(All photos l-r) 1. Andrew Horsfield, Lord Elgin Hotel; Inspirational Supplier of the Year – Krista Cameron, Destination St. John’s; Erin Crane, Economic Development Lethbridge. 2. Claire Tyrrell accepted the Volunteer Leadership Award on behalf of her late husband, Jeremy Tyrrell, from Chuck Schouwerwou, CMP, CMM, PCMA Canada East president. 3. President’s Award winner Heidi Welker, Freeman Audio Visual Canada and Chuck Schouwerwou. 4. Mark Zanetti, Banff-Lake Louise Tourism; Inspirational Planner of the Year Alison Owers-Graham, Tourism Toronto; and Andrew Horsfield. 5. Chuck Schouwerwou with President’s Award winner Barry Smith, Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
PCMA Canada East launched its new member recognition program at its 2016 Canadian Innovation Conference (CIC), held November 20-22, 2016 at the new St. John’s Conference Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The five inaugural honorees are:
- Inspirational Planner of the Year: Alison Owers-Graham, CMP, Client Experience Architect, Tourism Toronto
- Inspirational Supplier of the Year: Krista Cameron, Director of Sales, Destination St. John’s
- Jeremy Tyrrell Memorial Memorial Award for Volunteer Leadership: Jeremy Tyrrell (posthumous).
- The President’s Award: Barry Smith, president & CEO, Metro Toronto Convention Centre; and Heidi Welker, vice-president, Marketing, Freeman Audio Visual Canada
The program was developed “to recognize members who exemplify the PCMA shared values of being passionate, connected, ethical and knowledgeable.”
The awards were given out at the luncheon, held on the first full day of the conference. PCMA Canada East was honored to have Claire Tyrrell, Jeremy Tyrrell’s wife, in St. John’s to accept the first Jeremy Tyrrell Memorial Award for Volunteer Leadership. Jeremy was a much-loved, much-respected member of the PCMA community. He was renowned for his humour, warmth and commitment to bettering the industry. He was director of sales at Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls when he found out he had cancer. He died on December 20, 2015.
The award will be given annually to an individual who has been a member of PCMA for a minimum of three years and is seen by his/her peers “as a mentor to some, a trusted hard-working colleague to many and an inspiration to others both within and outside of the hospitality profession.” Future recipients must have, as did Jeremy Tyrrell, a history of commitment to improving the industry as well as the community at large.
The Inspirational Planner of the Year award recognizes an active planner member of PCMA for their involvement, commitment and achievement in a given year. Recipients are role models and exemplify professional excellence and should be a full-time professional meeting planner.
The Inspirational Supplier of the Year award recognizes an active supplier member of PCMA for their commitment and achievement in a given year. The recipient should be seen as a role model that exemplifies professional excellence within the industry.
The President’s Award is given out solely at the discretion of the Chapter president, and may or may not be awarded in a given year. A maximum of two can be given out each year by the president to recognize persons who had a major impact on their journey to becoming or during their year as president, or to recognize an unsung hero of the chapter.
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