when it has to be right - Meeting Professionals International Chicago ...

Here’s the latest changes and updates on people
we know, or should get to know, in the meetings industry!
By Sally
Magallanes, CMP
Is it really springtime? It’s a wonderful
time for new beginnings
and fresh starts of every kind.
This issue of Chatter has news
in a number of areas that mark
change! Read on…
People on the Move…
Courtney M. Anderson, Co-Chair of
MPI-CAC’s annual Educational Conference,
is pleased to announce her
new position! She is a new National
Meeting Planner with Grant Thornton
LLP. Courtney can be reached
at (630) 873-2741, or send email to
courtney.anderson@gt.com. Prior
to joining Grant Thornton, Courtney
was a Conference Planning Manager
at the Q Center in St. Charles. She
is also proud to have a BS in Hospitality
Management from New York
University. Best wishes to you!
MPI-CAC is pleased to welcome back
a member who had disappeared for a
little while. Christopher Grace, CMP,
has rejoined the MPI “family” in
his new position as Conference
Manager for the Urban & Regional
Information Systems Association
(URISA). Chris is joining URISA at a
time of association growth and will
be working to build its conferences
to a new level. Chris can be reached
at (847) 824-6300 or by email at
cgrace@urisa.org. URISA’s offices
are located at 1460 Renaissance
Drive, Suite 305 in Park Ridge. Website
is www.urisa.org. Please join us
in welcoming Chris back!
Karen Gravlin has joined
hinton+grusich in the new position
of Director of Industry Partner
Sales, which will focus on growing
h+g’s business portfolio of non-hotel
industry suppliers. Karen was
previously with Landmark Incentive
Marketing and is the current chair
of the Student Affairs Committee.
She can be reached at (312) 346-5735
and kgravlin@hintonandgrusich.com.
Go to www.hintonandgrusich.com
for more information. We know
Karen will succeed in her new
position!
Greg Leeper
Greg Leeper
was recently
named Regional
Vice
President of
Sales for Prestige
Resorts &
Destinations,
Ltd, which is
based in Minnesota.
Greg has opened the new
Southern Region Office, and will
be responsible for account management
and developing a sales
team in that region for Prestige’s
luxury portfolio of worldwide resorts
and DMCs. Greg can be
reached at (312) 451-6707 or email
gleeper@prestigeresorts.com;
www.prestigeresorts.com he is now
residing in the Orlando area. Greg
was most recently Regional Director
of Sales for Turtle Bay Resort
on Oahu, part of Benchmark Hospitality,
and has over 25 years in the
hospitality industry as a sales professional.
Congratulations on this
wonderful opportunity—we know
you enjoy returning to the south.
We’ll miss you!
Companies in Change...
Hall & Associates, Ltd is pleased
to unveil its newly designed website,
www.hallandassociatesltd.com.
While the web address has not
changed, the entire look and list of
available resources is enhanced.
Deborah Hall-Kayler, Founder and
President of the executive search
firm, has been conducting research
into hospitality industry trends. Her
findings and articles pertaining to
this area are being posted on the
site. If you have a need for hospitality
recruitment, please contact
dhall@hallandassociatesltd.com or
call (312) 578-1650.
Special Honors...
Congratulations to the DuPage
Convention & Visitors Bureau on
a very special honor! The CVB,
whose motto is “Discover DuPage:
The Magnificent Miles West of Chicago
TM ,” earned the Governor’s
First Place Award for its Meeting
Planners Guide in the category
for media kits, meeting planning
and group tour guides for organizations
with an operating budget
over $700,000. The award was presented
at the annual Illinois Governor’s
Conference on Tourism (held
in Springfield). The award-winning
piece was judged on several crite-
10 news & views | may-june 2008 www.mpicac.org