M+IT Announces 2015 Hall of Fame Finalists

Meetings + Incentive Travel is pleased to announce the finalists in six categories of its 2015 Hall of Fame Awards Program as well as its 2015 Industry Innovator inductee.

Sandra Wood, CMP was unanimously selected by the Hall of Fame judges as this year’s Industry Innovator inductee for her work bringing the industry a solution to the challenge of food waste. Sandra will be welcomed into the Hall of Fame at a special live ceremony on the opening day of IncentiveWorks 2015, which will be held August 18-19, 2015 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto.

At the same time, the inductees in the The Big Idea, Industry Mentor, Industry Volunteer, Industry Builder, Rising Star and Industry Planner categories will be announced.

The finalists in each category are:

Industry Planner

• Chuck Schouwerwou, CMP CMM, President, ConferSense Planners Inc.
• Ellie MacPherson, Senior Vice-President, SM+i/Strategic Meetings + Incentives
• Sarah Murray, CMP, Account Executive, Dragonfly Meeting Solutions

The Big Idea

• Bill Guest, CEO & Founder, CCR Solutions
• Tahira Endean, CMP, Manager-Events, QuickMobile
• Katie Dolan, Convention Sales Manager, Ottawa Tourism

Industry Mentor

• Alissa Hurley, Marketing Events Specialist, Kinaxis
• Lori Christensen, President/Owner, The Farm Inc.
• Krista Cameron, Director of Sales, Destination St. John’s

Industry Volunteer

• Lydia Blanchard, Business Development – Sales Manager, NAV Centre
• Hélène Moberg, Executive Director-Sales, Destination Halifax
• Liz Akey, CMP, President, EMA Marketing Ltd.

Industry Builder

• Chuck Schouwerwou, CMP CMM, President, ConferSense Planners Inc.
• Mariela McIlwraith, CMP CMM MBA, President, Meeting Change
• Shelley Williams, Director of Sales – Eastern Region, Caesars Entertainment

Industry Rising Star

• Jaime Heinke, National Marketing Manager, National Speakers Bureau
• Courtney Stanley, Strategic Partnership Manager, EventMobi
• Mariella Irivarren, CMP, Manager – Event-Based Marketing, BMO Financial Group

M+IT’s Hall of Fame program was launched seven years ago. Its goal is to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of meeting and incentive travel industry professionals. The staff of M+IT would like to thank all the members of the industry who took the time to nominate a record 56 planners and suppliers. For more information visit halloffame.meetingscanada.com.

IncentiveWorks is Canada’s leading tradeshow and conference for event professionals. For more information visit www.incentiveworksshow.com.

The 2015 Hall of Fame Awards are sponsored by: