Student Meet and Greet in Toronto

Please Join Us!

The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of PCMA would like to invite all of our students to our Student Meet and Greet!

When: 5 PM - 6 PM Monday, January 8, 2007
Where: Montebello Room located in the Fairmount Royal York Hotel
in Toronto Canada
What: Pizza, Soda, and Networking

This will be a great opportunity for all of our students at the annual convention to meet each other, as well as some of the members of the Student Development Committee. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have about the convention or the industry.

This will be a casual event.

Welcome to our new Blog!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the new GPPCMA Student Blog! My name is Belinda and I am the new Student Development Committee Chair for the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Professional Convention Management Association. The Student Development Committee is excited to participate in a blog with the students in an effort to increase communication and networking opportunities between the students and members of our chapter!

Our blog will be used to post all upcoming chapter events, volunteer opportunites, internships, and educational opportunities that become available to our students, as well as educational articles, news, and events at each of our student chapters. I will be moderating the blog, and thus posting all of the information that comes my way. However, I would love for everyone (both students and members) to participate!

So, if your student chapter:

• Is having a meeting
• Needs a speaker
• Is hosting a fundraiser
• Is volunteering
• Has achieved a milestone
• Received an award
• Or would like to advertise an event they are hosting

EMAIL ME!

If you:

• Find out that a company has an internship available
• Found an interesting website
• Read a really informative article
• Had a great internship experience
• Listened to a speaker
• Went to a great educational event
• Volunteered
• Were hired for a job in the field
• Or would just like to write an article for the blog for any other reason

EMAIL ME!

MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS BKEOTA@PMA.COM

The main purpose of this website is to pass along information and keep everyone up-to-date with GPPCMA and the student chapters. I will try to update it on a frequent basis. If there is information that you are looking for and cannot find, please do not hesitate to send me an email. I will do my best to find the information, or someone who has it, and post it as soon as possible.

Please keep in mind, I am not a professional writer, so bear with me. If anyone is a grammar wiz – please EMAIL ME! :)

~Belinda

About Belinda

As you know, I am the moderator of this blog. I’d like to share my background with everyone. If you have any questions, or would like to talk about some of my experiences, please send me an email. My email address is bkeota@pma.com.

I am relatively new to the meeting planning industry. I graduated from the University of Delaware’s Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management Program in 2005. While attending college, I was a student member of PCMA for 3 years, and had many great experiences that helped me to get to where I am today.

While in college, I worked for Embassy Suites and the Hotel du Pont doing front office work and work in food and beverage. I also held an internship with Princeton University’s Conference and Visitors Services department. After graduating from college, I moved to Baltimore, and worked for the Pier 5 Hotel in the front office.

Eventually, I grew tired of the long and unpredictable hours in the hotel, and decided to look into other opportunities. One of my professors, who was also the UD faculty advisor for PCMA, mentioned a position that was open at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) as a Meeting and Events Planner. I applied and have been working for PMA since February of 2006.

At PMA, I am one of three meeting planners who assist the Director of Meetings and Tradeshows with one of the top 200 tradeshows in the country. I also work on several smaller meetings and events, as well as several webinars each year. I really love the work that I do for PMA! The hours are wonderful, I get to travel, and work with wonderful people around the country. Every day is a different experience, and because I am so new to this industry, there is always something new for me to learn.

I was asked to be the Student Committee Chair because I was recently a student, and I have a good grasp as to what the challenges are that face students upon graduating. I’m excited to work with students from several different schools (and I miss college tremendously). I am willing to help anyone who has a question, or would just like to chat about the industry. I am fairly new to all of this myself, but I have many wonderful resources that I can consult in order to help answer any questions that may come my way.

So, that is my story! I hope everyone has a great holiday season, and I look forward to meeting some of you in Toronto and at chapter meetings. Please feel free to contact me at any time!