President, Exhibicon International LLC, an exhibition consulting
firm in Westport, Conn.; 50 years in the industry
Why you?
I’ve asked that one myself. I guess it has to do with having spent
50 years in the industry and having the opportunity to be somewhat
innovative. And the fact that I’ve concentrated on a lot of the
overseas opportunities, especially first-time events in the Soviet
Union, China and Cuba. Now I’m planning on developing an event in
Libya. And I helped found SISO [the Society of Independent Show
Organizers].
What have you brought to the industry?
Probably more than anything else, and I’ve certainly lived by it,
I’ve brought ethics and loyalty. I believe very strongly in doing
what is right, not only personally, but for the industry. And I
believe in loyalty. My emphasis has always been, in addition to the
bottom line, on my loyalty to my customers or my vendors or
suppliers.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the
industry?
Well, the growth is one; the consolidation through mergers and
acquisitions has been tremendous. Then there’s the number of women
working in the industry, particularly in the management capacity.
When I first started, the only women were secretaries and such.
Today I would estimate that 80 percent of the people involved in
the industry are women. This certainly has changed the industry,
and all for the better. I think women make excellent managers, and
they also seem to be able to handle details and operational aspects
better than men.
The Internet has changed exhibitions tremendously, both
operationally and through e-mail awareness and logistics, and also
the idea of online events held both in conjunction with an
exhibition and those held at times other than when the exhibition
is held, which means there is a continuity for the exhibition all
year long, rather than just for the few days of the events.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it
be?
In the exhibition industry, the bottom line should not control
everything, and that is pretty much the way most companies operate
today. Attendees are so busy today that we are beginning to hurt
ourselves in the long term with an oversupply of events.
What was your first job in the industry?
Believe it or not, it was a temporary position as a mail-room boy,
short-term, with an exhibition organizer before I went into the
military. I was lucky I fell in with them.
What advice would you give someone entering the
industry?
Try not to get slotted into any specific area, whether it’s sales,
marketing, whatever. Try to learn it all, especially if you want to
get ahead in the industry.
How has the industry changed you?
Not just the industry, but who I worked with certainly
broadened my outlook. By developing overseas events, I learned a
lot about international relations and cultures. I think I became
quite worldly and improved my ability to communicate with people
tremendously.