SITE Global Conference 2022 kicked off on a celebratory note this April, with individual members and SITE Chapters from around the globe recognized during the Conference-opening Annual General Meeting.
Our thanks and congratulations to all of this year’s winners. Thank you for helping us bring our mission, vison, and values to life through your volunteer leadership!
The Kevin Forde Spirit Award is given each year to a SITE member who exemplifies the traits that Kevin Forde was known and respected for: generosity of time and energy for his fellow incentive travel professionals and volunteer roles.
This year’s winner, Catherine Pascaud, is a legacy member of SITE whose membership dates back to the 1990s. Catherine served as a Chapter President then, and is serving once again after the SITE France Chapter re-formed in 2021. Catherine has worked together tirelessly with the SITE France Board to create a strong line-up of a virtual events for members, and also played a vital role in helping SITE’s International Boards hold their first joint board meeting in nearly two years, after the worst of the COVID pandemic passed. Catherine’s time and energy for her fellow incentive travel professionals is unending, and she is a true champion of volunteer leadership.
The SITE Member of the Year Award is presented to a volunteer who has left an indelible mark on SITE throughout the year.
Marina is the President of SITE Germany, and has put a massive amount of effort into her Chapter’s offerings. She kept the number of members steady during one of the most difficult times our industry has faced and fostered a strong, enthusiastic board. Marina helped create an incredible series of virtual events called “No PANE no Gain,” where the Chapter showcased suppliers and buyers, created great networking opportunities, and provided top-notch education. Marina is also especially involved in SITE Global events such as SITE NITE Frankfurt, and is extremely well-known throughout our Chapters.
Member growth and engagement was a top priority for SITE Australia and New Zealand, as demonstrated through the Chapter’s personal outreach to members to welcome them and encourage volunteering. The Chapter deployed surveys to ensure their event roadmap aligned with members’ desires, and members were granted special value access to events. And their efforts paid off! After a loss in 2020, this Chapter then grew membership by 7 percent the following year thanks to their deepened engagement.
SITE Texas targeted social channels and virtual events as a way to engage and support members, earning them this year’s award. The Chapter created a new board position specifically to enhance engagement across all social channels. They also updated sponsorship packages to include virtual engagement. Finally, the Chapter also created a cohesive online campaign to lead, shape and inspire its members, while also providing relevant data and trends. Five of six SITE Texas events included a virtual component, and the Chapter utilized various virtual platforms for each event to explore and share available technology. This virtual engagement led to an increase in new members and strong member retention.
SITE Canada offered an unbelievable 13 virtual educational events during the award qualification period, and engaged 42 different speakers. Topics included incentive strategies, industry trends, and sustainable practices. Learning formats included dialogue dens and small group discussions. SITE Canada deployed surveys after each session to gauge member satisfaction with the content. Their largest event was attended by 200 attendees, with 25% attending from outside their chapter area.
SITE Poland implemented two key Young Leader initiatives. First, SITE Poland created a Group Action Learning program that brought Young Leaders together on a regular basis to learn, share, and become more familiar with SITE. Second, SITE Poland also implemented a mentoring program. To ensure its success, chapter leaders reached out to four other chapters with similar programs to gather best practices and help provide formal training for mentors. As a result, the Chapter saw strong engagement, with one of its Young Leaders appointed to the Chapter Board and another continuing to lead its YL programming.
SITE Florida & Caribbean have sustainability guidelines in place for all of their events, that also align with the Chapter’s sustainability roadmap. One event in particular that stood out in their winning application was a series of four beach clean-ups over the Chapter’s geography. This series engaged 300 participants, who collected a whopping 280 kilos/620 pounds of waste! Prior to the clean-ups, participants also took part in educational lecture on how trash impacts sea turtles, motivating members to then pick up even the smallest size particles to prevent harming turtles and other sea creatures.
SITE Texas never waivered from its mission to deliver member value, and understood that members needed event solutions with both virtual and hybrid components. The Chapter designed a hybrid event in the early days of the pandemic, incorporating safe meeting practices for 33 live attendees and utilizing a never-before-used platform developed specifically for hybrid events that supported 500 virtual guests. Survey results indicated that the event met or exceeded expectations for 95% of attendees. Best of all, SITE Texas also leveraged relationships to make the event complimentary for all attendees.
Building or rebuilding a chapter is not easy, especially during a pandemic. SITE Australia & New Zealand demonstrated their resolve to not only support local communities, but to grow them as well. The Chapter increased regional awareness of SITE with strong email and social media outreach, as well as educational webinars. They also fostered a welcoming environment with personal phone calls. Along with further establishing the Chapter regionally, SITE Australia and New Zealand assembled top agencies together as a think tank, sharing confidential trade data and uniting to petition their governments to remove certain taxes as a stimulus to the economy.
Just as SITE Turkey was starting to rebuild after previous economic challenges, the pandemic hit. SITE Turkey, however, was not daunted. They responded with an even deeper focus on their members and our industry. Members were supported virtually through gatherings that included breakouts with board members for intimate chats and encouragement. Industry advocacy has also always been a priority for SITE Turkey. The Chapter joined with other industry groups to petition the government to extend tax relief and short-term working allowances to industry colleagues.
SITE Turkey also stands out as a shining example of giving back to the community. To ensure future generations can continue providing Turkey’s well-known traditional, warm hospitality, chapter members volunteer to tutor students in the English language and have supported 215 students to date.
Sustainability continues to play an increasingly integral role in how we do business in this industry and is an area SITE has pledged to continue investing in.
We launched our Sustainability Certification in 2020 and are pleased to see 13 new Chapters earning their Certification this year:
- SITE Africa
- SITE Australia & New Zealand
- SITE Chicago
- SITE India
- SITE Mexico
- SITE Poland
- SITE Spain
- SITE South America
- SITE Southern California
- SITE Southeast
- SITE Scotland
- SITE Turkey
- SITE Thailand
