Sara Rollin, of Madison, WI is the Sports Event Manager for Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI), a statewide organization that provides individuals with intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and athletic competition. She completed an education degree from the University of Wisconsin and began working for SOWI in 2011. As sports event manager, Sara oversees communications with key volunteers, as well as many of the logistical aspects of tournaments including registrations, housing, meals and facilities. She also facilitates the yearly publication of the Special Olympics Wisconsin Competition Guide.
Sara Rollin, Special Olympics Wisconsin
Sara Rollin, of Madison, WI is the Sports Event Manager for Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI), a statewide organization that provides individuals with intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and athletic competition. She completed an education degree from the University of Wisconsin and began working for SOWI in 2011. As sports event manager, Sara oversees communications with key volunteers, as well as many of the logistical aspects of tournaments including registrations, housing, meals and facilities. She also facilitates the yearly publication of the Special Olympics Wisconsin Competition Guide.
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A quick search of the internet will net you more than a few results of suggested books for the meetings and events industry. This begs the question, “Which books are the best and which books will stand the test of time?” We narrowed down our search results to three books that seem to appear on just about every must-read list. AV Production Considerations and Venue Selection by Jay Ward When selecting a venue there are many considerations that meeting professionals must take into account. Location and capacity are always the top priorities, but I would argue that having a clear vision for the AV production before selecting a venue is critical to the success of any event. None of the following considerations should be a deal breaker when assessing a venue, but they should each be a factor in the overall decision process. Unique Ideas for your Teambuilding Events by Sally Magallanes, CMP What can you add to your program to really engage attendees? Participation is the goal - being involved in a truly interactive session that delivers a message. Let’s get the blood flowing by adding creativity and fun. Whether you are a Fortune 500 company, mid-sized corporation or non-profit association, when interactivity is the focus, no one will have a chance to be bored or not learn! by Shawna Suckow, CMP “Here are the options: good, fast and cheap. You can only have two,” my former boss used to say. He was describing a printing vendor at the time. You could get your printing done fast and on the cheap, but the results wouldn’t usually be very good. You could get good, cheap printing, but they wouldn’t be the quickest printer in town. Or, you could get good quality and quick turnaround, but it’d be expensive. I’m not sure who originally coined that thought, but my former boss used to say it all the time. I came to realize that it describes a whole lot more than printing. One of the main things people often remember from a meeting is the food served. With foodies popping up everywhere and the range of culinary delights available, memorable menus will leave a lasting impression. Throughout the Midwest, meeting planners have bountiful choices to give their attendees the ultimate dining experience. Here are a few premier choices for groups featuring signature items from chefs in the region. How Do Commissions and Discounts Impact Your Bottom Line? How much is your third-party meeting planner costing you? And how would you know? The independent conference and meeting planning industry offers a smorgasbord of pricing options - “no cost” site selection, hourly rates, fixed fees and percentage fees based on the total bill. Plus there are hotel commissions, negotiated discounts and vendor rebates, perks for independent planners that you may not have access to or even know about. All of which makes it tough to calculate the bottom line and compare apples-to-apples when hiring an independent meeting planner. Meet Rachel Walsh, CMP Director of Meetings, Sentergroup, Inc. Rachel Walsh, CMP is the Director of Meetings at Sentergroup, where clients rely on her to catch all the details while keeping the big picture in focus. Rachel discovered her love for working with associations while working with an Indianapolis-based event planning company and subsequently with Visit Indy, where she helped promote the city. Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in communication and a minor in sociology from DePauw University and is a Certified Meeting Professional. She is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association and the Association Forum of Chicagoland. Ensure a Win for Everyone Sporting events can have a huge economic impact on their host city and the competition for events of all kinds is getting fierce. It’s not just baseball, basketball or football tournaments, although those remain popular. Bouldering, fishing, extreme volleyball, marathons, bicycling… these events, and many other unique sports, are on the rise and bringing in big numbers from across the country. Volleyball on Racine's North Beach About 12 years ago, the Real Racine team was challenged with finding a sand volleyball tournament for North Beach, 50 acres of pristine sand and blue water in Racine, WI. It took a couple years, but eventually Real Racine President/CEO Dave Blank was introduced to Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP) Tour Commissioner Ross Balling. Wisconsin's Olympic-Style Summer and Winter Games The Badger State Games is the largest Olympic-style sports series in Wisconsin and will celebrate its 30th year in June 2014. Originally created by the Madison, Wisconsin-based Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation (WSDC) in 1984, the Badger State Games reached a height of popularity in the 1990s when regional and state level competitions soared to about 20,000 athletes and nearly 50 individual events. Yet in spite of efforts to increase awareness and generate support, participation continued to decline and difficult economic times impacted funding over the years. WSDC announced its plans to end the Badger State Games in August of 2011. RAGBRAI, The (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day ride across the state, held the last full week in July. Heading into its 42nd year, RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. Plan for Man's Best Friend Too! by Terry Matthews-Lombardo Most meeting planners are constantly increasing their industry vocabulary to include new terminology such as bandwidth, hybrid meetings, social tables and more. But imagine if your job required you to learn about trigger locks, rifle stock, Wachtelhund and Munsterlander – say what? Fishing Has No Boundaries® Heidi Overman, Chairperson of Fishing Has No Boundaries® Inc. (FHNB) - Hayward Chapter, Hayward, WI, became involved with the organization while volunteering in her Girl Scout troop at their first event in 1988. Along with her sisters, she became a lifelong volunteer, now serving as the volunteer chairperson for this organization whose goal is to open up the great outdoors for people with disabilities through the world of fishing. Moving Mountains for Bouldering Champions by Terry Matthews-Lombardo The sport of bouldering – a form of rock climbing that is performed without the use of ropes or harnesses – has problems, and most are usually less than 20 feet tall. You see in the vernacular of this sport, the word ‘problem’ (like a math problem) refers specifically to the path that a climber takes in order to complete the climb. New Venues for your Next Sporting Event Sports events mean big business and cities across the Midwest are taking steps to ensure they get a piece of the pie. From North Dakota to Indiana and everywhere in between, state-of-the-art mutli-purpose and sport-specific facilities are either already hosting events or plan to be in the next year. Hosting Outdoor Events by Terry Matthews-Lombardo, CMP With the growing popularity of hosting outdoor events of all shapes and sizes, planners and event coordinators have to think ‘outside the walls’ of traditional meeting spaces to the many elements needed when staging festivals, athletic competitions, tournaments or a variety of events that are held for business or just for fun in the great outdoors. Here is a sample of elements you may need to consider in order to get your planning mojo on the right path for successful execution of this type of non-traditional activity: |
Summer 2014
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