Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal

Vision Awards: Event Recap

Last night Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal welcomed nearly 200 attendees from all sectors of the hospitality industry (planner, vendor, venue...) to the Chambers Hotel for the first annual Vision Awards. After snacking on hors d'oeuvres and tasting our signature drink, attendees gathered in the ART room to celebrate our many nominees. Editor Joel Schettler kicked off the event by talking about the importance of honoring best practices in our industry. After learning of our seven winners (see list below) attendees networked and mingled in the Eden patio and ART room. Thank you very much to all our sponsors and our hosts at Chambers. It was an amazing evening and we are so happy to celebrate our nominees and winners. For a play-by-play of the evening's events, please check our Twitter feed in this post or search #mnvisionawards on Twitter.

AND THE VISION AWARDS GO TO ...

• INNOVATION: Aimee Cheek, Corporate Marketing Manager, CSM Lodging
• INSPIRATION: Jim Saccoman, General Manager, Ramada Mall of America
• PLANNER'S CHOICE-MY FAVORITE VENDOR: Heather Farrier, Floral Design & Decor Manager and the team from Festivities
• LEADERSHIP: Robb Hall, General Manager, Depot Minneapolis
• CUSTOMER SERVICE: Merry Beckmann Butikis, Convention Services Manager, Saint Paul Convention and Visitors Authority
• STEWARDSHIP: Scott Herold, CEO of Rock the Cause
• EVENT OF THE YEAR: Jennifer Braun, Director of Strategic Events, TRIAD Conferences

Read all about these winners and why they received these honors in the fall issue of the magazine. Congratulations all!

UPDATE: Check out photographer Katrina Hanneman's favorite photos of the event on her blog. Thanks, Katrina.

Live from the Vision Awards

Missing the first Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal Vision Awards tonight (Sept. 24, 2009, at Chambers Hotel)? Want to get the inside scoop? You are in the right place. We'll be tweeting (@MeetingsMHJ) from the event and posting those tweets and any others with the hashtag #mnvisionawards right here. In addition to announcing our winners, we'll talk about the event space, the hospitality professionals we meet and congratulate our nominees. Tomorrow we'll post some photos and share links to the fall issue of the magazine, where you can read more about our winners.

Vision Awards: The Deadline Approaches

In case you missed it the first times we mentioned it on the blog, we're really excited to be hosting the first Vision Awards this year. The awards focus on rewarding best practices in the local hospitality industry in seven different categories.

This Friday is the deadline for nominations (July 31). That means you have just this week left to tell us who is deserving of a Vision Award. Who inspires you? What event impressed you? What vendor do you depend on? Which planner deserves kudos? Don't forget to look in the mirror when you are thinking of these. It's perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself.

The entire process is online. Just click on over to Vision Awards central and look through the seven awards: Customer Service, Stewardship, Event of the Year (Planners Only), Planner’s Choice—My Favorite Vendor, Leadership, Innovation and Inspiration. Think about who you want to nominate and share your thoughts with us. You may nominate multiple times in multiple categories.

We look forward to hearing from you!

--Associate Editor Ellie M. Bayrd

Announcing ... The Vision Awards

This year marks the introduction of Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal's Vision Awards. We feel like this will be a good chance to recognize best practices in the local hospitality industry and celebrate the talented professionals behind some of the great visions in meetings and events this past year. We'll be honoring these planners, vendors and hospitality professionals on Thursday, September 24, 2009, at the Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis.

Before then, though, we need your help. Yep, we want you to tell us who is the most deserving. After all, you are the experts. Think. Who has inspired you this year? Got someone in mind? Nominate! What vendor's work really stood out to you? What event impressed you? You know what to do: Nominate! Did you produce an event you are especially proud of? Go ahead: Nominate yourself! Deadline: July 31, 2009.

Learn more about the seven awards and the nomination process ...