The Incentive for Excellence

My journey in the event world has really taken off since I have attended my first SITE meeting. It all started at San Diego State University - Extended Studies program for Meeting & Events in March 2014. I was highly interested in the incentive travel and destination management field of this industry. I have worked with many production companies and coordinators in my past, but I have never learned about incentive travel and destination management.

I decided to take Geraldine Gatehouse’s Incentive Travel course at SDSU, and from then on, I was enthralled. In the intro portion of her class she informed us of associations to better help students, as well as professionals, connect and network in the industry. I went to SITE’s webpage, found the next available meeting to attend, and registered as a student.

This July, SITE SoCal launched its first ever members only Mentorship Program and it was received with open arms. “Our goal for our inaugural launch was a minimum of 10 participants. We were thrilled when the interest was so high in this new program, that we matched 20 members for a total of 10 pairs,” said Kathryn Wells, VP of Leadership for SITE. Kathryn worked side by side with myself (Leadership Chair for Young Leaders), Nikki Wilbur (Leadership Committee), and Jamie Lee Clave (President of Young Leaders) to match each person based on a questionnaire that included topics like current roles and future aspirations. Members were so enthused we even have a remote pair working out of Chicago!

Positive feedback as already been flowing in. “Our email exchange initially was great fun and we learned so much about one another over email. However, when we met face to face it was even more special! We learned all about one another from our upbringing to our paths in the industry,” said Jamie Lee Clave, Chair for SITE Young Leaders about her first mentor meeting.

Name: Ciara Franklin

Name: Michael “Mikel” Staton