The Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CanSPEP) presented its Awards of Merit at its 20th anniversary conference, which was hosted in Windsor, Ontario, March 3-5, 2016.
The Joy Fox Award, named after the founder of CanSPEP, recognizes an individual who brings overall leadership, dedication and commitment to the independent meeting planning community and is the organization’s most prestigious award of merit. This year’s recipient is Ingrid Norrish of Creative Meeting and Marketing Services.
Norrish is one of the founding members of CanSPEP. She has held many of the key leadership positions in the organization and has been instrumental in developing plans to celebrate CanSPEP’s 20th anniversary year. Norrish was selected and celebrated for being “an excellent ambassador of CanSPEP, bringing many new members to the organization and her innovative ideas have contributed to significant improvement and advancement of CanSPEP education programs over the years.”
The Industry Partner Award was presented to Denise Wiese of Business Events Toronto and Scott Harradine, retired, formerly of the Kempenfelt Conference Centre in Barrie. This award recognizes a CanSPEP industry partner who has demonstrated his or her commitment by supporting and promoting the reputation of CanSPEP within the wider industry community.
Both Wiese and Harradine were praised for their support of CanSPEP and their recruitment of independent planners to the association.
Scott Harradine was one of the first suppliers to support and get involved with CanSPEP. He has been a strong advocate over the years. From his nomination it was clear that although Scott is retired “his past ongoing support and involvement…is worthy to recognize and acknowledge, especially at the 20th anniversary conference.”
Denise Wiese, has been a tireless champion of CanSPEP, bringing Business Events Toronto on board as a supplier partner and referring potential CanSPEP members to the organization. “Denise is a supporter of third party planners and recognizes the unique and diverse needs of these entrepreneurs. In working with Denise, she goes above and beyond in building individual partnerships with planners that are of a mutual business benefit,” stated her nomination submission.
A new award was given out this year: Volunteer of the Year. It aims to recognize the significant impact that volunteers play in the running and success of the organization.
This year’s winners are Nikki Sayers, CMP of Nikki Sayers Events and Moriah Bacus, formerly the owner of Define Events and now the client experience architect at Business Events Toronto, earned their volunteer strips as the co-chairs of CanSPEP’s inaugural Event Business Blueprint.
“As co-chairs, they were responsible for the development and delivery of this innovative program,” said Bettyanne Sherrer, CMP, CMM, CanSPEP president. “Their unique insight as newer business owners seeking to provide a roadmap to others was very well received and demonstrates one of the best examples of the unique, collegial CanSPEP culture.”
Leave a Reply