It is with a heavy heart that we report that Tim Brown, the founder and CEO of Meeting Sites Resource and a regular contributor to Successful Meetings, passed away this week following a serious accident in Palm Desert, CA.
Brown, who began Meeting Sites Resource (MSR) in 1993, had a career in the meetings, convention, and incentive industry that spanned 30 years. In that time he served as a member of the international board of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), as well as president of two MPI Chapters: Orange County and San Diego.
As well as being a featured speaker at many industry events, Brown was a long-time and highly valued contributor to Successful Meetings, for which he wrote the Strategic Perspective Blog.
In his personal life, Brown was a longtime volunteer with Big Brothers of America, serving as a youth mentor.
In announcing the loss, MSR Senior Vice President, Sam Canova, had this to say: "Tim was our inspiration, our friend and our family. He created a legacy of love and loving life to the fullest every day. He inspired everyone he came in contact with and we are all better people to have had him in our lives. He will never be forgotten and always cherished."
Canova added, "In the past 10 years he had discovered his spirituality and was living within his faith. He didn't fear the next chapter -- his life with God."
A "Celebration of Life" in Brown's memory is being planned on March 19, tentatively in San Diego. More details will be available soon.
In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked to send donations to Share Our Selves (SOS), an Orange County-based not for profit that provides comprehensive safety net services to the homeless and low-income populations. Please visit www.shareourselves.org.
Brown's final column for Successful Meetings, published on Dec. 18 of last year, was his annual "A Meeting Planner's Christmas," written, as ever, in verse. It reads, in part:
I am knee deep in post-meeting cost analysis
With more projects and stress levels starting to mount
And I am keeping a big bottle of Advil close by
Anticipating the massive hotel master account
I get to work with great colleagues and suppliers
Team collaboration does help everyone's attitude
And provides me a great sense of accomplishment
And a heart overflowing with fulfillment and gratitude
OK, it's time to start thinking about the Christmas season
Time with family, good friends and holiday cheer
And I will defer all these meeting management details
Until early in January, with no regret...or fear
I have a crazy and multi-tasking job description
Doing things right takes lots and lots of work
So extra "down days" during the Christmas holidays
Is a well-deserved perk
Christmas is a time to reflect, rejoice, and reconnect
Sharing the gift of caring, camaraderie, being kind
Clearly, giving is much more satisfying than receiving
Very good for the heart, soul, body, and mind...