Kelleen Marek’s College Night at AMPS (Blog #2)

Last night I attended the Association of Meeting Professionals (AMPS)’ College Night. The event was held at the Conference Center in DC and while people came and went throughout the night there were about 100 attendees total. We got there a little late, so there was no wait at the Registration Table. It was set up so that pre-registered attendees could go in one line and unregistered would wait in another. From there we headed to the back to get some horderves.

While picking up food we met a couple of women who worked for Viceroy hotels (one in Beverly Hills, the other in Aspen). They were excited to see some college students there and that was the first time we looked around and noticed that there were very few college students actually attending college night. We talked with the women about career opportunities in the industry and they shared their love of the hospitality field. We even discussed college degrees in the food and beverage industry. The women encouraged us to join the AMPs because it was a great resource for event planners.

Next we met a member of the board who also encouraged us to join. We chatted with him about the benefits of membership with AMPs. He shared how it was more of a local, grassroots organization than some of the other larger associations. We wondered why so many people were singling us out in just the few short minutes that we had been there. That’s when we noticed the gold star stickers on our name badges. We weren’t positive what the purpose was (I assumed they indicated that we were non-members and Emily assumed they indicated that we were college students), but we realized no one else around had the stickers on their badges. These subtle stars were a great way to point out who was new to the association and gave board members and other attendees an indication of who to talk to and provide more details of the association to.

I noticed that there were quite a few sources of entertainment around the lobby. First there was a cornhole game set up for attendees to play. I also noticed a wii set up for attendees to compete with. All the attendees were having a great time, so not many of the entertainment sources were being utilized, but they were an interesting back up plan in case guests got bored. There was also fun music playing in the background that kept the mood upbeat. There was a woman from Christie’s Photography Solutions walking around taking pictures with an ipad that she then emailed the the attendees. Our picture is featured below.

After spending around an hour there we decided to head out. We dropped our names badges in the bin at the registration desk (a great way to recycle paper and then reuse the plastic badges). Attending college night was a great way to introduce non-members to the world of AMPs and if I decide to stay in the DC area I will definitely consider joining.