Happy February Greater Midwest Chapter! Time flies when you are having fun. We have done so much in the last month to get ready for a fun year. The Board of Directors and Committee Chairs/Co Chairs have been hard at work for the Chapter.

For the month, we have been focusing on

• Calendar of Events for the Year via the Events Committee
• Sponsorship Sales via the Sponsorship Committee
• Overall Volunteer Assignment
• Organizational Communication

A few highlights include:

Calendar of Events for the Year & March 10 Event

March 10 – Mark your calendars for March 10 at Chicago Hilton & Towers for the Spring Education Meeting and the 2019 Awards Luncheon. We are so grateful for the Chicago Hilton & Towers working with us to host this event. Our featured speaker, Amy Blackman, will share 5 key trends in the events industry based on an industry study. It should be fascinating to looking what we should be doing next.   Following Amy, we will gather for lunch to celebrate our 2019 Award Winners and celebrate their contributions to GMC PCMA. Thanks to Salt Lake City for sponsoring the Awards Luncheon. Special thanks to the Awards Committee with Board Liaison  Dawn Amaskane, American Osteopathic Association and led by Dionne Husley (Shepard Exposition) as Chair and Laura Reali (American Hospital Association) as Vice Chair.

Overall Calendar of Events – we are quickly working to lock these venues down. As you know, it takes a lot of effort to get it all done. Most people come up to me and ask if we can have all the dates at the beginning of the year. I hear you and we are working towards this by putting systems in place to make this happen. If you would like to get an idea of the events dates we are focusing on as our guiding plan, please feel free to check out the Event RFP that we use as our tool to find venues. If you are a venue and reading this, please check it out for consideration.Thanks for your patience and this our top priority.  Bob Kobosky (Conference Direct), our Board Liaison to the Events Committee, and his team of Sherry Vale (Destination Cleveland), Chair, and Jenny Lynch (Visit Indy), Co-Chair are on it!

2020 Sponsorship Sales

Thanks to the Sponsorship team for getting us off to a good start. The GMC Board Liaison, Mia Friel (American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation) and her Chair, Sarah McKinney (Alzheimer Association) and Maddie Metcalfe (Reno/Tahoe CVB) along with our sponsorship sales partner, TradeshowLogic (led by Chris Gowe), are making great strides in securing our sponsors for the year and getting us laser focused on future sponsors. Please know that we still have opportunities available if your organization is looking for exposure to the Midwest market, GMC is the place to be. As a supplier, I truly can say that GMC has given my organization the exposure it needs and has for many years. Don’t miss out on getting your organization in front of your customers.

We have sponsorships of all shapes and sizes and can help you drive the results you are looking for. Please take a look at our 2020 Sponsorship Prospectus here and give us a call to get your organization front and center of GMC.

2020 Volunteer Assignments & Your first in-person Committee Meeting

Thank you to all that have volunteered in 2020.  You certainly answered the call when we asked for help. Committee volunteers have all been assigned for 2020.  If you missed the call, be sure to watch for the 2021 Call for Volunteers in the Fall. You don’t want to miss out on your opportunity to give back to our amazing industry by volunteering.

The Committee Chairs/Vice Chairs have been gathering their teams together to further develop this year’s plans based on the Committee Operating Plans submitted and approved. All committees will be meeting in persons on March 10 at 9am at the Chicago Hilton & Towers. Make sure you are there to make a difference within GMC! We need our volunteers to be actively involved.

Organizational Communication

We have made huge strides on how we work together as teams and to get things done. Thanks to the work of volunteer and staff teams,  we have made amazing progress in this space. A few highlights include:

• GMC Google Drive for all leadership to access
• Cross Functional Communication
• Refining Committee and Staff Responsibilities

You ask…why are you telling me this? Well, for good reason, I want you to know that we are improving our work efficiencies that have long been needed and the goal from all of this is to enhance your membership experience. We are focused on you and bring you the networking and quality education that you want out of PCMA.

Finally, I want to welcome our beloved, Jacky Meracle, GMC Chapter Manager, back from maternity leave. Jacky you were so missed, and your team lead by Meredith Rollins and Jena Vonderhaar kept us in check and moving forward. You should be very proud of your team! I must share a picture of her twins with you….so handsome!

Onward we go together!