The Convention Industry Council (CIC) has launched a new awards program that honors "accomplished industry supporters and emerging leaders" in the meetings and events industry, it announced last week. Called the Pacesetter Awards, the new program will pay tribute to individuals in seven categories:
• Community Service/Humanitarian
• Innovations & Best Practices
• Environmental Leadership/Corporate Social Responsibility
• Public Elected Official
• Young Professionals
• Lifetime Achievement
• Friend of the Industry
The recipient of CIC's first Pacesetter Award is Amy Spatrisano, principal of MeetGreen, who will receive the 2012 Environmental Leadership Pacesetter Award.
According to CIC, Spatrisano was one of the driving forces behind the development of the meetings industry's first sustainable meeting standards, the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards, released earlier this year. As chair of the APEX Green Meetings and Events Panel and later as a member of the ASTM E60.02 Committee, she oversaw the development of the standards, a four-year process that included expertise from 300 planners, suppliers and sustainability experts from within the industry, as well as the standards, engineering and materials science experts that make up the ASTM membership.
CIC also has named four recipients of the 2012 Young Professionals Pacesetter Award. Those individuals are:
• Joe Capitanelli, regional marketing director, Global Spectrum, nominated by the International Association of Venue Managers, for his leadership and influence to foster more involvement from local nonprofits, city government, staff and volunteers in "Helping Hands for the Holidays," an event that seeks to provide food and services for those in need within St. Charles County, Mo.
• Krzysztof Celuch, manager, Poland Convention Bureau, nominated by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), for his role in the execution of the ICCA Forum for Young Professionals, and for his work in helping to organize the inaugural IMEX Challenge Poland, a biennial humanitarian event designed to promote the power of corporate social responsibility.
• Mary Catherine Tagg, national sales manager, Destination King, nominated by the Association of Destination Management Executives International (ADMEI), who has risen to president of the Memphis Attractions Association, earned a Fellow of Leadership Academy Memphis, serves on numerous ADMEI committees and earned a Rising Star Award all within five years in the DMC industry.
• Sarah Vining, marketing manager, The National Conference Center, nominated by the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), who serves the IACC board as a non-voting associate to advise on emerging trends from the Millennial perspective and chairs its Emerging Trends Committee. Vining also created "Meeting Discoveries," a series of white papers on compelling industry topics.
This year's Pacesetter recipients will be honored at an invitation-only luncheon hosted by CIC on Oct. 8 during IMEX America in Las Vegas. Beginning in 2013, however, the Pacesetter Awards will be a part of and presented during the CIC Hall of Leaders gala, a program that was started in 1985 to represent the industry's highest honor and lifetime of achievements and contributions to the industry. Next year, the awards program will be expanded from two categories to all seven.