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Jan 27 2020

Conference Newcomers

Welcome, Newcomers!

Each year ETC welcomes more than one hundred fifty new members to the community. Navigating the educational travel industry can be overwhelming, yet rewarding.

ETC’s Team, Executive Advisory Council, and veteran ETC members are dedicated to providing newcomers with advice and support throughout their educational travel experiences.

My first time at ETC was a true learning experience. I am fatigued but at the same time invigorated. ETC is the FAM trip for travel planners!

Laraine Hlatky
Associate Director of External Relations
Pitt Alumni Association

The newcomer tips below were designed by veteran ETC members to help new ETC conference delegates maximize their ETC resources and member benefits, conference attendance, and create connections within our community.

What to Expect:

Opportunities to network
Access to industry focused speakers
Educational travel specific resources and benefits
Vertically rich educational materials
A professional, member-based community
Timely, pertinent content.

What to do after membership and conference registration:

Complete your member and organizational profiles
Familiarize yourself with your Member Dashboard and resources

EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT

Learning is a top priority at the conference and actually one of the best ways to network

With such a vertically rich professional development platform, a lot is happening in three days, so study the Conference Agenda and prepare ahead to maximize your educational experience.

Educational session times and International Bazaar times are mutually exclusive. When educational sessions are offered, the International Bazaar closed so don’t miss either opportunity

NETWORKING

Networking is nonstop! Bring lots of business cards.

Take advantage of the informal opportunities to meet with colleagues by signing up for all the official evening networking and events. These are “ticketed” events, requiring pre-registration

Complete your organizational and member profiles online to have access to a number of valuable conference opportunities, including the ability to request CONNECTS meetings.

INTERNATIONAL BAZAAR

The purpose of CONNECTS is two-fold. 1) to facilitate meetings between organizations which have an established business relationship and 2) to meet with new potential partners in order to glean information on new destinations, products and determine if there is a good business fit.

To make the most of CONNECTS, study member profiles, and request meetings using the CONNECTS online meeting tool.

Scheduling CONNECTS meetings is optional for every attendee. •

Be timely in your response to meetings requests. Courteously responding with a confirm, decline or reschedule message. The easy online system makes your response time quick!

Planners not looking for new operators are strongly encouraged to meet destination representatives to expand their knowledge of destinations around the world. (Note – Destination representatives attend ETC to educate interested attendees about their destinations; they are not tour operators and do not to sell or operate trips.)

Be on time for CONNECTS meetings you have confirmed.

No-shows are not productive for any individual holding a confirmed time slot with you.

Plan to meet one-on-one with business colleagues in the International Bazaar during the officially posted hours y. The destinations, operators, suppliers and resources available in the International Bazaar are extensive and cover the globe.

During the official Bazaar times, please refrain from scheduling meetings outside of the International Bazaar as this serves to undermine the effectiveness of CONNECTS for all delegates.

COMMUNITY PROTOCOL

Help us deliver a secure, respectful and ethical conference by wearing your badge at all times, and by meeting only with individuals wearing official conference badges. Any individual without a conference badge is not officially registered for the conference.

For security reasons, access to sessions, events and the International Bazaar requires displaying an official conference badge. If an individual attempts to meet with you without a badge they are not a registered attendee.

Share in the spirit of building community by making it a point to personally stop by Partner Boulevard display spaces in the International Bazaar and thank the official sponsoring partners that have helped make the conference possible

Only sponsoring partners are offered the option of hosting private invitation venues (breakfasts, cocktail parties, dinners) at official times as listed in the Conference Agenda. Attending and/or hosting of private invitational parties, hospitality suites, dinners and receptions by non-sponsors is not an option as such venues serve to directly undermine participation in official venues funded by conference sponsors to the benefit of all attendees.

If you haven’t signed up for a mentor, veteran delegates highly encourage you take this step in preparing for and navigating the conference.

MENTOR/MENTEE MATCHING

Individuals can request a mentor, or offer to serve as a mentor, by selecting it on their conference registration form.

Mentors/Mentees will be matched in December

This timeline will allow all to get acquainted and prepare well ahead of the Conference.

Mentors will be asked to typically mentor up to three mentees from a similar conference constituency group.

GOALS FOR MENTOR PROGRAM

Build and maintain a strong, educated, and supportive community
Educate and prepare newcomers for the annual conference and educational marketplace
Foster new relationships
Invest in sparking new ideas and addressing challenges within the educational travel sector

STYLES OF MENTORING

One-to-one mentorship (before, during and after conference)
Group-to one mentorship (on site at conference)

TIPS FOR MENTORING

Set clear expectations
Set standards for the mentor, then adhere to them yourself
Listen
Encourage
Challenge
Be flexible

SUGGESTED FORMAT

Preparation – identify expectations & set boundaries
Plan – mentor and mentee create a plan and lists of tasks to achieve identified goal(s)
Enabling – mentor supports mentee & provides feedback
Closure – reflection & assessment in order to raise the bar for future efforts

MENTORING IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME!

Accountability
Encourages communication
Expand your network
Places you at an advantage for learning about the industry and community faster

By participating in ETC’s Mentor Program, you are investing in yourself, the strength and growth of the community, and fueling the spirit of the community.

We are confident that both mentor and mentee will benefit from participating in the Mentor Program, and ETC is here to help support your efforts.

Jan 17 2020

Learning Lab IV Panel

Eric Meyers
Eric was appointed as the Executive Director of the Chattanooga Design Studio in March 2017. In this role he oversees strategic development, fiscal performance, and is the Studio’s primary spokesperson to the media and the general public. Under his leadership, the Studio has begun to strengthen relationships with various outside organizations and has aligned the studio’s program focus to help the Board of Directors engage on specific mission related opportunities. A native of Maryland, Myers is a LEED accredited registered architect and urban designer with a broad ranging background and breadth of experience in Chattanooga and the Southeast. For over 22 years Eric has practiced architecture and urban design in Chattanooga. Prior to joining the Chattanooga Design Studio, Eric founded a design firm and through his 10 years of leadership, the organization helped create urban housing, commercial retail and offices, healthcare facilities, historic preservation efforts, as well as urban design and neighborhood structure plans. Eric was also urban design coordinator at the community’s legacy studio which operated from 1980 until 2005. >He holds a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Eric currently serves on the Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise Board of Directors. He is the immediate past president of Cornerstones, Inc. and past president of the Chattanooga Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Myers also served a 2014 to 2017 appointment to the Chattanooga- Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.

Matt Web
Matt is the founding principal of WMWA. In 2013, after spending twelve years working at award winning firms in Virginia and Washington, DC, Matt returned to the region where he was raised to start the firm. When Matt was 17, his high school art teacher told him he should study landscape architecture. Landscape architecture is his third profession after working as a butcher during undergrad and managing production of cutting edge drug delivery polymers after. His bachelor’s degree in biology/chemistry from the University of Alabama in Huntsville focused on plant ecology. Matt again focused on ecology and plant communities while earning his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design. This lifelong interest in ecology and natural systems heavily influences his work as a landscape architect. Matt loves the outdoors, good food, and is fascinated by plants. Apples, in a roundabout way, brought Matt to Chattanooga after a Thanksgiving with his friend Tom Burford. Tom, world renowned apple and fruit expert, told Matt to go to Chattanooga and start a firm. When Tom Burford tells you to do something, you do it. While Tom introduces Matt as the only Burford approved orchard designer in North America, Matt heavily consults with Tom when any orchard design is happening.

Stacy Richardson
Stacy began serving as Chief of Staff to Mayor Andy Berke in 2015. Prior to that, she served as the Chief Policy Officer and Senior Advisor to the mayor. Her background is in both politics and policy, serving as the campaign manager for the Berke for Mayor Campaign and as a research fellow at the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies. Over the years, Stacy has worked alongside numerous public and private partners to help implement several key mayoral initiatives, including growing Chattanooga’s innovation and technology economy through the Innovation District, ensuring families have the opportunity to succeed through Baby University, and coordinating the work and policy directives of the Mayor’s Council for Women. A native to Chattanooga, Stacy graduated with both departmental and university honors from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Most recently, Stacy obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.

James McKissic
James McKissic is the newly appointed President of ArtsBuild. Prior to this, he spent a year as Chief Operating Officer at the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga. For six years from 2013 – 2019, he served as Senior Adviser to the Mayor and the Director of the City of Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs. His role for the City included linking diverse businesses to city government contracting opportunities, improving the City’s supplier diversity efforts, and working to promote justice, inclusion, and equity among the employees and citizenry of Chattanooga. The values of family, community, the arts, and philanthropy have guided James’ personal and professional endeavors. Heavily influenced by creators like Marta Morena Vega, Margaret Burroughs, and ArthurMitchell and committed to the idea that marginalized people must establish their own cultural programs and institutions, James founded Friends of African American Art, which funded purchases of art by Kerry James Marshall and Sam Gilliam for the permanent collection of the Hunter Museum of American Art. James loves Chattanooga, and is excited to support the City’s Arts sector in his new role at ArtsBuild.

Katelyn Kirnie
Katelyn Kirnie has served as the Director of Public Art Chattanooga, the City of Chattanooga’s public art division, since 2016. She moved back to her hometown after several years in Boston, MA where she was Visual Arts Manager for the Rose Kennedy Greenway. While there, she established a highly acclaimed, rotating mural program, The Greenway Wall, currently in its seventh season. Katelyn got her start in the public art field, working for international sculptor, John Henry as his Exhibition Manager and went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Arts Administration from Boston University. She has spent her entire career working with artists to bring extraordinary ideas to life and has an extensive background in project management, producing exhibitions, artworks and interventions in the public realm since 2007. As Director of Public Art Chattanooga, most recently, she completed a community-wide planning process and 10 year public art strategic plan for the City. Katelyn was hooked early on by the transformative power of public art and its ability to create community and place. Now, as a mother of two girls, ages 5 and 6, she enjoys seeing how art in public spaces can spark wonder and joy in the most unexpected ways.

Kim White
Kim White is a proven leader with a passion for making a difference in communities. For the past 11 years, she has put her passion into practice as the president and CEO of River City Company, the non-profit development organization with a 33-year history focusing on the economic growth and development of Downtown Chattanooga. With the influence of her leadership, Chattanooga has seen a renewed focus on downtown housing, better connections with UTC and the development of great public spaces. Private investment over the last five years helped implement the City Center Plan and redevelop Miller Park. While her focus has been on downtown, her impact has been much broader. Kim served on the Erlanger Board of Trustees for six years. She remains connected to her alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she has served as the chair of the UC Foundation – the 2nd woman in 50 years to hold the position. She is a former president of the UTC Alumni Board and the Chancellor’s Roundtable. Kim was appointed by Gov. Haslam to the UT Board of Trustees in 2018 and serves on the Executive and Finance Committees.

Jan 14 2020

Destination Reports

Destination reports provide valuable information and assessments related to security and medical risks at a particular destination. Each assessment includes a security risk rating, a medical risk rating, and an overall risk rating for the destination.