Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal

In This Issue: People to Know

In each issue of the magazine we like to feature different professionals who are making a difference in the hospitality industry. Here are a few you'll meet in our fall issue:

In the Lead: Joan Rausch (pictured)
See what Rausch has learned from spending her entire career working for chambers of commerce, starting as an intern with the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce to her current position as director of special events for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Peers: Sara Orvik
As the Saint Paul Hotel's gardener, Orvik is in charge of all of planning, planting and upkeep for the inside and outside of the property. Learn about the joy she gets from seeing her work grow from the beginning to end of the season.

Podium: Teri Johnson
The founder of Keeping it Personal, a personal growth and develop company, and the author of Overcoming the Nevers, Johnson offers insights and tips on how to overcome technological obstacles and put the personal back into customer service.

Also in the issue, look for the stories of our seven Vision Award winners, who have demonstrated some of the industry's best practices over the past year.

--Molly Schelper
Assistant Editor

[Photo by A. Brisson-Smith/Sidecar]

PHOTOS: 2012 Vision Awards

Get a peek at the awesome venue, the crowd and the winners at last week's Vision Awards event.

-- The Editors

[All photos by Alex Steinberg]

The Vision Awards: Event Recap

Last night about 130 hospitality professionals gathered at 514 Studios in Minneapolis to celebrate the fourth annual Vision Awards. It was a beautiful evening, which made for a perfect opportunity for the venue to throw open its doors and let attendees mingle outside, and grab delicious bites from two favorite food trucks: Gastrotruck (yummy black bean burger) and Harvest Grill (flank steak, salmon mousse and brie on toast). Prom Catering butler passed some other yummy bites as well as hosted champagne. Festivities once again did a lovely job with the decor, including using inflatable furniture (a 2013 trend you'll find listed in our Fall cover story!). It was fun to watch people as they discovered the couches were filled with air.

Then we announced the winners!

Stewardship: Larry LaMont, general manager, Holiday Inn Minneapolis Metrodome

Event of the Year: Erin Brown, conference and event director, Type A Events

Leadership: Terry Mattson, president and CEO, Visit Duluth

Planner's Choice - My Favorite Vendor: Nara Berson, sales manager, and staff, Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North

Inspiration: Garth Peterson, regional director of sales, IDeaS Revenue Solutions

Innovation: Steph Pfeilsticker, virtual strategy manager, Thrivent Financial

Customer Service: Nicole Cardamone, sales manager, metroConnections

We offer a hearty congrats to all the winners and nominees of the 2012 Vision Awards. It's been an honor to hear your stories. You can learn more about the winners in our fall issue, out soon!

Also, thank you to our sponsors, all of you who nominated people this year, our fellow Greenspring Media staff for pulling off a great event and everyone who attended. See you next year!

-- The Editors

2012 Vision Awards Celebration

Get ready, the 2012 Vision Awards celebration is right around the corner! The fourth annual event will take place on Sept. 27 and will honor individuals in Minnesota's hospitality industry who have gone above and beyond in the past year. From your nominations, the editors of Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal have selected professionals that demonstrated best practices in the following categories:

+ Customer Service: A planner or vendor who showed excellent customer service skills during an event.

+ Stewardship: An individual or company that has made a positive impact in their community through an event or initiative.

+ Event of the Year (Planners Only): A planner whose event accomplished its goals to the fullest.

+ Planners Choice—My Favorite Vendor: A vendor who went above and beyond for an event.

+ Leadership: A leader who has called others to action and has impacted a business, association or event.

+ Innovation: An individual or company who has demonstrated innovation by implementing a new product or enhancing a process that has advanced the industry or their company, association or event.

+ Inspiration: An individual whose ongoing dedication to the industry inspires his/her peers.

The celebration will take place at 514 Studios with cocktails and networking at 5:30 p.m., followed by the awards at 7 p.m. 514 Studios is located at 512 N. Third Street in Minneapolis. Find specific directions here.

Don't forget to RSVP! You can do so here. Bring a guest to help cheer on the nominees!

We will continue to keep you updated on the Vision Awards here on the blog, on Twitter (#mnvisionawards) and in the magazine.

We look forward to seeing you!

--Molly Schelper
Assistant Editor

Weekly Roundup: Weekend fun, Duluth and more

Welcome to the weekend. Here's what's happening around town:

+ We're wishing the best to everyone affected by the flooding in Duluth. "Visit Duluth, the city's convention and visitor's bureau, wants to make it clear that Duluth is open for business," says a MinnPost article about the flooding and tourism. Como Zoo has come to the aid of several Lake Superior Zoo animals.

+ The first annual River's Edge Music Festival kicks off tomorrow on Harriet Island in St. Paul. The Great River Shakespeare Festival started this week. Back to the 50s, Twin Cities Pride and other events are happening this weekend too.

+ City Pages says Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak is a finalist for the 2012 World Mayor Prize.

+ Rembrandt in America opens at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this Sunday.

+ Did you hear that the American Swedish Institute asked Stephen Colbert to take over its Twitter account? The comedian has been trying for chance to take over the country of Sweden's account, which rotates between Swedish citizens. "You can tweet in English, Swedish, or in some hilarious, fakey mix of the two. We leave the comedy up to you, sir," reads the ASI's invitation. The ASI will celebrate the grand opening of its Nelson Cultural Center June 30.

+ Remember to nominate someone you admire for a Vision Award. Nominations are open through July 20.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

Ready, Set, Go! It's Time to Nominate for the Vision Awards

Think back on the past year (July 2011-June 2012). Who amazed you with their leadership and guidance? Who wowed you with an innovative idea or by giving back to the community? What event stood out as amazingly successful? Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal's Vision Awards reward best practices in the local hospitality industry and we're looking for your nominations. Tell us all about your collegues, fellow association members and trusted partners, and what they contribute to this industry. If you're particularly proud of your own accomplishments, go ahead an nominate yourself. This is our fourth year presenting these awards and we've heard some great stories and met many amazing hospitality professionals.

5 Things to Know:

• The Awards Get to know all seven awards: Event of the Year, Inspiration, Innovation, Leadership, Planner's Choice--My Favorite Vendor, Customer Service and Stewardship.
• Online Nomination Forms Click on over and fill out the nomination forms. There's room to go into detail (Hint: we want more than just "He's great" or "That was a cool event."). You can attach pictures and other supporting documents.
• Deadline You have until July 20 to nominate!
• Past Winners Wondering just what these awards are all about? Meet past Vision Awards recipients and read stories of their success.
• Stay Tuned We'll be keeping you updated on the Vision Awards here on the blog, on Twitter (#mnvisionawards) and in the magazine. We'll announce the date and location of this year's awards celebration soon!

If you have questions or any issues with the nomination forms, please contact us and we'll help you out. Reminder: Deadline is July 20.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

Updates: Vision Awards Brainstorming, Social Media 101 Postponed

Our spring issue will be out this week and we look forward to sharing many exciting stories with you. Here's a few bits of news that go along with that issue:

• Vision Awards 2012: This will be the fourth year for the Vision Awards. We will soon be accepting nominations for these seven awards. Take some time to think of those you know in the local hospitality industry who deserve recognition for their work (you can nominate yourself). The seven categories: Innovation, Event of the Year, Planner’s Choice—My Favorite Vendor, Inspiration, Leadership, Stewardship and Customer Service. Hint: We really want detailed nominations. Tell us why, share the whole story, show the value of the results or ROI.
• POSTPONED—Social Media 101: Since the spring issue of the magazine went to the printer some personal scheduling conflicts have come up. Our planned May educational session on social media with the University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center will now be held later in the year. Social Media 101 will bring back Erica St. Angel, vice president of marketing at Sonic Foundry/Mediasite. St. Angel led our December session on Hybrid Events 101 (learn more about Hybrid Events 101) Stay tuned for a new date. We hope to see you there.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

The Vision Awards: More Photos from the Event

We're still celebrating the Vision Awards here. And today we can share some more photos (by Studio Laguna) from the event, held October 6 at BayView Event Center. Check out the beautiful event, spot familiar faces and meet the 2011 Vision Awards recipients.

Catch up on our Vision Awards coverage: read all about the event, view this video featuring our Vision Awards nominees, learn about the venue, see more photos and read all about this year's winners.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

Video: Up Close With the Vision Awards Nominees

If you missed our Vision Awards celebration on Oct. 6, then you missed out on this video celebrating what our nominees love about their jobs and sharing the words they'd use to describe the hospitality industry. This video kicked off the awards presentation. See what they had to say and stay tuned for more clips from our nominees video shoot.

Meet the 2011 Vision Awards recipients.

What words would you use to describe the hospitality industry?

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

The Vision Awards: Event Recap & Meet the Winners

 Last night, October 6, 2011, hospitality professionals gathered at BayView Event Center for the third annual Vision Awards from Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal. Wow, we had a lot of fun in this beautiful setting with decor by Festivities. With interactive food stations (make your own nachos, sundae bar, paint your chicken wings ...) and a signature drink (yeah, that was strong) BayView showed off its best. And we couldn't have enjoyed better weather. Guests mingled out onto the grass to sit by the fire pits, smoke a cigar and enjoy a view of Lake Minnetonka's fall colors. Inside, attendees enjoyed tunes from Flow Productions and a view of the impressive Vision Awards sculpture from Metro Ice Sculptures.

Finally, around 7 p.m. we welcomed attendees upstairs and honored our nominees with a video showing what they love best about the industry. Then Editor Joel Schettler announced the 2011 Vision Award recipients:

• Innovation: Brent Haugen, Director of Marketing and Tourism, and team at Minneapolis Northwest Convention and Visitors Bureau (accepted by Dave Looby)
• Event of the Year: Shawna Suckow, Founder and President, SPIN Planners
• Planner’s Choice—My Favorite Vendor: Devie Hagen, President, Elan Speakers Agency
• Inspiration: Rosealee Lee, Faculty, Hospitality and Business Management, Dakota County Technical College
• Leadership: Kathleen Haase, Manager, Meetings and Tradeshows, Boston Scientific (not present)
• Stewardship: Kim Nelson, General Manager and COO, Kelber Catering at Minneapolis Convention Center
• Customer Service: Cindy Baysinger, Planning and Event Manager, Grand View Lodge

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners! You can learn all about the Vision Awards winners in our fall issue.

Thank you to those who nominated these fine individuals and who attended our event! And thank you to BayView Event Center, Festivities, Stogies on Grand, Flow Productions, Staff Photographer Todd Buchanan, Studio Laguna, Avex and our fantastic coworkers at Greenspring Media Group for making our event run smoothly.

-- The Editors

[Photos by Todd Buchanan]