Homesick!

I mentioned before this blog was about my job but you may hear a little about my son and the trials and tribulations regarding traveling and being away from him.....Well today we return home!!! Home to my beautiful baby Brady who I have missed so much!!! It has been 10 days!!! Can you believe it??? How could I possibly be gone from him this long??? This has also been the most time Damon has been away from Brady as well. 4 days!!! How could you leave this?

Well...a good paycheck and a little R&R is nice........

But I cant wait to hold my little guy and be back to my own bed and home. What a wonderful Conference and wonderful relaxing vacation.
Well deserved after a rough first half of a year. And it has been a rough one.....

Yeah Winning!!!!

Well vacation has officially begun and all my pax (ie attendees) have gone. What a truly amazing conference!!! Everyone says this year was one of the best conferences they have ever been too!!! Yeah Winning!!!! I couldn't have done it without an amazing support staff and team! Here we are.....cute group eh?
The awards banquet was amazing and final night Presidents Cabinet Dinner was just a HUGE hit! Check out the most awesome Mayan temple stage I got and beautiful Hacienda grounds. Soooooo cool!!!!!!!

Now for some relaxing time by the pool. This is going to leave an interesting tan......

Meeting Planning Mirage

The beach outside my window is a mirage...
In Cancun with 450 of my closest friends and family (attendees). Wanted to be HERE for the past 7 days....


But in fact have been tucked away HERE......

Sigh..........when do I get my turn at the pool????? Unfortunately....not until the last attendee leaves......I am so waiting for that moment!!!! Even though I cant go to the beach in my cast..I can certainly lay by the pool!!!!! Conference is going off really well. Few technical difficulties with AV but no one has seen me break a sweat yet and we powered through with some great speakers and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Now set up has begun on the awards banquet!!!! This is going to be good!!!!!

Hello Cancun!!!

Well - we have been here since Saturday and I have had ZERO time to blog. We have been up to our eyeballs in preparing for our attendees who just arrived today. 450 people!!! whoo hoo!!! First of all, my team member, Kristin and I traveled on a night flight over the weekend. We were the perfect pair... me in a cast and wheelchair and she 7 months pregnant and pushing all of our luggage??? what a sight we were!!! I mean seriously..could anyone have written a better crazy scenario as this?????? see below crutches and large bag cart with preggers girl.. a security staff nightmare....

Well, Cancun has been treating us really well. The locals are the most accommodating and wonderful set of folks I have ever met. Now..you need to make sure you ask them them to REPEAT slowly what you asked for because YES here does not mean YES normally...it means YES, I have zero clue what you have asked me for but I am going to be the most accommodating person you know and I will get it done.......that doesn't always mean what you ask for, will get done....soooooo....we have to be on TOP of things. Anyways. Cancun is great!!! here is a little photo to entice you to come down for a vacation one day!!! this is our welcome reception. looks like soo much fun!!!

me and my scooter supervising set up!!

Hello Cancun!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Class Perks.....

I have to say that even though most of you reading this...(yes you know who you are)...think meeting planning is fun, exciting and "easy". Oh sure we get to travel to all of these wonderful cities and hang out on the beach....Well, I have to tell you that it is not like that!!!! I have had people come in and out my department doors coming in with the "expectation" that what they were getting into was going to be a glorious and fun means of employment....I don't think so..... Meeting planning is not for the faint of heart. Try working for a week straight (100 hours!! no weekend!!!) without seeing your family while working from a windowless office in a hotel meeting room when you know there is a beach just a few yards away. Yes.. it does take alot of self control!!! This is my next task starting tomorrow. I have not been away from Brady for more than 4 nights since he was born and tonight starts my first 10 night away excursion from my beautiful Brady. I mean....how could you leave this???

Ugh...hard.....Now my job does not come without some "perks". I mean even though I don't get to "see" the beach doesn't mean I cant stay after the conference and enjoy it with my husband for a small couple day post trip. I mean..my flight is already paid for...why not have him fly up after the meeting ends and stay a couple extra nights on the group hotel rate??? Right?? This does mean 2 nights more away from Brady but Mom does need a small break right?? In addition, because of all the travel I do, I typically get to special status with certain airlines and when available......I get bumped to first class!!! Ahhh the life!!! Now that is the best perk ever. I do now get spoiled though. Unfortunately....first class upgrades are not guaranteed so they don't happen all the time but now.... I hate to travel BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

Well wish me luck on my Conference, with a broken ankle this is going to be a challenge. I already have wheelchair assistance booked at the airport and since I am carrying 2 laptops (1 work one and 1 presentation one) I am wondering how I am going to figure out the whole security line while unable to walk and juggling all my stuff scenario.....should be interesting.......

Yes....passports are required.....

I always find it funny some of the last minute calls we get right before our large Annual Conference.

Yes....passports are required for travel outside the US. I mean, we promoted needing a passport starting a year ago when we announced the destination to Cancun. "Get your passports ready!" remember.... there were 3 bolded references on the registration website and confirmation email which said, dont forget your passports and then again in the hard copy mailer we sent you to your home. Yes sir....passports are required. No sir....I dont have any "special connections" to get you a passport in 24 hours. Here is a passport expediting firm website. Good luck.

There was also the great one today....even though activities are confirmed and deadline to cancel and get my money back was yesterday...due to health reasons I am not able to participate on the zip line activity but I would like to go deep sea fishing instead.....I mean....what sort of health reasons wont allow you to hang from a rope and glide through trees but will allow you to go on a sloshing boat in the ocean and reel in a 40 pound Marlin??? Really?? Well if you can provide me with a doctors note perhaps I can contact our activity contact and see if they will not charge us for your spot......silence.....oh you will stick with the zip line tour then...ok....great.

I just love the week before Conference. All the fun questions and changes start to flow in!!!

Organized Chaos

For those of you not intimately involved in meeting planning, the organized chaos of the office is pretty typical of a meeting and event coordinator. Being tooooo organized and neat is just plain suspicious in my mind....or perhaps that is how I like to justify the way my desk looks.... Take a look at my office.

Now you wouldn't realize it but there IS a method to my madness I swear!!!

In addition to all of these piles of agendas, flows, budgets, meeting approvals, binders etc........we also could serve as a mini UPS facility with as many boxes, gifts, awards, and promotional merchandise and materials we ship out for meetings and contests each year. I mean, seriously....where is my customer of the year award from UPS?? Shouldn't I be getting some annual Christmas cookie box from them? Check out our most recent project this week. 467 pens, 100 umbrellas, 30 bluetooth microphones and 15 jackets. Our mail room LOVED THIS......NOT.

I mean seriously folks...it looks as if my department has been taken over by "Box World". What a nightmare. Now this was not easy navigating around in crutches with my broken ankle. Thank goodness we got that shipped out and thank goodness for my team since while I am still "on the mend" I am pretty useless when it comes to the manual stuff! Which sadistically enough...I actually love......

Dear Mexico....

Dear Mexico,

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the 9 thousand dollar bill I received just to get my office supplies, registration packets, gift bags and towels into your country. I mean those paper clips certainly required some major handling going from Miami into Cancun. I am sure many people were involved in the unpacking and repacking of my supplies and merchandise that required hours of hard work and labor. While I appreciate your white sand beaches.....

.......your gorgeous views and pristine pools......

....and your tasty Margaritas...

....next time I plan a meeting to Mexico.....I may go to Wal Mart to pick up supplies when I am there.

Broken Bones and Meeting Planning Dont Mix

Well, as some of you may know I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago and with an infant and my job these things just really...DONT MIX!!! Most people who know me call me Speedy Gonzales or equate me to the road runner or one of the two. Even at 9 months pregnant I outran some of my team members because I just am the type to not waste time. That extra 5 minutes to get to the cafeteria for lunch could mean I lose an extra 5 minutes of work!! I mean really!!! Yes.....really......I am neurotic. But with a cast on and not being able to put any weight on it for another 4 weeks is going to be insane and extremely difficult for me. It is not like I dont eat lunch at my desk alot because of workload but being "confined" to a desk..ugh. I dont like being told what to do!!! Luckily I have been able to work remotely for a week but now it is time to get back in the office. This broken ankle bit is especially giving me a bad taste in my mouth since I have 500 people converging all together in Cancun for my largest Annual Program of the year in 2 weeks. Only been working on this one for a year....Perfect timing...NOT. So I have decided in order to make the best of my situation...I have rented a means of transportation for my trip. I shall call her....Bessie. yes..that works I believe. Here she is.



I am going to be doing laps around my staff members for sure!!! No stopping me! Is it considered drinking and driving on this thing if I partake in a Mexican Margarita????
Anyways.....I shall let you all know how Bessie does in Mexico for me. In the mean time....I am sure to have some new stories about our upcoming Cancun program in posts to come!!!
Annual Conference always provides fun stories for sure!!! Stay tuned.....

The Beginning and Evolution

So.....a bunch of friends I know have started blogs about their lives. For me, meeting planning is pretty much a gigantic chunk of what I eat,breathe and live for each day. That and my son Brady and husband Damon of course but.....my job has become a major part of my life and so therefore I have decided to start a blog about being a meeting planner and my day to day life as I know it being a planner and the craziness that ensues being in this insane business.

So...the beginning. Let me dust off this little 11 year brain from the start of my career as a meeting and event coordinator.

I was fresh out of college 1999. Business degree in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin. I was set right? Wrong.........

I secured a job at Dell since I could not find ANYTHING else after many interviews with PR companies, meeting and event companies etc. I even interviewed for the Bush re-election campaign doing promotions and events!!! My father may have passed out if I got that job. I was attempting to stay in Austin as the love of my life...one day to be husband and wonderful father..still had one more year at UT. Anyways, I took the job at Dell doing sales and after 4 months I was done. I started looking in Houston where my family lives and low and behold the perfect opportunity came to be for a Junior Event Planner position with my current financial and insurance company. They do retirement planning for non profit organizations for schools hospitals and government agencies. I got the inside on the job from my mom who ALWAYS has my back. Thanks Mom!!! She knows everyone in Houston! I interviewed got the job and was IN LOVE!!! You would not believe that working late hours through the night, travelling, dealing with ridiculous requests, cross checking excel sheets against one to another multiple times, bleeding from your fingernails because you have stuffed one to many conference packets and name badges would be rewarding but it is! I moved up in a short couple years to meeting planner, senior meeting planner in 2003 then when my boss decided to take a job with another part of the company I was promoted to manager of the department in 2005. I recently was promoted to director of the department in 2011 which was such a great accomplishment for me and one of my long time goals I had set out for myself. Well....that is how I got here and a short rendition of where I am today but there are lots more to tell over the years and current stories to share so stay tuned......I am looking forward to sharing my stories!

To close...here is a pic that really showcases the real life of a meeting planner. Hospitality Desk, laptop, and hotel pool perfectly positioned right in front of you out the doors......I was lucky here...I rarely get to even see the pool. : )