|
Regional News
There’s no doubt about it. The collective knowledge of Region 2 is remarkable. Region 2 is SO BRIGHT – we gotta wear shades. Naturally, an 80’s flashback theme debuted at the October 20-21 Summit held at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). An excellent representation of colleges and universities from Region 2 descended upon the UCSB campus and were welcomed with Ray-Bans, 80’s tunes, and a whole lotta’ neon at the Loma Pelona Conference Center. The turnout was fantastic with 43 total people – half of which were first time attendees!
UCSB Special Events Catering worked their magic with a delightful lunch overlooking the ocean – complete with wild linens and “totally tubular” theme items from their impressive prop room on campus. The group kept the eating spirit alive at the “Glow in the Dark” four-course meal at the Palace Grill in downtown Santa Barbara. After dinner, a group of about 10 attendees decided to venture out and hit up a Santa Barbara nightclub. What a great time! Fun is always part of any Region 2 gathering!
Summit organizers Armando Escóbar (Region 2 director-elect) and Whitney Morris (conference chair) wanted to build upon the roundtable discussion format and highlight exciting initiatives in the area of conference operations, dining/catering, social media, ROI tracking, and hospitality management software. Content was king during the Summit and we are so grateful for the stellar presentations given by Nestor Covarrubias (UCSB), Steve Dundish (UCLA), Eriko MacDonald (UCSB), Jill Horst (UCSB), Lina Layiktez (UC Davis), Jason Walley (UCLA), Matt Erickson (UCSB), and Mark Williams (Kinetic Software). In addition, we wish to thank Kinetic Software, PMSI, and Special Event Services for their generous sponsorship of the Summit.
Together, our future is SO BRIGHT!
UCLA: Jason Walley, director of conference services at UCLA wrote an article in the Unique Venues Blog: http://blog.uniquevenues.com/changing-the-game-for-on-campus-room-rentals-ucla-conference-services/
UNLV: UNLV has experienced some staffing growth and are super excited! We've had five new staff members join our team in recent months: Rachel Bell and Denitsa Yotova-Green are two new conference & event coordinators and will assist clients with their pre-planning and on-site details. Cody Brown is our new event operations coordinator and will work behind the scenes making sure set-ups and day-of requests are taken care of. Kimberly Williamson is our new registration & systems coordinator. Her job is two-fold: she maintains our scheduling systems but also manages individual registrations for our on-campus guest suites. Last but not least, Krislynn Schmidt is our new reservation specialist, and will assist the processing of our many requests for meeting space.
Stanford Conferences finally closed our summer conference season at the mid-point in September (We always seem to be the last to finish…why is that??), and we are very pleased with our year end results. More importantly, those to whom we report are pleased with our year end results. At the end of our first year operating the new Conference Center at Li Ka Shing, we ended operations there better than our pro forma. Additionally, shortly before our summer began, Stanford Conferences filled a vacancy in our meeting planner position by hiring Melanie Walton, CMP. Melanie has also earned her MBA, and she has extensive experience and expertise in both the planner and supplier sides of our business, including service as the assistant director for meeting and conference services at Bentley College. Finally, at the beginning of October, Stanford Conferences held a staff retreat, with a session focusing on the history of our office. Stanford brought the history of directors together for the first time to share the evolution of the office since it opened. Only four directors (see photo at right): Nunan, Fariello, Gin, Leynse) have served to lead Stanford Conferences since it opened in 1960: Lois Fariello (Director from 1960-1989), Carol Leynse (Director from 1989-2001), Sue Nunan (Director from 2001-2006), and Phil Gin (Director from 2006-present). It was truly an enlightening session!
To read past news from Region 2, click here. UCLA Releases Meeting Space Calculator for iPhone UCLA has released a meeting space calculator for iPhone. This valuable tool allows you to enter information about a venue and determine how many people can be seated in various configurations. For more information read the article in November/December 2010 issue of ACCED-I Connections by clicking here.
|
STANFORD UNIVERSITY:
