Chapter News

April 2022 Message from the President

March was a huge month to celebrate!

April in Chicago…the month where you either thaw out and start to feel alive again or stay frozen and start to question your reason for living in the Midwest. Even though those warmer temps don’t seem to be making their debut just yet, the longer days are making me feel more energetic and yearning to get outside (without a coat!).

While I was not able to personally attend, I have only heard the most positive comments about the March Awards Celebration. I would like to take a minute to thank Bill Martin for emceeing and Molly Witges for hosting. A major congratulations to the award winners, Cherai Lewis, Beth Bracco, Roz Stuttley, Jenny Lynch, Stacey Dillon and Morgan Prewitt. I only wish I was able to hug each of you myself to congratulate you in-person! We can raise a glass at one of the upcoming chapter events!

And while we are celebrating, cheers to the three GMC PCMA chapter members that won Visionary Awards this year! Mary Pat Heftman as the Business Event Strategist Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Darren Mendola as the Event Designer of the Year and Molly Witges as the Community Advocate of the Year. Way to bring home the awards for the Greater Midwest Chapter! Cheers!

And while I hate to put away the champagne, I am going to shift gears to some chapter administration. I am so pleased to be able to say that after the awards event, which was very well attended, we were able to pay some of our outstanding bills with revenue generated from an event instead of using reserves. This is significant and I hope this is a sign of what’s to come for this chapter in the future. So sign up (and sign up early) to attend our future events so this trend can continue on.

Speaking of registration, be sure to sign up to join fellow Chicago meetings and events professionals at Industry Xchange (IX) 2022, to collaboratively celebrate this year’s Global Meeting Industry Day and the forward momentum of our resilient industry. Please be sure to select PCMA Member in registration!

Finally, stay tuned as the Community Services Committee will be announcing registration for volunteering at the Lakeview Pantry May 2-4 from 9:30 am – 12:00 pm each of those days. We are hoping to have strong volunteer participation!

There was so much to celebrate in March and hoping that each month will give us new and different reasons to keep toasting to this amazing chapter, its volunteers and members! Cheers!

Jacky ListonApril 2022 Message from the President