CEMA Newsletter: November 2024
Giving thanks for the CEMA Community
Brian Mason
VP, Strategy & Operations | CEMA
2024 has been an amazing year. We have so much to be thankful for at CEMA, starting with the passion and expertise of our members, and how you fuel our momentum. Since Summit three months ago, I have been listening to your excitement and gratitude for around all that is happening with the organization.
Nothing excites me more than finishing out the year with more opportunities to connect and grow our community, and our upcoming event with PCMA LATAM is a great example. Keep reading for more information and how to register!
Join the Braindate Corporate Exchange!
Imagine speed dating, but for your career! Join us for a game-changing global networking extravaganza with like-minded corporate event professionals from PCMA LATAM.
Over four hours, you’ll get to schedule 45-minute discussions on 16 hot topics, including event strategy and design, the impact of mentorship, and harnessing AI for content creation.
Expand your connections, knowledge, and partnerships while exchanging challenges, best practices, and disruptive solutions with professionals across the Americas!
Community
Call for Committee members
Want to get more involved with CEMA? Help shape the future of our community when you join one of our 2025 committees, covering topics like membership, education, and products.
Member Spotlight: Courtney Bales, Oracle
Hear from long-time CEMA member and current board member Courtney Bales on what inspires him about our community, what he values most about his membership (hint: all of you!), and how CEMA has helped his career grow.
How long have you been part of CEMA, and how has your participation evolved over time?
I have been a member for 10 years. I have always found the CEMA organization and members inspiring and wanted to find a way to give back to the community which has given me so much over the years. I became a CEMA Board member in 2022.
What do you value most about being a part of the CEMA community?
I could list so many things that I feel bring value being part of CEMA. I will share the three that I feel are most important:
You, our amazing members who each share your unique perspectives and experiences, are extremely helpful to other members in the CEMA community. Over the years I have personally gained countless insights and advice which I have been able to apply to my own work. Additionally, over the year, I have learned how others apply best practices of operational excellence to their work that they do ech day.
The passion and dedication that each of my fellow board members I serve alongside bring to CEMA. This group of talented and experienced individuals truly care about each of you and work extremely hard to ensure that you get the most value and experience from your membership. All aspects of the member experience are curated with our members’ needs and requests top of mind.
How has being a CEMA member opened new doors or opportunities for you professionally?
The CEMA Summit education sessions that I have attended over the years have been extremely impactful and pivotal to my growth. Over the years the unique insights and the content offerings have helped me grow. Another important opportunity to mention is the value that networking with other members over the years have given me, I have made so many friends who are generous with their perspectives and advice, for this I am extremely grateful.
As an industry leader, what exciting trends or opportunities do you foresee shaping the events industry in 2025?
We are at the beginning of an exciting new era with artificial intelligence, The benefits I imagine that AI will bring to all of us is efficiency and increased productivity by optimizing processes required to complete tasks and reducing the time it takes away from each of our very busy days. I personally believe AI will give us the opportunity to make better decisions through data analysis using predictive models which will allow us to understand not only the financial and liability risk for our events but also will provide insights into our attendee personas, their behavior and how they felt about their experience from past events. This will allow each of us to make our events more meaningful and unforgettable. I have learned over the years that the event design, content, and objectives play a significant part in the overall success of your event; we often forget that it is the little things and attention to detail that your attendees will remember most. My goal after each event I produce is that each attendee leaves feeling like the event was planned with them in mind. Do pre and post event surveys, be thoughtful when deciding what to ask in the survey and pay attention to the results, they matter most.
What are the biggest challenges you anticipate for the events industry in the upcoming year, and how can we prepare for them?
Budget and less resources are a challenge now and this will continue next year. We are all being asked to do more with less. The cost of airfare, hotel rooms, and food and beverage are making each of our jobs challenging. My advice, if you are not a good negotiator find someone who is and ask them to mentor you. Take advantage of the relationships you have with your long-term vendors, there are so many companies that will work with you on your budget if everyone is reasonable. In times like these, it benefits everyone if we all work together to keep our events impactful while delivering them within the allocated budget.
Courtney Bales, Director of Business Operations focused on the internal management of day-to-day operation of Oracle’s Global Events organization. I’ve always been adept at building stakeholder trust, driving market share, and innovating best-in-class programming that surpasses competitive offerings. I am known as a subject matter expert (SME) in presenting program value services and negotiating multimillion-dollar contracts. I am an effective and open-communicative leader of teams exceeding 100 members. I am a regular and consistent liaison between client C-levels internal and external stakeholders. I excel at overall leadership and execution of large-scale events and travel programs for Fortune 500 companies, including Oracle, GE Capital, and Chrysler. I’m seen as a trusted advocate and strong company steward managing events and budgets to impact the bottom line positively.
In 2023, I was honored by being selected by Event Marketers for their 2023 B-to-B Dream Team, which recognizes ten marketers powering the b-to-b event industry’s metamorphosis with an eye toward sustainability, compassion, representation—and balance.
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Executive Profile
Stephanie Turner is a lifelong resident of New Orleans and brings over 30 years of expertise in the city’s dynamic hospitality industry. As the Senior Vice President of Convention Sales & Strategies at New Orleans & Company, she is an influential figure in promoting New Orleans as a premier destination for meetings and conventions. Her commitment to the city’s unique culture and hospitality landscape has made her a driving force in positioning New Orleans as a top choice for meetings and conventions.
In 2021, under Stephanie’s leadership, New Orleans & Company launched Built To Host, a strategic meetings brand designed to set the city apart.
Built To Host showcases New Orleans’ unparalleled ability to host technically complex major events and conferences. It also reinforces the critical role meetings play in the city’s tourism economy, which thrives on its reputation for unparalleled hospitality, innovation and excellence in event execution.
Stephanie leads a talented Convention Sales and Services team dedicated to ensuring that New Orleans remains at the forefront of the meetings industry. Her strategic vision and passion for her city’s success have been instrumental in maintaining New Orleans’ status as a world-class destination for events of all sizes.
Visit Sacramento
There’s a California destination waiting for you that offers a state-of-the-art convention center, diverse and comfortable hotel options, excellent weather, walkable tree-lined streets, and an abundance of award-winning food and wine. Where is this West Coast wonder? Sacramento.
Sacramento is the ideal spot for your next meeting or convention, and here’s why.
What We’re Reading
- The Art of *Hybrid* Gathering (Priya Parker)
- Stress Isn’t All Bad. Here’s When It Can Help (NPR)
- 3 tools that can make feedback conversations helpful—and even enjoyable (Fast Company)
- Using the Pull Method — and Post-its — to Combat Work Overload (PCMA Convene)
- Falling Down Stairs, Talking to Strangers: How Planners Got Their Start (Skift Meetings)
- Beyond the Old Boys’ Club: How Women Are Networking Their Way (PCMA Convene)
- A Meeting Guide For Managers To Run Inclusive Meetings (Forbes)
- The Meetings Industry Has an Alcohol Problem. Now It’s Trying to Sober Up. (Skift Meetings)
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 19-20 | Nashville, TN
CEMA Study Tour: CMA Awards
Join the waitlist here! »
November 21 | 12 – 4pm PST
Braindate Corporate Exchange with PCMA LATAM
Register here! »
November 26 | 3-4pm EST
Quarterly Town Hall
Join us in celebrating 2024’s achievements and get a sneak peek at the exciting plans for 2025!
RSVP here »
Questions or topics you’d like to hear about?
Submit them here! »
December 4-6 | Miami, FL
CEMA Study Tour: Art Basel
Join the waitlist here! »
December 12 | 12pm EST
Events Maturity Benchmarking Study: Review
Register here! »
Learning
Aftershock Study Tour Recap
Leslie Havold, Sr. Director, Global Event Management & Strategy – Illumio
First, let me say that this two-day adventure was so much more than a study tour of the Aftershock heavy metal music festival. We explored Sacramento, visited a major sports arena, ate at world-class restaurants, and yes, we did, maybe, bang our insane brains a little bit to Cypress Hill and Slayer.
Our education started with a behind the scenes tour of the Golden1 Center where we were treated to a panel discussion by members of the Golden1 sponsorship, brand, and operations teams, as well as members of our host organization, Visit Sacramento. One key takeaway from this discussion for us corporate event marketing types was a strong reminder to treat our sponsors and guest speakers with personalized service. Obviously, we fulfill the obligations of the sponsorship agreement, but you can’t put a price on doing the extra little bits that turn your sponsors into raving fans, not just revenue line items. Did your sponsor just IPO a week prior to your event? Creating a congratulatory experience for their team members could cost so little but mean so much. Did your guest speaker bring their little kids to your user conference in Florida? Use that knowledge to surprise them with a visit from Mickey or Minnie. You don’t have to break the budget, but noticing and caring will go a very long way.
Following Golden 1 Center, we toured various Sacramento venues, including the convention center, as well as took a driving tour of the city. Friends…. let me tell you…if you weren’t on this study tour, you haven’t SEEN the greatness that is Sacto. Sacramento, I say? The Capital of California? That Sacramento? Yes, THAT Sacramento. The SAFE Credit Union Convention Center was renovated and added on to serendipitously in 2020. The updates are thoughtful, modern, and LEED Silver-certified. I don’t even have time to mention how Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork capital status drives the exceptional food and beverage in the city.
The following day, we headed to the Aftershock grounds to take a pre-opening tour of the venue and learn from Danny Wimmer Presents about the massive behind the scenes operations that enable a major music festival. With five stages, 40,000 fans a day, and over 130 bands in total, it was a masterclass in synchronicity. They discussed the tightrope between assuring event security without upsetting attendee experience. We reviewed the minute-by-minute cues that need to be followed as equipment, talent, and staff work across the stages. We discussed how the various sponsorship levels are activated and prioritized, as well as how they interact with local charities. DWP detailed how events like this affect the local economy positively and how they work with the citizens and government to ensure no one’s home experience is too terribly disrupted. And finally, we reviewed the importance of being able to make a change on the fly. An example of this would be realizing you need 20 more port-o-johns in a different area, or you’ll need another bus route the following day. Each of these discussion points, applying to a major music festival, can be extrapolated to our user conferences, customer parties, or executive summits. The planning and abilities all scale.
The next time you see the headline of a CEMA study tour advertisement, I’d encourage you to double-click on it because you may be surprised at what you’ll get out of it.
Photo credits: (in order from L to R) Jordan Pantoja, Steve Thrasher, Samuel Shapiro
Expand Your Expertise at Convening Leaders 2025
With CL25 sessions just announced, you can chart a course through a galaxy of expert-led sessions, immersive activities, and insightful conversations curated specifically with event marketers in mind.
Use the filters in our content schedule to find sessions tailored to your role.
Unlock more with your CEMA membership!
Your membership includes a PCMA ELI subscription, which gives you unlimited access to their digital library, plus a 20% discount on facilitated and on-demand courses.
Upcoming cohorts and events include:
- Digital Event Strategist certification registration open through November 18 – also available on demand!
- Enhancing Events with AI cohort begins November 19 – register here.
- DEI Reimagined cohort begins December 4 – register here.
- Communicating Across Generations cohort begins December 12 – register here.
- CMP Exam Prep course starts December 13 – register here.