M+IT Announces 2016 Hall of Fame Finalists

Meetings + Incentive Travel is pleased to announce the finalists in six categories of its 2016 Hall of Fame Awards Program as well as its 2016 Industry Innovator inductee.

Grant Snider was unanimously selected by the program’s judges as this year’s Industry Innovator inductee  for creating Meeting Escrow, a company that solves the problem of protecting client deposits. Grant will be welcomed into the Hall of Fame at a special live ceremony on the opening day of IncentiveWorks 2016, which is being held August 16-17, 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto.

At the same time, the inductees in  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

• Kate Cheney, CMP, CMM, Queen Bee & Event Specialist, ConventionALL Management Inc.
• Heather Douglas, Senior Buyer, Meridican Incentive Consultants
• Claire Leahy, CMP, Director of Events, Managing Matters Inc.

  The Big Idea

• Jennifer Holly, Founder, Meetings of the Mind/Business Development Director, Travel Alberta
• Jason Katz, Founder & President, Atmosphere Event Communications
• Tim Whalen, CMP, Executive Meeting Manager, Fallsview Casino Resort

Industry Mentor

• Diane Alexander, Account Executive, SM+i/Strategic Meetings + Incentives
• Cynthia J. Lamont, CMP, CMM, Owner, ConnLinn Meetings & Events Management
• Constance Wrigley-Thomas, CAE, Owner/CEO, Essentient Association Management & Events

Industry Volunteer

• Hayley Bishop, CMP, Account Director, Wynford
• Aaron Kaufman, CSEP, President, Fifth Element Group
• Constance Wrigley-Thomas, CAE, Owner/CEO, Essentient Association Management & Events

Industry Builder

• Shawna McKinley, Director of Sustainability, MeetGreen
• Heather Reid, ARCT MSc, Principal, Heather Reid Event Consulting
• Leslie Wright, President, Fletcher Wright Associates

Industry Rising Star

• Eryne Sarabin, Owner, Tycoon Event Planning & Promotions
• Candace Schierling, Director of National Conventions and Event Marketing, Tourism Saskatoon
• Christy Wright, CIS, Operations Coordinator, SM+i/Strategic Meetings + Incentives

M+IT’s Hall of Fame program was launched eight years ago with the mandate of celebrating 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 number of planners and suppliers. For more information on the competition and Hall of Fame inductees visit halloffame.meetingscanada.com.

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

The 2016 Hall of Fame Awards are sponsored by: