Featured in Corporate Meetings & Incentives
Marge Anderson - Associate Director, Energy Center of Wisconsin

Marge Anderson is everywhere — from the pages of The New York Times to speaking engagements across the country. Her vocal leadership on green initiatives stems from her position as associate director at the Energy Center of Wisconsin, an independent nonprofit that seeks solutions to energy challenges, where she leads by example, driving suppliers to adopt sustainable practices for her meetings and conferences. These results last long after her events have cleared out: Her team works cooperatively with every meeting site to encourage better energy and waste decisions, while also pointing suppliers toward specific help with things like technical assistance or carbon rebates. She even convinced power-guzzling Kalahari Resort and Conference Center, a facility with an indoor/outdoor waterpark, to install solar panels. For these efforts, combined with dedication to meeting outcomes and ROI, the Energy Center was the recipient of a 2007 Global Paragon Award from Meeting Professionals International.

"The impact of [the meetings industry's] collective action is literally world-changing. Harnessing our energy and our ability to convene and motivate people could be more effective than any movie or ad campaign in shaping more sustainable environmental practices."
      — Marge Anderson

CBS News: Sunday Morning
Surely President Obama did not mean to harm the meetings & travel industry

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MPI-WI's David Helgeson, CMP Interviewed on WFRV's "WI Works" About the Merits of Working With Certified Meeting Professionals (CMP)

 

Congratulations and high-fives all around to our chapter's newest CMP graduates!

Cindy Parker Ferguson, CMP with CUNA, Inc.
Carmen Smalley, CMP with North Central Group Hotels
Susan Walker, CMP
Kelly Vandenboogart, CMP with Humana

Check out all of the MPI-WI supplier members on the list for the 2009 Best of Wisconsin Meetings, voted by the readers of Wisconsin Meetings Magazine:

Hotel with the Best Service: The Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee
Best Lakeshore Resort: The Abbey Resort, Fontana
Best Reception Facility: Lambeau Field Atrium, Green Bay
Best Golf Resort: Grand Geneva, Lake Geneva
Best Convention Center: Monona Terrace, Madison
Best Lodge/Retreat: Lake Lawn Resort, Delavan
Best Conference Center: Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells
Most Helpful CVB: La Crosse CVB

Additionally, Michelle Eggert, CMP with ConferenceDirect was highlighted in the Wisconsin Meetings Magazine article, “Key Accommodations Considerations” written by Tina Chovanec. “Knowing your client and their meeting is important so you can approach the hotel with a positive outlook and create a partnership, not just a contracting process,” Eggert advised.

Congrats also go out to the The Delafield Hotel for being listed as one of the 15 places to stay in the USA-Central in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Finally, Lisa Lawry, CMP has joined the sales team for the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, West Madison. Way to go!

New York Times - On the Agenda: Modernizing the Meeting
Featuring Marge Anderson

DON’T tell Marge Anderson that the era of the business meeting is over. As the associate director of the Energy Center of Wisconsin, a nonprofit institute in Madison that provides training in sustainable energy, she is still planning meetings — the big kind, involving travel, attendance fees and hundreds of people...

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