The 37th edition of the IACC- Americas Connect took place last week at Chubb Hotel & Conference Center and The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, and saw its strongest attendance in 10 years.
2018 IACC Award Recipients
IACC-Americas presented the coveted Mel Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service to Jeff Loether, CEO of Electro-Media Design. Sean Anderson, president of IACC-Americas and Vice president of Sodexo Conferencing, awarded IACC-Americas’ highest and most prestigious accolade to Jeff, who has a long and impressive history with IACC. Sean Anderson commented “Always forward thinking and challenging boundaries through technology, this individual pioneered the standards of audiovisual technology design for IACC and much of the hospitality industry. It’s fair to say this individual’s contributions have been nothing less than foundational to IACC’s success, helping establish our brand as a recognized leader, synonymous with best-in-class quality”
The IACC Pyramid Award, established in 2000 to shine the spotlight on members who show a true and long-lasting commitment to IACC education, was presented to Ken Misterly, Area General manager for Sodexo Conferencing. Sean Anderson commented, “Many of us were able to experience first-hand how this individual excels at building a strong team who collectively deliveredoutstanding results year after year. One of this person’s key attributes is his fearless and optimistic approach toward leading change”. Ken previously sat on the the IACC-Americas board and was chair of the annual conference planning committee.
Daniel Briones was presented with IACC-Americas Award of Excellence by Nancy Lindemer, Director of Sales & Marketing for the Rizzo Conference Center. Daniel is General Manager of the Chubb Hotel and Conference Center, host property for the 2018 IACC-Americas Connect event. The award was established 13 years ago by the IACC-Americas Board of Directors to underscore the association’s commitment to education and to give heightened recognition and visibility to those individuals who give of their time, talent and resources to expand and enhance IACC’s educational offerings.
The new IACC-Americas Innovation Award, introduced in 2018 to highlight the considerable innovations that IACC members introduce into their own businesses and which help to shape the future of the meetings industry. Mark Cooper, CEO of IACC announced three finalists from the nominations received;
Electro Media Design
Developed AVaStar, a web-based platform that provides an operating structure, guidance and procedures to support venue staff in the efficient management of event technology and audio visual services.
Sodexo Conferencing
Implemented the technology to demonstrate various meeting setup formats and scenarios for clients unable to meet in person and utilized VR.
UCI Conference Center, University of California, Irvine
Introduced a Real-Time Ops Report using a app designed to automate the shift reporting process. The winner of the first IACC-Americas Innovations award, with their development of a Operations Team App.
Brian Payto, Marketing Manager for UCI Conference Center, University of California, accepted the award.
The IACC-New York University Doris Sklar Scholarship was established 15 years ago in memory of longtime meeting professional, Doris Sklar.
Active in IACC and a proponent of using IACC conference venues for meetings, Doris was widely known and respected for her work with General Electric and as an independent consultant. In addition, she taught the meeting planning curriculum at NYU’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism.
The scholarship was introduced by Professor Dianne Devitt of New York University and to present the award was president Sean Anderson and board associate Anna Hess from the Summit Conference Centre. The scholarship was awarded to Camile Aké, a senior at New York University.
Finally, Sean Anderson acknowledged the IACC-Americas Region of the Year, another first-time award introduced in 2018 in appreciation of the efforts of the most outstanding regional community, led by a group of ambassador volunteers. The New York/New Jersey region were worthy winners.
Sean Anderson commented “Obviously all of our regions were great but we would specifically like to recognize this region for not only having the highest attendance at each of their roundtables, but also, they hosted prospective IACC venues at one of their events – and by demonstrating first-hand thestrength of our community, they were able to help convince one of those prospects to join the IACC family and become one of our newest members! To receive the award, Sean welcomed on stage Sara Blivaiss and Cindy McQuaid of Chauncey Hotel & Conference Center.”
