To quote Usher, "Oh my gosh!"  If you haven't heard, Baltimore NACE won Chapter of the Year at the NACE National Experience! in Austin last month.  It was positively thrilling.  There were so many Baltimore Members to gather on stage and receive this award, which had stiff competition (Greater Washington DC, Greater Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallat/Ft. Worth, Houston, Orlando, San Diego, South Florida, Tampa Bay and Triangle).  We could not be more proud of this accomplishment and hope you feel a great deal of pride knowing you are associated with such a prestigious and award winning organization.

With all this joy though, we must pass along some sad but promising news.  Alicia Crosby, our beloved immediate past president, is leaving the Baltimore NACE chapter after serving us all so dillignetly for many years.  She will still be involved with NACE, but on a National level because she has accepted a wonderful postion with the National Headquarters.  Unfortunately though, this new position does not allow her to be a member of our chapter or serve on our board.  We are going to truly miss the incredible enthusiasm and color she brought to our chapter, but are also very excited for this new opportunity she has found.  Please send her your warmest wishes!

There is a fabulous meeting setup for this month where we can learn about how we rate with brides.  I have heard great things about this speaker and hope to see many of you at the meeting since the wedding business is important to most of our members in the chapter.  If we don't see you, we hope you have a wonderful end to the summer - stay safe and wear sunscreen!

Best Wishes,

Carmen Lennartsson

Baltimore Country Club

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:

Strickland Bonner, Washington Talent Agency

Jim McCarthy, Chair Covers & Linens

Carly Mistovich, ARAMARK

Stacey Riska, Maui Wowi

The next New Member Orientation will be Monday, Septembrer 20th at 5:30pm, prior to our monthly program.  ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME!!!

Why doesn't my website and service options not show up on the website's membership directory?

That's because you have not added it to your member profile.  You can log into your profile at http://baltimorenace.net/members.php.  Your user name is your membership number and password is "eggplant" until you change it in your profile.  Please take a look at your profile and make sure it is updated.  If you change your address, email or phone number, please let Debra May, our Director of Membership know, so she can update in the National database as well.  If you need any help with updating your profile, including needing your membership ID #, Debra can be reached at 443-878-6496 or debra@mm4solutions.com

Staci Summers

Haute Cocoa

 Haute Cocoa, Inc. began offering delicious and unique custom chocolate creations in 2007.  The company is led by the mother-daughter team of Nancy Vennare and Staci Summers.

 Haute Cocoa specializes in customized chocolate party favors, decedent chocolate bar displays and gifts and seasonal offerings. Whether you are looking for a unique way to thank your guests, the perfect gift of appreciation for your client, or a memorable party memento, Haute Cocoa can deliver it in chocolate!

 Staci combines her visual arts background and love of design to help you and your clients make Haute Cocoa chocolates an important and fun aspect of your event, marketing plan, or celebration.

 Nancy, the Chocolatier, focuses on creating the finest chocolates based on her own personal recipe.  She brings over thirty years of experience and considerable love to each and every piece.  Nancy creates each chocolate by hand, made to order, to ensure the freshest product possible every time.

 We look forward to satisfying your sweet tooth!

Back to School Supplies for the National Academy Foundation

The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism is one of the three major programs sponsored by the National Academy Foundation. The program teaches students in the art of geography, economics and tourism business as well as hospitality. Students participating may earn college credit while still in secondary education.NAF Baltimore, the first high school in the country to integrate three career-based "NAF" programs. Graduates receive both a national certificate as well as their high school diploma.

This month NACE is helping the NAF students with back to school supplies. Please raid your supply closets or stop by your local office supply company and pick up a few items for the students that NACE supports throughout the year. Here is what they need:

Pens, pencils, colored pencils, colored pencils, glue sticks, loose- leaf paper and highlighters!

Dulany Noble, community service director

Hello Baltimore NACE members...I have officially started my new position as Membership & Chapter Relations Manager for NACE National headquarters! After nearly 10 years at the American Visionary Art Museum, I decided to start a new chapter in my life and move on to another organization that I feel equally as passionate about! I feel so lucky to have been a part of the Baltimore Chapter for the past 7+ years, and honored to have been one of your chapter leaders! I will miss working directly with all of you - both through AVAM and NACE - but I certainly will NOT be a stranger! You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?

I look forward to seeing everyone at upcoming NACE meetings and catching up on all the Baltimore event gossip.

Alicia Crosby

Membership & Chapter Relations Manager

National Association of Catering Executives

9891 Broken Land Parkway, Suite 301

Columbia, MD  21046

acrosby@nacenet.org

www.nace.net

NACE Experience! Austin 2010 - Recap

Baltimore Chapter receives Chapter of the Year Award 2010!

Last month, ___ members of the Baltimore Chapter headed south to the great state of Texas for the annual NACE National Experience Conference.  Over 655 members attended this year's festivities held in Austin.  From start to finish the conference took on a life of its own with an opening reception filled with glitz and glitter, cowboys and cowhide.  Specialty drinks, food and great fun where had by all and the week certainly kicked off Texas style!

The educational seminars began bright and early with opening guest speaker, Marc Summers, as moderator on a chef's panel.  Local chapter member, Jerry Edwards, CPCE, was one of the panelist and helped bring Maryland to the stage.  For the next few days, there were break-out sessions relating to: marketing, food and wine pairings, weddings and décor trends just to name a few.

The conference highlight was of course the closing Gala Awards where the Baltimore Chapter proved we still really ROCK winning the big award of the night "Chapter of the Year for 2010!"  Congratulations also to Chef's Expressions for their individual catering award. 

Mark your calendar now for next year's conference to be held July 24 to 27, in Reno/Lake Tahoe!  We hope you will join us next year on the west coast for what is sure to be an EXPERIENCE!

NACE - Baltimore Chapter

Selling to Brides: How do you rate?

Meeting Recap

Monday, August 16, 2010

It was a hot and muggy Maryland evening, but that didn't stop 101 members and guests from coming to Chase Court for a topic that is always of interest to event professionals-selling to brides!  As hors d'oeuvres were passed through the garden, the networking proved to be a great mix of new and old members plus many new faces too.

From the garden our group moved into the main dining room of the castle where Chapter President, Carmen Lennartsson from Baltimore Country Club, officially announced to our membership that we had indeed won the coveted award of the 2010 NACE Experience Conference-Chapter of the Year!  In addition to that win, Baltimore also won awards for:

Insert information here

Individual awards for members were also awarded to:

Insert information here

Programs Chair Elizabeth Bailey then introduced our guest speaker, Saundra Hadley, who had flown in from Indiana earlier that day.  The GET REAL Sales Coach talked about "Closing the Deal: Sales Methods for the Wedding Industry."  She provided great words to use when discussing sales with clients and refreshed our memories on the power of making a great first impression-establishing a relationship with the client from moment one.

Take-aways from Saundra's talk were sound bites like:

 "A smart salesperson listens to the emotion, not the sales."

"Sales is just an awesome conversation."

 A delicious buffet dinner was provided by new member David Brown and his team from Maryland Country Caterers.  With a spread including: marinated flank steak, fingerling potatoes, lemon basil green beans, Mahi Mahi, garden salad and a summer vegetable display we were a happy group all around.

Our community service project was also very well supported as we collected school supplies for the NAF Academy students.  To get involved with our monthly community service projects, please see committee chair Dulany Noble at Gala Cloths.

The success of our meeting would not have been possible without the help of the following event professionals:

                                                                     Absolute Entertainment

Buscher Photography

Chase Court

Flowers by Chris

Freddie Stevens Entertainment

Maryland Country Caterers

Millennium Marketing Solutions

Select Event Rentals

The Tremont Hotel

Our September 20, 2010 meeting will be held at The Maryland Club and we will be discussing "Professionalism, Civility and Business Etiquette.  We hope you will join us...To register online for the next meeting, check out our chapter website for more information at: www.baltimorenace.net. 

Job Opening – FACILITY RENTAL COORDINATOR

The American Visionary Art Museum is in search of a full-time Facility Rental Coordinator.

Primary responsibilities include –

• Market facility for rentals through advertising, networking and special events
• Provide all rental information to potential clients, schedule site visits, keep master calendar and handle all contracting of rental events
• Maintain updated database of clients and vendors; maintain working relationship with area catering and event professionals
• Schedule AVAM event and security staff for all rental events
• Responsible to coordinate Museum events; handles all BEOs & RFPs, catering, menu selection, staffing, coordinates all rentals, including linen, china/glassware/flatware, etc.

Job Requirements include -

• College degree in Marketing, Communications, Business or related field.
• 3+ years experience in Marketing and Event Planning; knowledge of Hospitality/Food & Beverage Industry
  Computer skills – Microsoft Office/Word/Excel, FileMaker Pro, iCal, etc.
  Knowledge of spreadsheets and budgeting
• Detail-oriented, organized, ability to multi-task
• Customer service skills

Salary – based on experience
Benefits – health/dental insurance, vacation/sick leave, 403B retirement

Please send cover letter and resume to:            

Donna Katrinic
American Visionary Art Museum
800 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD  21230
443-874-7252 fax
donna@avam.org