This year’s Hall of Fame honorees raise the bar. Their expertise and creativity are exceptional, of course, but something else sets them apart: a readiness to share their time, talent and wisdom with peers. For this, they are held in our highest esteem. Congratulations to the standouts of 2015.
Lifetime Achievement
STEPHEN STAWICKI
Co-owner
The Wedding Connection, Huntington Woods
Few are the equal of Stephen Stawicki when it comes to professional skills. He’s been a master wedding consultant since 2003, one of only 70 in the world—and the second in Michigan—to achieve this designation from the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC).
Advancing the industry’s know-how has long been Stawicki’s goal. He helped craft more-stringent rules for ABC accreditation, and he takes an active role in mentoring young professionals.
“It’s advantageous to take [novices] under your wing, bring them to events you’re doing and teach them,†Stawicki says. “That’s what keeps me young; they make me stay up on technology.â€
He encourages people entering the field to learn other professionals’ jobs, whether in hospitality, rentals, planning, photography or décor. It’s the approach Stawicki took, working part-time for suppliers when he started his business in 1990. “[Learn] what they’re going to need from you and how you can help them,†he says. That way, you can talk with knowledge and ensure everybody works together for the client.
Stawicki has been a member of ABC and the National Association for Catering and Events for 23 and 17 years, respectively. “I try to be [at meetings] for the people coming up and to be supportive,†he says.Â
Stawicki, 74, laughs when he says he’s “pretty much served a lifetime†in the events industry. He expects to take on fewer planning jobs this year, instead performing wedding ceremonies as a licensed officiant and spending more time with his grandchildren and wife and business partner, Rabbi Miriam Jerris.
MIM+E: How do you define excellence in your career?
SS: I strive to be the best I possibly can be in every facet of the industry that I am serving at the time.
Fun fact: Before starting his own business, Stawicki spent nearly 30 years in advertising, rising from production apprentice to senior VP of a large Cleveland agency. “If you watch Mad Men, that was me,†he says.
Best Meeting Professional
DENISE MCGINN, CAE, CTA
President
Association Guidance, East Lansing
On any given day, Denise McGinn is helping her clients meet their strategic, governance and financial goals. But it is at meetings, she says, that she has the opportunity to give them a memorable experience.
“I want every meeting attendee to go back and talk about this group like [it is] the best thing in the world,†says McGinn, president of Association Guidance.
Making sure that happens means treating everyone like the most important person in the room, she says. Attendees can be cranky and complaining, but planners have to stay focused on making them happy, even if meeting a particular demand isn’t the planner’s job.
“If it’s important to them, we’d better try to find a solution,†McGinn says.
Her approach earns her plenty of fans. McGinn’s company has won two Best Meeting Planning Company awards from MIM+E and was named 2014 Strategic Association Leader by the Michigan Society of Association Executives (MSAE), an honor she calls “a personal highlight I’ll never forget.â€
McGinn is also proud of earning her Certified Association Executive designation, an 11 year process, and of the staying power of her 22-year-old company.
She is an active member of MSAE, the Michigan Nonprofit Association and the Society of Government Meeting Professionals Michigan Chapter, among other groups. She’s also about to enroll in a computer programming class, and says planners need to position themselves for what’s coming next.
MIM+E: What advice would you give folks new to the industry?
DM: Know how you’re going to get paid, especially if you’re planning to start your own company. If you don’t figure out the money part first, you’re going to be disappointed and frustrated.
Fun fact: An Army kid, McGinn was born in France and attended 16 schools—three in her freshman year of high school alone.
Up-and-Coming Meeting Professional
JULIE CROWGEY, CMP, CTA
Event Coordinator
University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Julie Crowgey thrives on handling behind-the-scenes problems, thinking of details no one else knows to worry about and having budgets come in on target.
In other words, she’s ideally suited to her job as event coordinator for Michigan State University’s Outreach and Engagement office, where she plans meetings for five to 600 faculty members.
Crowgey got her start working as a meeting planning assistant at MSAE. Geri Root, CMP, CMM, then the group’s director of professional development, showed her the ropes and encouraged her to get her CMP.
Root also urged Crowgey to get involved in the Michigan Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MMPI). Today, Crowgey is the group’s education director, organizing six major events each year. Though it’s a lot of work, she says she’s inspired by seeing peers in MMPI achieve their goals. “It makes me think about my own,†she says.
The university and MMPI are just two of her many roles, though. Crowgey has earned the Certified Tourism Ambassador designation, is the chapter administrator for the MSU chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and is the editorial assistant for the Infant Mental Health Journal.
MIM+E: What’s one of the more interesting events you plan?
JC: The MSU Science Festival attracts 20,000 people to campus over five days to interest children in the Science-Technology-Engineering-Math fields. Faculty members share the cool things they’re working on, and kids participate in hands-on activities.
Fun fact: Crowgey is a fan of highintensity interval training. If she weren’t a meeting planner, she’d be a fitness instructor.
Best Event Planner
CAROLYN HEFNER
Owner
The China Closet, Birmingham
For Carolyn Hefner, a cattle ranch in Montana was the perfect training ground for running an event planning company. Hefner’s childhood in Billings taught her to be resourceful and creative, she says, while spending afternoons at tea with her grandmother honed her manners and etiquette.
Hefner started her company, The China Closet, in 1991 as a fine-china rental business. A part-time job with Shirley Marley broadened her horizons. Marley ran a boutique, arranged flowers and planned events for The Townsend Hotel.
“What a learning experience,†Hefner says of her behind-the-scenes lessons in making events come together. “I was fascinated.†She was so intrigued, she changed The China Closet into a full-service wedding and social event consultancy.
“There is no end to the learning curve in this business,†Hefner says. “My goal is to never get comfortable, but to keep seeking more opportunities to grow and learn.†Hefner, a former English teacher, says she’s considering getting certified as a master to teach etiquette.
“Preparation, organization, respect, compassion, empathy and insight—those are the ingredients I hope to bring to each event so my clients have a fabulous experience,†Hefner says. “There is no opportunity for a ‘redo’ for a special event. We have only one chance to make this moment as perfect as possible.â€
MIM+E: What trend do you see influencing the events industry?
CH: Events are becoming more formal. People want to dress up, enjoy fine dining and be waited upon with style and grace. This needn’t be expensive. Good manners, service and food are what make an event special.Â
Fun fact: Early in her career Hefner was a bank teller, which “was not a good fit,†she says. She quickly learned she preferred life to be a bit less predictable.
Up-and-Coming Event Planner
RACHEL JAROSZ
Senior Meeting & Event ManagerÂ
Events North, Traverse City
Seasoned industry pros believe upand- comers should learn as many sides of the business as they can. Rachel Jarosz is listening.
Jarosz, a planner with Events North, previously worked in group sales for Marriott Hotels and for Crystal Mountain Resort. She met Allison Beers, owner of Events North, through their fathers, both of whom work in the auto industry, and joined her company in 2013.
“Being flexible and being open to new experiences has helped get me to where I am,†Jarosz says.
Her job at Events North requires her to leverage all her experience and education, she says. Jarosz’s hotel and venue management experience helps her understand the negotiation process and the suppliers’ perspective, which complements Event North’s open-invoice philosophy of no hidden fees or mark-ups.
“[Clients] know what to expect and know they can trust us,†Jarosz says. Her experience as a supplier helps her make her clients’ life easier.
Jarosz says she hopes to earn her Certified Meeting Professional designation soon. She greatly values the support of role models like Beers, who challenge her to aim high professionally and to find a positive work-life balance.
MIM+E: What achievement are you most proud of in your current job?
RJ: The first client I was assigned at Events North has become a repeat client and continues to bring business to us in other departments. This has helped the company grow. I’m really proud of that.
Fun fact: Jarosz competitively watches Wheel of Fortune with her husband and hopes to be a contestant on the game show someday.
Best Supplier
TODD HARDIEK
Co-owner
Colonial Events, Troy
“I don’t search out the spotlight,†says Todd Hardiek, citing a slight unease at being named to our 2015 Hall of Fame. “My job is to make my clients look good and make my event planners look good. I want them to be the stars.â€
Clients of Hardiek’s rental company, which crafts its own furnishings and décor, achieve just that, thanks to his creativity and initiative. His goal is to listen and to always deliver more than what’s expected, whether for corporate functions or colorful Indian weddings, a growing part of Hardiek’s business. “At the end of the day, my reward is the client who walks into the room and says, ‘Wow!’†he says.
Hardiek says his inspiration comes from the talented people in Michigan’s events industry, whom he connects with at ABC, NACE and International Special Events Society meetings. “[Competition] keeps you on your toes,†he says, and so does being around creative peers. “I’m constantly learning new things.â€
Hardiek points to teamwork as the key to his success. Effective teamwork requires knowing the challenges facing other team members, like setup and back-of-the-house operations, Hardiek says, and he believes up-and-coming professionals should understand those various roles. Every success at Colonial Events is teamproduced: “Without them, there’s no me,†he says. “If all I ever got was team awards, I’d be happy as heck.â€
MIM+E: How did you get into the event business?
TH: In college, I started working at Colonial Events as a dishwasher, making $3.35 an hour. I bought the company with a business partner when I was 23 years old.
Fun Fact: Most of Hardiek’s ideas come to him on the treadmill; he scribbles them down on small paper scraps and shares them the next day with his coworkers.
Up-and-Coming Supplier
BRANDON SHELDON
Director of Operations
Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island
Brandon Sheldon never thought he’d work in the hospitality industry, nor live on an island. Sheldon, a native of Buffalo, New York, credits supportive mentors with helping him happily do both. Sheldon joined Mackinac Island’s Mission Point Resort in 2012 as banquet manager. Today he oversees catering, conferences, the front desk, housekeeping and bell-stand activities.
“[Resort General Manager Bradley McCallum] has done nothing but push me, which is something that I need and I appreciate,†Sheldon says.
New challenges keep the job interesting, he says. He learned about food and high-end events in roles ranging from banquet server to executive catering manager. He’s also involved in Mission Point Resort renovations, which he says has been a fun learning opportunity. The varied duties give him a greater appreciation for what others do.
“If you’re not learning anymore, what’s the point of being at a job?†Sheldon says. “I still have a lot more goals and aspirations, but right now I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished in my career here.â€
MIM+E: What’s your favorite part of your job?
BS: Building friendships with people from all over the world who come to work at Mission Point Resort. Living and working on property, we’re together an awful lot, and I’ve become really close with people.
Fun fact: In winter, Sheldon rides a snowmobile across the ice to St. Ignace when he needs to leave the island; the rest of the year, he takes a ferry.
