Past Regional News from Region 10
From January - March 2010 issue of ACCED-I Connections:
Region 10 is moving ahead with its first ever sub-regional event in February 2010 at Roanoke College in Salem, VA. Spearheaded by Stephanie Garst, director of community programs and special events at Roanoke College, the event will be a drive-in day conference.
Faced with limited travel budget, Garst proposed the idea to the Region 10 listserv as an opportunity to network with others in the region. Garst suggested the cost would be minimal to the participants, offering “to foot the bill for facilities, lunch, and snacks.” A no-host dinner is planned before participants leave for the day.
News from Longwood University, submitted by Darlene Bratcher, director of the office of conferences & scheduling:
Longwood University’s Office of Conferences & Scheduling is happy to announce the addition of a new staff member in their Conference Services Department. Ms. Allison Warren joined our staff January 11, 2010 as the conference coordinator. Allison is a Longwood alum and is a member of the United States Army/Virginia National Guard. Allison took a break from her studies to serve a one year tour in Kuwait as a combat medic. We are all very excited to have Allison serve on our team. Another reason we are celebrating is the promotion of Matt Spalding from conference coordinator to the assistant director of conference services in September. Matt is also a Longwood alum (2005) that joined our staff in January 2009 after working at Westview on the James in Goochland, Virginia as the program director for 5 years. Matt successfully managed our summer conference operation and is busy planning and preparing for summer 2010. Matt, Allison, and I will continue to be active ACCED-I members.
News from the University of Richmond:
The Summer Camps and Conferences Office at the University of Richmond, under the direction of ACCED-I member Elizabeth Chenery, was recently designated as a One-Stop Operation.
News from Salisbury University
Lesley Staffeldt from Salisbury University is pleased and proud to announce the birth of her son:
Dylan Jacob Staffeldt
Born: December 1, 2009
7:43 a.m.
9 lbs. 6 oz.
21 inches
From November-December 2009 issue of ACCED-I Connections:
Fall Meeting
Region 10 recently held its fall meeting on October 22 and 23 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland at Historic St. Mary’s City. Regional Director-Elect Pam Mathias did a great job of organizing the conference and the “St. Mary’s Ladies” were wonderful hosts. In addition to the networking, roundtable discussions, and other engaging activities that were planned, four great presentations were offered by Mary Kay Ohaneson (University of Virginia), Darlene Bratcher (Longwood University), Grace Jones (St. Mary’s College of Maryland), and Michele Whiteside (University of Richmond). We took tours of St. Mary’s College and the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland where, in addition to climbing up into a working lighthouse built in the late 1800’s, we gained valuable first-hand knowledge of how folks outside the academic world plan events for a very unique venue. We conducted some Region 10 business as well and decided to hold the 2010 regional conference at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia – dates to be determined. A special thanks to Denise Seifried from University of Maryland, College Park for the great pictures. For those Region 10’ers who weren’t able to make it, you were missed and we hope to see lots of you in Louisville in March!
 |
 Photo by Denise Seifried, University of Maryland, College Park |
|---|
News from Frostburg State University
Dave Treber, director of conferences and events at Frostburg State University, is preparing groups for the campus union to be shut down for renovations for the next 18 months. “We’re getting very creative finding new spaces to meet,” he reported.
News from Salisbury University
As Salisbury University (SU) continues its five-year residence hall renovation plan, workers are looking at ways to make the current buildings more sustainable.
For instance, crews renovating St. Martin Hall last summer used everything from solar power to a new roof coating to increase the energy efficiency of this 23-year-old building. The result: The hall is now 15 percent more efficient than required by Maryland building codes. New features include an Energy Star-compliant roof coating to help reduce heat island effect, an energy recovery unit to recapture up to 80 percent of the heated and cooled air in the building that otherwise would escape, and a solar stairwell fan for improved ventilation overall. Low-flow aerators on the building’s faucets allow the hall to use 10 percent less water than before the renovation. Exterior lobby and lounge walls were replaced with full-height glass, allowing more natural daylight into those spaces.
All concrete, metal, wood, and paver materials removed during the project were reused or recycled, and all flooring materials—including carpet—included recycled materials. All new materials installed contained low volatile compounds, helping remove air toxins in the building. “While most of these upgrades are not immediately visible, they make a tremendous impact to the building by making the residence hall much more energy efficient, cost effective, and sustainable to the environment,” said Jeff Downes, director of facilities planning and capital projects.
Holder Construction Co. of Atlanta was the contractor for the project.
For more information call (410)543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.
From September-October 2009 issue of ACCED-I Connections:
News from Frostburg State University
Frostburg State University wrapped up another five weeks of Coach Wootten's Basketball Camp without a single foul other than one travelling call where the referee was wrong. Five sessions of College Summit also hit the peak. And staff rose to it for the ChalleNGe Invitational. Lots of summer camp groups, lots more grey hairs, reports Dave Treber. "We experienced the same effects of the lagging economy as I heard from other colleges," Dave said. "Some of our smaller groups ended up not coming, one soccer group had a goal of two 100 camper sessions and settled for 30 in one week. But other long-time groups had higher numbers, so it's hard to tell sometimes. It's been a good summer and as always staying in contact with ACCED-I friends, comparing notes, commisserating, helps get us all through."
The campus union will be completely renovated starting in the school year, so that will affect groups for a year or so until the new and improved Lane Center re-opens. And a new card access system in the Cordts PE Center will allow them to track each and every time Conferences & Events sneaks into that building during the summer because a group desperately needs gym or pool time even though they didn’t tell us in advance.
News from Towson University
This summer at Towson University a new summer music camp, free for inner city kids, Thrive City String Academy, was launched by classically trained musician John Littlejohn.
Towson charged a reduced rate for the dorm rooms where the kids slept, meals in the cafeteria, and classroom space for lessons. The campers were all handpicked by public-school music teachers. Littlejohn says he sought out kids who had a strong interest in music but didn't have money for lessons.
To read more, visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111536682.
News from Longwood University
Longwood University is happy to report we had over 5,000 conference participants again this year. Even with the slow economy people came to earn their certification credits, study their individual religious programs, participate in sports camps, and other group activities. The one change we did notice is the reduction of food break services. Groups opted for bulk water in dispensers with cups in lieu of bottled water partially because of the Commonwealth’s change in policy related to bottled water and partially due to the cost of bottled water. Matt Spalding, our conference coordinator, is busy with our staff closing out the season and preparing for 2010. Our director, Darlene Bratcher, and William & Mary’s conference director, Lois Parker, will be sharing a vendor booth at the HSMAI 2009 Affordable Meetings National Conference in Washington, DC in September as vendors to promote their facilities and programs. This may be the first time two Commonwealth Universities have joined forces to market their conference services.
News from University of Maryland, College Park
The Blind Driver Challenge came to University of Maryland, College Park during the National Federation of the Blind's Youth Slam summer camp for teens from July 26 through August 1. The Blind Driver Challenge was a challenge from the National Federation for the Blind to students at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech University to create a vehicle that is capable of being operated by a blind driver. For more information and to see a video on how the dune buggy operates, visit http://wtop.com/?sid=1721978&nid=25.
From the June-August 2009 issue of ACCED-I Connections:
The Region 10 Regional Meeting will be held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in October – tentative dates are October 22 and 23. More information to come in June but mark your calendars now!
From Frostburg State University:
Frostburg State University hosted its first ever Memorial Day weekend group, a church retreat. "With good advanced planning, everything went well," reported Dave Treber, "but a holiday weekend group means everything has to be completely ready on Friday before the end of business day. And I found out much of FSU takes Friday off, too." Ever the Hoosier, he managed to sneak away on Sunday to watch parts of the Indy 500.
From University of Maryland, College Park:
Conferences & Visitor Services at the University of Maryland is pleased to welcome our new program manager, Denise Seifried. Denise had previously been with Event & Scheduling Services at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
From Towson University:
Towson University (TU) takes top state honors in two of four RecycleMania categories
TU placed first among several Maryland schools in the Grand Champion and Waste Minimization categories in RecycleMania, a national recycling and waste minimization competition for colleges and universities. At the national level, TU ranked among the top 25 percent of all schools in these two categories.
The Grand Champion category takes into account both cumulative pounds of recycling and waste produced by an institution. The Waste Minimization category takes into account waste generated per capita at an institution. TU produced 33.08 pounds of waste and 12.06 pounds of recyclables per person during the ten-week competition.
This year’s results mark a 25 percent increase over the total amount of recyclables TU collected during last year’s competition. In all, students, faculty and staff recycled nearly 114 tons of material between Jan. 18 and March 28.
Overall, 410 schools participated in RecycleMania 2009, with 4.7 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff members recycling or composting 69.4 million pounds of waste.
TU has participated in RecycleMania since 2006.
Towson University Dance Team takes Division I title
Towson University Dance Team has won the 2009 National Dance Alliance (NDA) Collegiate National Championship Division I title, marking their eleventh national championship win. The competition took place at Florida’s Peabody Auditorium and at the Daytona Beach Bandshell. Webcast video is available at www.nda.varsity.com.
The NCA/NDA Collegiate Championship is the largest College Cheer and Dance Championship in the world. Nearly 5,000 student-athletes and 15,000 supporters and spectators convened for the competition of technical skills, breathtaking choreography, crowd-pleasing showmanship, synchronization, and teamwork.
The Towson University Dance Team performs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and at Towson University athletic department competitions and numerous community events. The team consists of 27 members and is coached by Towson University professor of theatre arts Tom Cascella.
From Longwood University:
Longwood University’s Office of Conferences and Scheduling is geared up and ready to go for our summer conferences! Our summer staff (Cory, Erin, Colleen, Brittany, Luke, Sean, Morgan, Rachel, Anna, Katie, Amanda, and Stephanie) wrapped up their training on Friday, May 29, just in time for our first conference which arrived on Monday, June 1st. With over 5,000 guests expected on our small campus it will be a very exciting summer. Matt Spalding, our new conference coordinator, and I (Darlene Bratcher, director) are busy with resource confirmations, housing plans, and all the other details required for every group. Our full time events scheduling staff, Freddie Adcock, Kathryn Frank, and Brandi George will also be actively involved again this summer to provide top quality service (with a smile) every day. We are proud to say “Why don’t you come by for a visit? We are your neighbors, just down the road a bit”.
From the April/May 2009 issue of ACCED-I Connections:
Submitted by Rick Glass:
Here is news from around our region:
Frostburg State University
Dave Treber, director of conferences and events at Frostburg State University, reports that the Ali Ghan Shrine Circus he hosts each Spring went very well, with two packed crowds watching animals and acrobatics. This is an event that has a contingency plan for everything, even university dump trucks on site to deal with what elephants do.
Roanoke College
Stephanie Garst, director of community programs and special events at Roanoke College in Salem, VA welcomed her second daughter, Laurel Catherine Garst on March 24th.
University of Maryland, College Park
Conferences & Visitor Services at the University of Maryland, College Park, is excited to announce the launch of its new website. We are always looking for feedback, so please take a look: www.cvs.umd.edu. Coincidentally, we have also moved into a new home: 4321 Hartwick Rd., Suite 500, College Park, MD 20740. We are very proud of Kisha Blackwell, winner of the Outstanding Individual Achievement Award at the Annual Conference in Boston.
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Drema Wentz, from University of Maryland Baltimore County and former ACCED-I regional director, will earn her MBA in May 2009 - and she just got her master's in Human Resource Development in 2007! Way to go Drema!
St. Mary’s College
Greetings from St. Mary’s! Spring is in full swing and so is our office. We are gearing up for our Awards Convocation, Commencement, and of course our very busy summer season.
Some sad news, our president has announced her plans to retire. We are beginning the process of searching for the next president for St. Mary’s College. We will all miss Maggie and wish her the best on her future endeavors.
We introduced two new buildings in 2008 and 2009; the Parris N. Glendening Student Services Building and the James P. Muldoon River Center.
The River Center features a brand new classroom, seminar room, and lovely common area with a gas fireplace. It also features a brand new Rowing Center. The entire building is heated and cooled by a geothermal system. It’s a wonderful addition to our campus and provides a great place for students to relax and enjoy our view of our beautiful waterfront.
 |
 |
|---|
The James P. Muldoon River Center (Nighttime Photo by Paul Burk)
Glendening Hall is our new student services building. It co-locates essential student services in one convenient venue. In keeping with campus commitment to environmental stewardship, Glendening Hall features 25% recycled building and furnishing materials, and will reduce energy consumption and water use by 30%. Glendening Hall also features an annex that is great for large meetings.
Parris N. Glendening Hall
In other news, Nancy Abell welcomed her first grandchild, Zachary David, in February.
We look forward to seeing you on campus in October for our regional meeting!
Towson University
Last semester, Krystle Angaco, Pam Mathias, and Rebecca Brunelle worked on an Event Planning 101 guide for all of their Faculty and Staff that was sent out via the university’s monthly newsletter. Here’s the link to it https://carbon.towson.edu/sites/afblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=161
Pamela Mathias reports that Towson University (TU) was named a top 50 “best value” public university in America by Princeton Review in a report released January 9, 2009. The Princeton Review is an education services and test-preparation company known for its annual college listings.
The Princeton Review selected the schools based on surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private college and university campuses. Overall selection criteria included more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs, and financial aid. Academic ratings were based on student surveys about such issues as professors' accessibility and class sizes, as well as institutional reports about student-faculty ratios and percent of classes taught by teaching assistants (TAs).
In its profile of Towson University, the editors of at the Princeton Review proclaimed:
“TAs teach exactly 0% of the classes, quite a feat for a school with an undergraduate enrollment of 16,219. In fact, many students claim the best part of their academic experience is that the professors actually teach the classes; TAs are not teachers like at some other similarly sized schools, and the student faculty ratio is a reasonable 18:1.”
The editors also noted that: [With] “more than one hundred undergraduate and graduate programs, chances are good that any student can find his or her educational niche. Such a wealth of program options has attracted a fairly diverse student population… a growing number of both foreign and older, returning students have significantly altered the make-up of a once homogenous student body."
Financial aid was also cited as a factor in Towson University’s ranking, with The Princeton Review noting that the 72 percent of Towson’s undergraduates obtaining some form of financial aid received $5,506 on average.
“This recognition only reaffirms what has always been part of Towson University’s mission: to create a high-quality education experience that is both affordable and accessible, with the added bonus of being a big place with a small feel,” said President Robert Caret.
From January - March 2009 issue of ACCED-I Connections
New Salisbury University (SU) Student Service: 'You've Got Laundry'
When it comes to laundry, Salisbury University can claim to be more advanced than any other college or university in the United States, at least that’s what Stewart MacDonald Jr., chairman and CEO of Mac-Gray, the nation’s largest provider of academic laundry facilities, says.
SU students living in residence halls can now check their laptops to see which washers and dryers are in use before heading for the laundry room.
No more toting plastic bottles—the washers automatically dispense a dye-free, fragrance-free hypo-allergenic detergent. The machines also require no quarters or tokens—the costs are part of residence hall fees.
But best of all for students: They can get a text message when their laundry is finished.
“I’m amazed by the alert system, and especially the climate-friendly aspects of the new system,” said Salisbury University President Janet-Dudley Eshbach. Finding that their laundry had been taken out of the machine by someone else wanting to use it had been the biggest complaint by students, according to MacDonald.
Sustainability was the top priority when the University decided to install the new system in all its residence halls, Dudley-Eshbach said. “What we set out to do was be as energy efficient as possible,” said Dave Gutoskey, SU housing and residence life director. The machines use only 12.6 gallons of water per cycle. SU’s previous machines used 16 gallons, equaling a savings of approximately 109,670 gallons annually—enough to fill a typical municipal water tower. An ultra-fast spin cycle in the washers helps dry clothing faster, cutting down drying time and energy use.
Without those bulky detergent bottles, “plastic recycling has plummeted in the residence halls,” Gutoskey added, noting the detergent containers once constituted the majority of the residence halls’ plastic recyclables.
Rewarding SU for its sustainable thinking, MacDonald recently presented Dudley-Eshbach with a certificate enrolling SU in the company’s “Lighten the Load” program to reduce carbon footprints, making an annual contribution in SU’s name to Carbonfund.org, one of the nation’s leading carbon reduction organizations. Some 2.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide are expected to be offset as a result of this program through 2016, bringing SU one step closer to its goal of carbon neutrality.
According to Mac-Gray, other campuses installing the “PrecisionWash” machines include Yale University and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, although SU is the first to use it exclusively in all its residence halls.
Moms take note: the machines have been a hit with students. Junior Jen Starr of Mt. Airy, MD, said: “Not having to put detergent into the washers makes doing laundry a lot easier. It actually makes me want to do my laundry!”
Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps Hosted at Frostburg State University
The Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps was among the groups Frostburg State University (FSU) hosted this summer. Two days of intense practice paid off a week later when the Phantom Regiment was crowned Drum Corps
International champions by .025 points. FSU staff set up large screen TVs to watch the finals, and invited all the band camps to watch. The room went crazy when the judges' results came in. Hosting a DCI group is electric, the sounds, the sights, especially those drummer tan lines, the buses pulling in at 3 a.m., there's nothing like it," reports Dave Treber, Frostburg conferences director. The Phantom Regiment is based out of Rockford, Illinois and also hosts a drum major camp while in residency.
Among school year events, the conferences and events office continued to work with the new high school in town, hosting sporting events until their new stadium was completed. "We'd have Mountain Ridge Miners on Friday nights, Frostburg State Bobcats on Saturdays, and even had a double win once," he added. "Miners Stadium is now done but the partnership was very successful as we have many students from their Class of 2008 here now as FSU students."
Mickey Webb Announces Departure
Mickey Webb, CMP, from the University of Maryland, College Park announces his departure from the university to start the new year as director for client services at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Mickey has been a member of ACCED-I since March of 1999. Mickey said, "The past 10 years of conferences and networking has been a major highlight of my life and career. The people that I have met and the Association that has led to me making a world of new friends will be missed immensely. I plan to keep in touch as often as I can and I hope that you will feel free to look me up when you can. I will still be in the events industry, after all, and will be happy to help in any way I can."
Mickey's new email, effective January 5, is mwebb@bccenter.org
From November - December 2008 issue of ACCED-I Connections
Submitted by Drema Wentz:
Our regional meeting was held at
Longwood University welcomes Brandi George, event specialist to assist the university events scheduling manager and Patty Vance as the new assistant director, conference services. Brandi started her new job on October 10, 2008, and Patty started hers on October 27, 2008. They are so excited to have these two highly skilled and motivated ladies join their team.
From September - October 2008 issue of ACCED-I Connections
Submitted by Drema Wentz:
Greetings to Region 10!
As most of us are wrapping up what I know was a busy summer, I hope it was also a successful one. I also hope that each of you took the time to sit back and enjoy some "me" time as it is well deserved and provides an opportunity to begin again with a fresh outlook, which, as we all know, is very much needed.
St. Mary's College of Maryland, Event & Conferences has hired a new events & conferences coordinator, Grace Jones. Please join us in welcoming her to the college, ACCED-I, and to Region 10.
Rebecca Keller of Towson University is now Rebecca Brunelle as she got married on January 12. Congratulations Rebecca. In addition, both Rebecca and Krystle Ongaco have submitted proposals for sessions at the upcoming Annual Conference in Boston.
Betty Spengler, visitor services manager, University of Maryland, College Park has been announced as president-elect for the CiVSA (Collegiate Information and Visitor Services Association) 2008-2009 academic year. This is a three year role as an officer on the CiVSA Executive Board. She will serve as president of the Association for the 2009-2010 academic year and past president for the 2010-2011 academic year.
From Regional Director-Elect, Rick Glass:
Thanks to those who responded to the email about the regional meeting dates. Our regional meeting is scheduled to take place October 21-23, 2008 at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Thanks to Don Roehl at Shepherd University for hosting the conference. We're working on a block of rooms at a nearby hotel and more information will be heading your way. In the meantime, think about some session topics you'd like to see, or better yet, come up with a presentation for a session! More soon - looking forward to seeing everyone!
Please enjoy what is left of your summer and have a great start to a new academic year.
From June - August 2008 issue of ACCED-I Connections
Submitted by Drema Wentz:
Paul Land, director of auxiliary services, Salisbury State is pleased to announce the appointment of Lesley A. Staffeldt as the director of conference services effective March 31, 2008. Previously, Staffeldt was director of communications and events for the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. There, she planned many of the city's signature events, including the Salisbury Festival, Riverfest, and Chamberfest. She is currently a volunteer co-chair for the Delmarva Chicken Festival. Staffeldt is a past member of the Salisbury Jaycees board of directors and a member of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals, and Eastern Shore Society for Human Resources Management. Staffeldt is enrolled in the event management certificate program at George Washington University. Land said, "Lesley's energy, enthusiasm, job knowledge, and extensive background in event planning made her the natural choice."
Dave Treber at Frostburg State University (FSU) hosted a basketball trio at FSU this Spring of the Harlem Globetrotters, high school regional championships, and the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament. But his favorite event was one run not by the Office of Conferences & Events, but by the English Department. His son John was Thibault in the 6th annual FSU Shakespeare Festival.
University of Maryland, College Park will be hosting Odyssey of the Mind for the seventh time. They will house 7,500 on campus and expect to fill Comcast Arena for the awards ceremony. They have five working days to turn over campus from the academic year, so it should be an interesting week! Tom Flynn and staff are looking forward to hosting our colleagues from Iowa State and Michigan State during the event.
Region 10 is mourning the loss of a dear friend, mentor and colleague. Ted Johns, previously of Towson University, passed away on April 22, 2008. Ted spent more than 20 years at Towson and was a valued member of the ACCED-I community until his retirement in the late 1990s. Our sympathy and prayers are with Ted's father and brother as they go through this difficult time.
From April/May 2008 issue of ACCED-I Connections
My name is Drema Wentz and I am the newly installed regional director for Region 10. I want to say thank you to
Rick Glass is our newly installed regional director-elect. Rick is currently the
We hope that everyone enjoyed the Annual Conference in
Our regional meeting was very informative and it was nice to see so many new faces. Our budget is looking good and we were once again able to give a scholarship to a student from
We are very proud to say that our very own Drew Newton from
Photos from fall regional meeting at Radford University.
From October - December 2007 issue of ACCED-I Connections
University of Maryland, College Park announces new employees: Betty Spengler, visitor services manager; and Alison Nagle, meeting services manager. Matt Eddy also joined the professional staff as program manager; he was formerly program coordinator.
In the next month, Tom Flynn will be making presentations on One-Stop Shop certification at the ACUHO-I Conference Services Conference and the NACAS Annual Conference. ACCED-I will have a booth in the exhibit hall at NACAS, so please have your colleagues stop by and say hi. (And if you're at NACAS, please stop by and say hi, too.)
Dave Treber has confirmed that Ed Vickers of Salisbury has retired. Ed was a long-time director of conferences and events, and was an active member with ACCED-I for many years. Congratulations Ed.
From August/September 2007 issue of e-Communique
Submitted by Peter Kaiser
The Region 10 regional meeting will be October 23-25, 2007 on the beautiful campus of Radford University (Virginia). Drema Wentz is working on the program, so please feel free to submit any session proposals that you feel would be of interest to Drema at dwentz@umbc.edu.
Michele Eicher Whiteside, events & technology manager/commencement coordinator at the University of Richmond, just finished her Masters in Liberal Arts degree this August.
Miller Roberts announced that Jessica Kupper has taken his position as the assistant director of student housing at Johns Hopkins University. After several wonderful years in the profession, Miller is stepping down to return to school. His last day is Friday, September 7, 2007. Miller says "It has been a pleasure working with all of you and getting together at our conferences."
As you may know, Miller coordinated our "Act of Caring" at this years conference in Baltimore and has been a strong member of the Region 10 team. Miller, we will certainly miss you. Good luck with your studies.
Jessica welcome to Region 10.
From June/July 2007 issue of e-Communique
Submitted by Peter Kaiser
Regional Director-Elect Drema Wentz, coordinator of events at University of Maryland Baltimore County received a Masters of Science in Management (HR track) from University of Maryland, University College on May 12, 2007. Congratulations Drema!
Congratulations also goes to Kisha Blackwell of University of Maryland College Park, who earned her MS in Management, concentrating in Public Relations, from University of Maryland University College.
The University of Maryland Baltimore County welcomes Theresa Suite into ACCED-I. Theresa has been with UMBC for over 20 years and is taking on new responsibilities with Campus Scheduling & Guest Services.
Longwood University is losing a member of its team. Henry McCoy will soon be assuming new duties as program coordinator for special events for the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System, in Columbus, GA. Region 10 wishes Henry and his family well in their new endeavors. Henry wishes everyone with ACCED-I and Region 10 the best. He learned a lot and had many good times with Region 10 guys and gals.
Two new faces are joining Darlene Bratcher at Longwood. Kathryn Frank is a new conference manager. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech and has marketing and conference experience in the health care sector. Andrew Newton is also joining as a conference manager. Drew (as he prefers to be called) recently graduated with all sorts of honors from James Madison.
Both Kathryn and Drew will be signing on with ACCED-I, so look for them at the fall regional meeting. Welcome Kathryn and Drew.
Lora Williams, Virginia Commonwealth University was promoted from conference services planner to assistant director, event and conference services. Williams said, "After 12+ years of working in not for profit and corporate meetings and conference planning this is a terrific opportunity and I'm very excited for the challenge."
Krisztina Ujvagi-Roder, of University of Virginia reports that Katharine (Katie) McCool joined the staff at Newcomb Hall in January of 2007. She is a recent graduate of Bowling Green State University with a degree in Event Planning.
Another event planner in the office at University of Virginia, Dorothy Lippincott, was just honored for 15 years of service to the University.
From April/May 2007 issue of e-Communique
Submitted by Peter Kaiser
Hello my name is Peter Kaiser I am the newly installed Director for Region 10. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Michele Whiteside for her tremendous leadership over the past two years as Regional Director/Director-Elect and wish her the best in her first year as an ACCED-I Board member. Michele hosted our regional meeting in Richmond in 2005 and there began the lead up to our successful hosting of the 27th Annual Conference in Baltimore. Remember the crab stickers, the see you in Baltimore video and Crab Boy? She pushed us to set the bar high for Region 2 and the Las Vegas conference. As hospitality co-chair along with Mickey Webb, CMP, Michele made sure the Baltimore conference was not only educational but very entertaining as well. How about those Fabulous Hubcaps? Hey, squeeze those stress crabs. Thank you, Michele, for all you have done and all you will continue to do for ACCED-I and Region 10.
As I said, I am Peter Kaiser the new Director for Region 10. I am the manager of event services at Anne Arundel Community College just outside of historic Annapolis, Maryland. I have been a member of ACCED-I for almost 10 years. I am in my eighteenth year of working on college events. I don’t claim to have the answers to all your event issues but I am always open to questions. So please ask me. If I don’t know, I’ll reach out to our colleagues to find out Ptkaiser@aacc.edu or (410) 777-2821.
Drema Wentz is our new Director-Elect. Drema serves as Coordinator of Campus Scheduling and Guest Services at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Drema was just honored as employee of the month for University Maryland Baltimore County, according to a Google news alert. The news article makes nice mention of her activity with ACCED-I, as you can see if you wish at: http://www.umbc.edu/insights/2007/02/dickey_and_wentz_named_employe.html
The Region 10 regional meeting took place during the Annual Conference in Baltimore. The budget is looking good for Region 10. We were able to give three scholarships to the Annual Conference and we still have funds. Plans are underway for our fall regional meeting. If you have any suggestions or would like to present a workshop please contact Peter or Drema.
Michele Whiteside would like to extend a very LARGE thank you to everyone in Region 10 as well as across ACCED-I that helped with hospitality for Baltimore. And a special thank you to the boat builders: Henry McCoy from Longwood University and Jennifer Sivak from St. Mary's College of Maryland for making her vision come true.
For those of you who were not able to attend this year we had a great time catching up with colleagues, sharing information, and attending workshops. I strongly encourage you to attend both the fall regional meeting and the Annual Conference next March.
News from members in Region 10
Tom Flynn of Conference and Visitor Services of University of Maryland College Park had the following to announce: "We are pleased that Malia Witherspoon will be joining our staff as hospitality manager on April 16. She will be responsible for managing our residence hall desk operations.
According to the list on the ACCED-I website, we are the only certified One-Stop Shop in Region 10. C'mon people, get those applications in!
Great job with the conference."
Also from University of Maryland:
Program Manager, Kisha H. Blackwell will be receiving a Master of Science degree in Management with a specialization in Public Relations on May 12th, 2007 from the University of Maryland, University College. Congratulations Kisha!
The Catholic University of America is happy to announce that Megan Reynolds is the new assistant director for conferences and event planning. Her email is reynoldm@cua.edu; her phone number is (202) 319-5291.
The Frostburg State University Office of Conferences & Events is growing. Monika Urbanski has moved on, and Barb Stahl and Robert Spahr are joining the office, working with Dave Treber. Recent new members to ACCED-I are Margaret Schotto, who is the director of Edgewood Commons, FSU's new public-private partnership residential facility, and Patrick McLane, who is a member of housekeeping staff. "Patrick may be the first ever custodial member," Dave notes, "but he has always been an integral part of the summer conferences staff at Frostburg. Many of the best ideas here have come from Patrick, so having him as part of our institutional membership made sense."
Among the recent events at Frostburg: The Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament, three games of high school basketball with many players each year going on to the NBA, and the Ali Ghan Shrine Circus. "Yes, we have elephants here," Dave reported, "and they require a lot of water."
Photos from the 2007 Annual Conference
